As you are expanding your team or replacing an employee who has recently left the company make sure to focus on the personality and abilities of that new individual, not the prestige they may bring. While the education and previous employment are absolutely important, don’t become enamored with “glamorous” companies or universities such as MIT, Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Stanford, Cambridge…as …
Managing stress of your team
As a leader, your reaction to stress and challenges speaks volumes to others around you. Your team looks up to you for queues and guidance of how to handle and resolve stressful situations no matter what they may be. So keep that in mind next time your are dealing with a challenging project, process, partner, client or an under performing …
Support your team unequivocally
In order to be successful if is imperative to be customer focused, yet employee aware at the same time. However, at times, these two important groups may come at odds which is when you as a leader need to act. Ideally, you would have been involved all along to avoid any negative escalation of issues, challenges or problems, but that …
Elevate yourself above the crowd
You are not average, you are not mundane, and don’t belong right in the middle of the scale. So stop acting and performing that way and elevate yourself about the crowd, above the average. Being right in the middle is the worst place to be as you are not memorable, you don’t stand out, you don’t contribute at the highest …
Set clear expectations, you are not a puppet
As the (wo)man, the myth, the legend continues to grow and your capabilities, accomplishments and skills become known to a wider audience you will often begin receiving invitations to join projects and tasks outside your current core responsibilities. These are great opportunities to learn new things, meet new people and help others with what you know so please take advantage …
Charisma is not leadership
People often confuse charisma for leadership and consider it one and the same. While charisma is a component embraced by many successful leaders, it is not what makes one a leader and as such it should be considered as one of their attributes, not an entire representation of that individual. Leaders put others ahead of themselves; they act with benefits …
I’m stressed, help me!
Sooner or later, a time will come for most when they will feel overwhelmed, stressed and stretched too thin. It will feel like 24 hours in a day are simply not enough to accomplish it all. Well, when that time comes (or if it is already here) please note that you are not alone and that solutions exist. Focusing on …
Why value is greater than recognition
In all you do, focus on providing value to others over getting small wins in a form of a personal recognition. While it is nice to be recognized for your accomplishments that cannot be your focus as it has a potential of developing into something very negative which is an impression of a self-centered individual. Continue providing value to your …
Build diverse teams
Build teams that are as diverse as possible. Hiring carbon copies of yourself is counterproductive and provides no value to you, the team or the organization as a whole. You want and need people of different races, ethnicity, education, experiences…as you never know where that next great idea may come from. You want originality and uniqueness to be embodied in …
Don’t blame others, help them
A mistake was made, what should one do next? The easiest thing for some people is to point fingers at others and take no responsibility for their own actions. While this selfish behavior might help them in that particular instance, long term, it will hurt them, their reputation, integrity and future relationships within the organization. Be a man or a …