Category: Leadership Development

It’s All About Who is in ‘The Seats’

Most of us are familiar with the philosophy of “having the right folks in the right seats on the bus” when we are building our teams and organizations. We all have the intention of hiring good folks; yet, I would wager that all of us have made poor “people choices” at some point in our career. What can we learn from a highly successful entrepreneur about this charge for aspiring leaders?

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6 Realities of Power

Let’s face it: businesses are run by people in power. And we know power comes from many origins. This reality allows those wielding it to use very different approaches and methods to get what they want and need. Much has been written and proclaimed about the various types of power in business. In this post, I offer a few of my own experiences and observations of how power can surface in business – and life.

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It’s not over til it’s over!

One aspect of my work at Alignment, Inc. consists of working with individual leaders and their teams when they face uber challenges and obstacles. For the most part, my clients show a tremendous level of resiliency and tenacity when navigating rough waters. We may be learning from these hard times, yet that does not make them any easier to endure. So, today, a little over one week after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, I wanted to highlight a few heroic stories of everyday people from which we may muster new hope and inspiration. Many unsung heroes inspire me – especially when we are all facing tough economic challenges.

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Is there 1 Most Important Quality?

Recently I was having dinner with two very dear and special friends at my favorite Dallas neighborhood bistro, Parigi. As always, we launched into an open, authentic and passionate conversation. We were bantering about how strong personal and business relationships thrive and survive, in an increasingly turbulent, competitive and stressful world. We were wondering…is there 1 quality that makes the difference?

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Nice Trumps Smart

Have you ever been dressed down by someone seemingly smarter than you just so that person could make a point? Have you ever been called out – or even worse – dismissed because you were behind the learning curve on a particular issue? Have you ever been interrupted or talked over, implying that your opinion or perspective was not worthy of even being heard? I have; and it is the worst feeling in the world.

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A Word about Mentoring

A number of my clients are working alongside mentors. Some of these mentors have been chosen by the leader. With others, the mentors have singled out the leader as a high-potential individual with whom they want to partner; and still others have been assigned a mentor through a formalized mentoring program sponsored within their organization. Often I am asked, how do I make the most of this relationship?

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