Nuggets of wisdom, leadership information and I-never-knew-that-stuff that appealed to the BIG team this past week…lead big and enjoy!
The limits of what we can measure (Christina Robertson on The New Existentialists)
Numbers are important, no doubt, yet we have to remember they tell only part of the story. The team at BIG agrees with Christina that it’s “our use of metrics that can get us into trouble.” Continue reading
The BIG team enjoyed these posts this past week and hope you do, too!
Why Smart People Deny Climate Change (David Berreby on BigThink)
An article about climate change in a list of leadership reading…hmmm, you might be thinking. There are a couple behavioral nuggets in the research cited here with direct application to leadership and how we get all mired in thinking we’re right and that those who don’t agree with us are wrong. “We needn’t accept every damn fool argument that comes down the road, but we do need to accept that we’re all inclined to protect damn fool arguments that are associated with our identities.”
Managing Authenticity: The Great Paradox of Leadership (Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones, Harvard Business Review December 2005)
The BIG team is on tear about leaders who believe being authentic is a license to be rude and who think being tactful is being manipulative. If you’re struggling to build and maintain authenticity, you’ll enjoy the three steps the authors outline as a place to get started: get to know yourself and your origins better, get to know others better, and better connect to the organizational context.
Stuckness is the Heart of Change (Dan Oestreich on Unfolding Leadership)
If you lead a team that’s stuck in passive-aggressive behavior, you’ll benefit from Dan’s suggestions for moving the situation off-center to regain direction, momentum and focus.
Stereotyping: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Steve Petermann on Telic Thoughts)
This intriguing post addresses the stereotype that all stereotypes are bad. Some fascinating stuff here.
12 Most Destructive Management Behaviors (Shawn Murphy on Teamster)
Do a self-audit: if you’re guilty of doing any of the 12 behaviors Shawn lists here, get thee to a coach, a friend, someone who will guide and assist you in getting your leadership actions back on track.
Revisit what you might be taking for granted. “The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Here’s to a week of inspiring 7C performance at the intersection of the art of leadership and the science of business!
Image from Dave Jenson on Leadership
Ongoing learning, exploration, making a positive difference that lasts, and developing others are in our DNA here at Get Your BIG On. We are doing research all the time whether it’s fact-finding for an article we’re writing, creating content for a development session, or working for a client. We see lots of worthy material while doing our work (what a delightful perk!), so we’re sharing the highlights via our “Friday Leadership Favs” - a short-cut to information you may not have the time to look up but might be interested in knowing.
3 “ME’s” of Leadership (Rosabeth Moss Kanter, The Change Master)
The BIG team (and Anne Perschel, Germane Consulting) are big on positive power. Learn here how to espouse the power of message, exemplify the power of models, and establish the power of formal mechanisms - all keys to being a better leader (and person!).
Turn up the heat (Simon Jordan, Success for Business)
We have a client who was concerned that her business wasn’t growing. When asked to describe how she was promoting it, she talked about all the things “she planned to do.” However, there was little to talk about regarding what she had actually done. In this piece, Simon offers a cooking metaphor for putting action behind all the wishing and thinking and intentions. It’s the hard work that produces results!
How to Instill Purpose (John Baldoni, Lead by Example)
Purpose gives our personal and professional lives meaning and direction. Here John offers four astute things for organizations to do to build purpose amongst their employee base. “Purpose, as savvy leaders know, is the foundation for creating vision, executing the mission, and abiding by the values of an organization. Culture emerges from purposeful organizations, because purpose is what shapes individual’s beliefs and organizational norms.”
Leading By Example and Mistaken Beliefs (Gwyn Teatro, You’re Not the Boss of Me)
Gwyn opens her post by saying this post is one “I like to come back to from time to time because I strongly believe it is not what we say, or what we intend but what we do that shapes the leader.” We agree! Gwyn thoughtfully debunks some common misbeliefs about what being a leader is, or isn’t.
How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall? Fail, Fail, Fail (Daniel Honan, BigThink)
Failure is a great teacher…provided we give ourselves the opportunity to learn from it. If you’re afraid to take a risk and/or want to give up, this inspiring story about Twyla Tharp will nudge you in the learning and success direction. “…success comes through rapidly fixing our mistakes rather than getting things right the first time.”
Ponder time: We all participate in weaving the social fabric; we should therefore all participate in patching the fabric when it develops holes. ~Anne C. Weisberg