Category: Leadership
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In-abiliy
When we feel inability, our mindset is usually focused on our circle of concerns, in the things that are outside our influence. The funny thing is that the answer to overcoming the sense of inability is hidden right in front of our eyes, in the term itself 🙂 In-ability = our inner ability Our inner…
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Why should anything change next quarter?
As Albert Einstein noted, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Yet as we plan our next quarter, we tend to ask, “What should we do differently this quarter?” instead of asking, “How should we be thinking differently this quarter?”. In other words, we are planning next…
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Alignment is the “API” of empowerment
When we read the definition of alignment in the dictionary we get the sense of how it feels to work in a command & control mindset: Cogs in a machine, expected to align in a straight line and travel a predefined course… And most of all to agree. Alignment in a command & control environment…
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! → ?
If language is magic then the question mark is the magician’s wand. It is the one character that makes everything possible. Don’t believe me? Try it… Think of 3 things that you deeply believe are impossible… Then at the end of every statement add an exclamation mark. Now read them aloud to yourself. For example:…
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Reset
Teams, like individuals, tend to get caught in their self-perception and narrative of who they think they are. It’s a huge blocker of growth. In people, these self-narratives tend to develop in the early formative years of the company and are very hard to change. Last week I asked one of the product people I…
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What’s your insight?
Every change we create, every growth we drive, starts with a change in our perception and beliefs. We first have an in-sight (an updated internal image of a possible reality) and it is that internal image that drives our action as we pursue to close the gap between our in-sight(vision) and our external-sight (reality). Insights…
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Goals that reach the eyes
Too often it feels like goals are “fed” to people. When they describe their goals they feel like an external force that drives them instead of a fire that fuels them from within. The difference between the two can be seen in the eyes of the people who discuss their goals. There is an expression…
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The craft
My first job out of college was as an apprentice to a picture framer. It was 25 years ago and in many ways, it has shaped who I am as a professional to this day. When I got my bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 1996 I wanted to frame a few of my works.…
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OKR ourselves first
OKRs (or any other focus framework) are treated by leaders like tools instead of the “mindset interfaces” they are. Leaders are looking at the integration of OKRs as an implementation challenge when in fact it is a mindset shift challenge that, like any other mindset shift, starts with leadership by example. There’s a story about…
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Praise vs. Encouragement
Without belief, no change can happen. This is what makes encouraging such an important coaching/leading/parenting skill. But there is a huge difference between praising and encouraging that is overlooked. As a result in many cases, we end up praising (hint: It’s a bit useless) when what we really intended to do was to encourage. What…