Leaders light a fire within people to do their best. They don't hit others over the head with the proverbial 2 x 4. As Eisenhower said: "That's assault, not leadership".
Thursday, July 28, 2011
My Interview with Karlin Sloan
I was recently interviewed by friend and colleague Karlin Sloan (no...no relation. It's her first name and my last) about my new book Leaders: Their Stories, Their Words. Karlin supports leaders to be the change they wish to see in the world and, to that end, is interviewing authors of business books she recommends.
Click here to check out the interview and "meet" Karlin.
Click here to check out the interview and "meet" Karlin.
Why Write?
I had a great conversation with a client of mine yesterday. He knows me inside and out. Many coaches will tell you they know their clients inside and out but in my opinion, a perfect balance in a coaching relationship is when the client really knows where you're coming from as well.
This particular client is quoted in my book and as I handed him a copy, before he even opened it he said "You wrote this as a labor of love, not for any other reason, right?" Some of the reviews and comments that are coming in shares exactly that. Why write? Because these people deserve to be recognized for their human-based leadership. Everyone has a story to tell and I wanted to capture some of them so you can see your leadership mirrored within their words. And perhaps you'll take the time to find out the stories of the people in your lives and help them see their HB leadership.
The reviews have been fabulous and I'm very grateful for them. I'd also like to share some of the notes I've been getting...the more personal side of what's emerging from the book. I'll share more over time. I believe these comments enrich the learning of the book as well as honor the time these wonderful leaders took to review and share their thoughts about Leaders: Their Stories, Their Words. Once you read the book, I'd love if you'd share yours.
"I so enjoyed this book. I found that I read it slowly and savored each chapter because it was so rich and meaningful. I get used to racing along the path of my life and tend to focus on my "to do's" - one after the other. Reading this book calmed me down and invited me to see beauty, joy and peace in ways I've not seen before. I couldn't read it in one sitting. I had to read a chapter and think about the story and messages over the next few days. Some stories were deeply personal to me, while others were more informational, but I found gems and insights in each and every one of them.........I'm going to re-read this book again and take more notes. It merits extra time." - Rhonda Witwer, BS, MBA, Senior Business Development Manager, Nutrition, Bridgewater, New Jersey
"The book is great overall. It is an easy read and it is packed with great thoughts and insights from very talented people. It clearly shows the effect of human-based leaders in action. It covers human-based leadership from a wide range of different communities of practice. It covers industrial businesses, economic development, research, charitable organizations, government and political arenas. Every interview clearly showed the golden thread that human-based leadership is very important in today’s environment. A careful reader will learn and be enriched, regardless of which part of the society the reader is engaged in. I like the format. It is interesting and it enhances the learning experience. You can easily go back to find a gem that you can use in your work or interaction with other people because you associate the particular gem with an interviewee. What is also good is the insight that you can learn from leaders in other disciplines that seems mutually exclusive on the surface." - Pieter Diedericks, P.Eng., MSc(Chemical Engineering), MBA, Vice President Major Projects, Synthetic Oil, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
This particular client is quoted in my book and as I handed him a copy, before he even opened it he said "You wrote this as a labor of love, not for any other reason, right?" Some of the reviews and comments that are coming in shares exactly that. Why write? Because these people deserve to be recognized for their human-based leadership. Everyone has a story to tell and I wanted to capture some of them so you can see your leadership mirrored within their words. And perhaps you'll take the time to find out the stories of the people in your lives and help them see their HB leadership.
The reviews have been fabulous and I'm very grateful for them. I'd also like to share some of the notes I've been getting...the more personal side of what's emerging from the book. I'll share more over time. I believe these comments enrich the learning of the book as well as honor the time these wonderful leaders took to review and share their thoughts about Leaders: Their Stories, Their Words. Once you read the book, I'd love if you'd share yours.
"I so enjoyed this book. I found that I read it slowly and savored each chapter because it was so rich and meaningful. I get used to racing along the path of my life and tend to focus on my "to do's" - one after the other. Reading this book calmed me down and invited me to see beauty, joy and peace in ways I've not seen before. I couldn't read it in one sitting. I had to read a chapter and think about the story and messages over the next few days. Some stories were deeply personal to me, while others were more informational, but I found gems and insights in each and every one of them.........I'm going to re-read this book again and take more notes. It merits extra time." - Rhonda Witwer, BS, MBA, Senior Business Development Manager, Nutrition, Bridgewater, New Jersey
"The book is great overall. It is an easy read and it is packed with great thoughts and insights from very talented people. It clearly shows the effect of human-based leaders in action. It covers human-based leadership from a wide range of different communities of practice. It covers industrial businesses, economic development, research, charitable organizations, government and political arenas. Every interview clearly showed the golden thread that human-based leadership is very important in today’s environment. A careful reader will learn and be enriched, regardless of which part of the society the reader is engaged in. I like the format. It is interesting and it enhances the learning experience. You can easily go back to find a gem that you can use in your work or interaction with other people because you associate the particular gem with an interviewee. What is also good is the insight that you can learn from leaders in other disciplines that seems mutually exclusive on the surface." - Pieter Diedericks, P.Eng., MSc(Chemical Engineering), MBA, Vice President Major Projects, Synthetic Oil, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Saturday, July 16, 2011
What do Leaders Do?
Leave it to Seth Godin to keep it plain and simple.
Leaders lead.
Human-based leaders™ know that people never reach their limits. They only think they do. And they help them get there.
Leaders lead.
Human-based leaders™ know that people never reach their limits. They only think they do. And they help them get there.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Are You a Human-Based Leader™?
"Human-based leaders marry a passion for what they do with compassion for those with whom they do it. Human-based (HB) leadership is based on leading through what I call ‘humanness’ rather than command-and-obey, "do as I say" leadership. It's having power with people, not having power over people. So, in effect, humanity-based as opposed to power-based.(PB) "
Does that describe who you are and how you value the people you work with? Do you work with someone who is a human-based leader?
Share your HB Leader story with us by end of July, 2011. We're going to be choosing 5 of the most powerful stories and will feature them on our blog for our book launch.
Looking forward...
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Memorable Advice
Over the years, I've given and received some amazing advice from mentors, colleagues, students, family and friends. Some will sound familiar, some will be a reminder of what you were told but forgot and other advice, well, you choose whether or not it applies...
- Live your life based on the commitments you make and keep. If you don't honour your commitments, it'll speak volumes about your character.
- Give people a chance. Everyone knows something about life and living that you don't. Take the time to find out.
- Don't try to be what everyone else thinks you should be. If you do, who will be you?
- Add value just because.
- Be curious. Always look for what you don't know, not only confirm what you already do.
- Always be a learner and if you don't know how, learn how to learn.
- Attitude is contagious so figure out what you want the contagion to be.
- People aren't clairvoyant. Tell them what you're thinking.
- Risk.
- Think future backwards.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Finding Greatness
Today my friend Deb sent me a link to a fabulous blog titled Place Yourself in the Presence of Greatness by Leo Babauta. In his piece he says, "You learn to see greatness when you happen upon it, and that is a true gift. It’s not just in famous people, but in commoners like us. If you learn to look. If you recognize it for greatness, and then use it to move you.
"And soon, you use the greatness all around you to reach for greatness yourself.
"And eventually, you realize that you’re always in the presence of greatness … because the greatness is within you.
"And learning that? That’s the greatest gift ever."
What that brought to mind for me is we all have the capability of being great, to be leaders (regardless of title or level). By being authentic to ourselves and others, living our word and paying attention to our impact on others as well as their impact on us, we can be even greater.
I love reading what brings to light something I didn't know before as well as affirming what I always believed. For me a great one is someone who lives their life in direct proportion to the commitments they make and keep. It's not about money, title, position or power. It's about authenticity and truth, caring and consideration. As long as I'm open to learning I'll recognize that everyone in the world knows something more about life and living it than I do and can learn from them.
Yes. Each of us does have greatness within. What I charge you with is to remove all the ways of being that might be causing your greatness to diminish. Some of these are having power over people rather than with them, over-committing and underdelivering, making promises and breaking them and thinking saying sorry again and again will make it all better and most of all, letting pride get in the way of doing the right thing.
What else might be standing in your way of greatness? What do you have to let go of?
"And soon, you use the greatness all around you to reach for greatness yourself.
"And eventually, you realize that you’re always in the presence of greatness … because the greatness is within you.
"And learning that? That’s the greatest gift ever."
What that brought to mind for me is we all have the capability of being great, to be leaders (regardless of title or level). By being authentic to ourselves and others, living our word and paying attention to our impact on others as well as their impact on us, we can be even greater.
I love reading what brings to light something I didn't know before as well as affirming what I always believed. For me a great one is someone who lives their life in direct proportion to the commitments they make and keep. It's not about money, title, position or power. It's about authenticity and truth, caring and consideration. As long as I'm open to learning I'll recognize that everyone in the world knows something more about life and living it than I do and can learn from them.
Yes. Each of us does have greatness within. What I charge you with is to remove all the ways of being that might be causing your greatness to diminish. Some of these are having power over people rather than with them, over-committing and underdelivering, making promises and breaking them and thinking saying sorry again and again will make it all better and most of all, letting pride get in the way of doing the right thing.
What else might be standing in your way of greatness? What do you have to let go of?
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