Just the Way They Are

Meeting for breakfast with a friend and former co-worker recently, the conversation turned to a certain leader with whom we were both familiar. This leader had built a family of successful companies. It was easy to attribute the success of these...

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Perfectly Imperfect

As a leader (as opposed to a boss or a manager), we often find ourselves being affirmed for our leadership qualities. These qualities, which might be our intelligence, wisdom, common sense, decision-making skills, relational skills, strategic...

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The Problem of Arrogance

One of the primary reasons for the downfall of many leaders is the problem of arrogance. Arrogance defeats leadership in many ways, especially in these two: 1) arrogance inhibits a person’s ability to learn or take in information and 2) arrogance...

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What’s the Story?

It is not unusual for people, when faced with conflict or crisis involving another person, to imagine a story that might explain the conflict. Oftentimes the story is an elaborate tale of persecution and very often it is false. Some examples of...

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A People Person

An effective leader must be a people person. But what is a people person. Some expect a people person to be highly sociable, perhaps even gregarious. You know this type. At an event, they know everyone and make the rounds having small talk with...

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Fear of Conflict

As a leader, it is often necessary to lean into conflict. This conflict might be based on some disagreement that someone has with us or it might be a conflict between two team members. There is great value in having divergent views and seeking...

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Resolution or Resolve?

It is the time of year when some people make New Year’s resolutions. Resolutions are often something like “I want to lose weight” or “I want to spend more time with my kids” or “I want to improve my performance on the job to get that promotion.”...

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Congruity in Leadership

Congruity is a quality of agreement and appropriateness. Where there’s congruity, things fit together in a way that makes sense. In terms of our leadership, congruity is being the same person or leader in every situation. Leaders who lack...

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