November, 2013

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How to Spot and Overcome Manipulation

Leadership Freak

'“There is perhaps nothing more dangerous than a bad person with good people skills.” Bob Burg in Adversaries to Allies. Manipulators are skillful persuaders. Leaders become manipulators when self-serving goals outweigh shared goals. Self-serving goals require manipulation, coercion, deception, and pressure tactics. Shared goals, on the other hand, pull everyone forward.

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A Surprising Gratitude List for Leaders

Kevin Eikenberry

'If you will be celebrating Thanksgiving this week, there will be a moment when you look around the room, or look around the table, and the list of things you are thankful will be obvious and apparent. The food, the family and friends around you, and perhaps the football on the TV may all make […].

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Seven Positive Responses to Negative Feedback

Leadership Freak

'Image source Negative feedback isn’t the issue. You are. How you respond to correction, criticism, and negative feedback tells me who you are. It’s even more telling when it comes from someone of lower status. Negative responses: “It’s your fault too.” Making it personal. Standing aloof Minimizing. Arguing. Feeling attacked. Finger pointing. Excuse making.

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20 Ways to Give Negative Feedback

Leadership Freak

'Growth always hurts. But, stagnation is death. Growth requires feedback. Successful leaders are great at giving feedback. Good intentions don’t compensate for poor execution when it comes to negative feedback. Done well, negative feedback is a gift. Done poorly, it devalues, demotivates, and discourages. Benefit: Successful feedback is turning on the lights.

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How to Make The Best Benefits Decisions for 2025's Workforce: An HR and Total Rewards Guide

Speaker: Kaitlin Ruby Carroll

Retaining top talent in 2025 means rethinking benefits. In a competitive job market, fertility benefits are more than just offerings - they are a commitment to your team’s well-being. Gain critical insights into the latest fertility benefits strategies that can help position your organization as an industry leader. Our expert will explore the unique advantages and challenges of each model, share success stories from top organizations, and offer practical strategies to make benefits decisions tha

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The Surprising Secret to Finding Mentors

Leadership Freak

'The dark side of leadership is worse when you feel alone. Leaders face frustration, disappointment, confusion, doubt, stress, fear, and more. Hopelessness defeats leaders unless they replenish strength and find direction. Hope is a function of relationship. Leaders with mentors go further. Mentors: Elevate your game. Believe in your potential and talent.

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20 Things to do When the Boss is Wrong

Leadership Freak

'You have an obligation to yourself, your boss, and your organization to speak up when you disagree. One of the best ways to earn respect is advocating for your ideas with integrity, courtesy, and intelligence. Strong organizations have courageous leaders. Weakness gives in too soon. Arrogance hangs on too long. Foolishness speaks before thinking. When […].

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How to Defeat the Dangers of Disrespect

Leadership Freak

'Foolish leaders disrespect intentionally. But, for many, disrespect is accidental. Disrespectful leaders demoralize the team. You’re disrespectful when you: Answer for others in meetings. Help when help isn’t needed. Over-helpfulness suggests others aren’t capable. Make choices without input from those impacted. Unilateral decisiveness feels like a putdown to those on the receiving end of your […].

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The Five Freedoms of Gratitude

Leadership Freak

'Ingratitude is weak, small, ugly, arrogant, and contagious. Unthankful leaders repel healthy followers and attract the ungrateful. “Ingratitude is the essence of vileness.” Immanuel Kant Companions of ingratitude: Fear. Entitlement. Envy. Blame. Anger. Freedom: Gratitude sets you free. Ingratitude is bondage to offenses, disappointments, and dissatisfaction. 5 Freedoms: Inclusion.

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Seven Ways to Defeat Hopelessness

Leadership Freak

'Hope is a way of thinking when things are uncertain. Leadership requires boldness in the face of uncertainty. Boldness requires hope. Hope enables action. Hope believes things can change. Leaders with hope rise to challenges. Leaders without hope run. Hope gets more done than discouragement or despair. Hope faces uncertainty with reasoned confidence.

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Getting the Most From Anger

Leadership Freak

'Our discomfort with anger speaks to it’s power. But, those who don’t get angry don’t care. Anger is uncomfortable because it ruins lives. “Frustration” is more comfortable. “I’m not angry,” we say, “I’m just frustrated.” Anger is passion. Anger is a gift. “Sometimes, you have to get angry to get things done.” Ang Lee The […].

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The Diversity Reckoning: Can HR Survive Without New Perspectives?

Speaker: Jeremy York

2024 has tested every organization, and 2025 promises no less - the warning signs are everywhere. If you’re relying on superficial approaches to diversity, you might find yourself scrambling to catch up. Thought diversity - the fuel for new ideas, fresh perspectives, and disruptive innovation - is more than a buzzword. It's a survival strategy. And if you’re not building it into your workplace culture right now , you’re heading for trouble.

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Five Ways to Turn Adversaries into Allies

Leadership Freak

'Forget about strolling through life and ending with extraordinary impact. Leadership is never an accident. Influence is intentional and earned. Leaders intentionally have point B in mind. Bob Burg’s new book, Adversaries into Allies, explains how leaders earn and ethically leverage influence in order to arrive at point B. #1. Control your emotions.

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How to Fulfill Your Dreams

Leadership Freak

'Nothing’s more painful than unfulfilled dreams. Dreams slip away as time passes. Defeated dreamers roll over in bed one morning and say, “What’s the use. It’ll never happen.” But… Leaders are dreamers and deadlines turn dreams into reality. Dreams without deadlines destroy people. Wishful thinkers choose talk over action. When someone tells you they have a […].

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Overcoming the 10 Dangers of Talent

Leadership Freak

'The 10 Dangers of being Talented: Relying on talent rather than hard work. Too much winging it. Assuming what’s easy for you is easy for others. Being a threat to bosses. Unwillingness to change or grow. Alienating others. Feeling entitled. Being pigeon holed. Feeling paralyzed by too many options. Boredom. Arrogance. Visit The Leadership Freak […].

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Risk Going Too Far

Leadership Freak

'Success is an anchor. You don’t move ahead for fear of losing what you have. It’s easy to take risks when you don’t have anything to lose. Fear of taking risks destroys dreams. “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” T. S. Eliot Going too far is […].

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Recognition Powers High-Performance — If You Do it Right

Speaker: Radhika Samant and Todd Wuestenberg

Employee recognition has often been deemed a "feel-good" initiative, tied closely to rewards. While we understand its importance, we tend to associate recognition with intangible outcomes like engagement and sentiment, rather than direct impacts on retention and high performance. In today’s workplace, the true ROI of recognition lies in its ability to regenerate tangible, business-driven results.

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In the Midst of a Great Relationship

Leadership Freak

'Organizations filled with people who need to be #1 are paralyzed by sideways energy. Everyone pulls for their own way rather than pulling together. We are so in love with being #1 that we minimize being #2. But, great organizations are filled with great followers. Becoming number two: “Losing an election was perhaps the most […].

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What Makes Leaders Matter More

Leadership Freak

'Leaders don’t matter until they do what matters. Intrinsic human worth and the value of a leader are separate issues. You don’t matter when you do what doesn’t matter. Doing what matters: The people who ultimately know what matters are the people you serve, customers. The more you please customers the more you matter. Without […].

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Jesus was a Follower

Leadership Freak

'Not all leaders can lead like Gandhi, Lincoln, Churchill, or Jesus. Surprisingly, Jesus described himself as a follower. He said things like: I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father. I have not spoken of my own authority. Leaders follow: You can’t lead if you don’t follow. Authority is derived from […].

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Something Better than Results

Leadership Freak

'Stop focusing on results. I just listened to one of the most highly regarded football coaches in the United States say, “Don’t worry about winning.” Freaky! Here’s the message I took: Forget about long-term goals. Concentrate on meaningful, energetic work, now. Nick Saban, coach of Alabama’s Crimson Tide, says, “Don’t worry about winning, just focus […].

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HR Meets AI: The New Way of Keeping Large Workforces Connected and Engaged

Speaker: Miriam Connaughton and Donald Knight

As organizations scale, keeping employees connected, engaged, and productive can seem like a monumental task. But what if AI could help you do all of this and more? AI has the power to help, but the key is implementing it in a way that enhances, rather than replaces, human connection. Join us for an exploration into how industry trailblazers are using AI to transform employee experience at scale while addressing both the potential and the pitfalls.

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I Nearly Died

Leadership Freak

'Two years ago today I collided with a tree and nearly died. I don’t remember much about the accident. But, a day hasn’t gone by that I haven’t remembered that life is frail. I remember the touch of people standing by my bed. Two college students built a wheel chair ramp. Friends brought food. My […].

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How to Rise Above Gift Exchanges at Work

Leadership Freak

'Obligatory gifts aren’t gifts. Generosity requires freedom. Gift giving was magic when our children were young. Some years money was tight and we added homemade gifts to store-bought. During prosperous years we over did it. Generosity delights everyone. However… Avoid giving gifts at work. If your office doesn’t do it, don’t start. If you currently give gifts […].

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How to Succeed with a Lousy Boss

Leadership Freak

'I receive emails and questions after presentations like, “How can I manage up, I have a lousy boss?” Jimmy Collins, retired president of Chick-fil-A and author of, Creative Followership, doesn’t wait for people to ask him about lousy bosses. He asks them. My conversation with Jimmy rocked my world. He said things like: “Seeking Leadership roles […].

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Describing Essential Behaviors

Leadership Freak

'You can’t pursue what you can’t describe. If it can be achieved, it can be seen. If it can be seen, it can be described. If can be described, it can be measured. Description enables: Instruction. Focus. Progress. Measurement. Description enables leadership. If you can’t describe it, you can’t lead toward it. Outcomes or behaviors: […].

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The Upskilling Advantage: Transforming Your Workforce For Future Growth

Speaker: Brian Richardson

With a staggering 92% of CEOs prioritizing skill development, and 84% struggling with transformation, mastering upskilling is now more critical than ever. Drawing on extensive research and collaboration with hundreds of leading organizations, discover key hurdles and innovative best practices in workforce upskilling. You'll walk away with a deep understanding of how to build a culture of continuous learning, expert insights into assessing the current skills of your employees, and a strategic too

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Cowards Can’t Lead: Secrets to Fueling Courage

Leadership Freak

'Image source Cowards can’t lead. Inaction, pain, and failure follow cowardly leaders. Cowardly leaders: Won’t decide. Delay, posture, and blame. Reject responsibility. The most surprising aspect of leadership is the courage it takes. When I began, I thought leading was about excitement. Today, years later, it’s about courage. Input from Facebook, “Leaders need courage when […].

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Speed with Collaboration and Standards

Leadership Freak

'Messy collaboration can create speed. Mike Leavitt learned collaboration is often the best way to solve messy problems that involve large groups of people. Mike is the three time Governor of Utah and served on the Cabinet of President George W. Bush as Secretary of Health and Human Services and administrator of the Environmental Protection […].

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Overcoming the Distraction Addiction

Kevin Eikenberry

'There are lots of things people become addicted to. I believe one of the most prevalent isn’t ever mentioned in the same breath with the addictions you thought of as you were reading the first sentence. Under-recognized, unspoken and without a support group, perhaps the biggest addiction that business people have is distractions. For example, […].

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What’s Missing in Project Management Training

Kevin Eikenberry

'The truth is there is probably as much training available on project management as there is on any leadership topic or skill I could ever write about here. Don’t believe me? Google it. There is plenty of training available, plenty of experience with it, plenty of knowledge available. Of course, that doesn’t guarantee that we […].

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Mastering Remote Onboarding: Proven Strategies for Seamless New Hire Integration

Speaker: Tim Buteyn, President of ThinkingKap Learning Solutions

Join this brand new webinar with Tim Buteyn to learn how you can master the art of remote onboarding! By the end of this session, you'll understand how to: Craft a Tailored Onboarding Checklist 📝 Develop a comprehensive, customized checklist that ensures every new hire has a smooth transition into your company, no matter where they are in the world.

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The Source of Your Fatigue

Kevin Eikenberry

'Seldom does a day pass without someone telling me they are tired, exhausted, or feel like they need a vacation. Fatigue seems pervasive, a malady that is faced by some at least occasionally, and by many people as a nearly constant state of being. One solution might be to get more sleep, but today, I […].

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Two Keys to Leadership Confidence

Kevin Eikenberry

'Everyone is about to move from the reception to the big business dinner. You are walking with some friends and colleagues, following the crowd as you pass the restrooms. Just ahead of you is one of the executives walking as confidently as they normally do, because they can’t see what you see – that they […].

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Have a Big Project? Start Here

Kevin Eikenberry

'There is much written about (and worth learning about) project planning and goal achievement. You can learn many strategies and approaches to help your projects be successful and your goals be reached. Seldom is today’s starting point discussed. Yet rightly, this starting point will make all of the tactics, tools, and approaches work better. In […].

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Using The Big Ears Approach to Listen Better Naturally!

Kevin Eikenberry

'Everyone has heard it – the old saying we have two ears and one mouth, and we should use them in that proportion. We’ve heard it, but we seldom take action on the idea. It isn’t really because we don’t know how to listen or even that we don’t understand the value […].

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How To Empower Your Workforce With Modern Fertility Benefits

Speaker: Andrea Wuchiski

In an era where a workforce spans multiple generations, HR managers and Total Rewards leaders face the unique challenge of designing benefits packages that cater to diverse employee needs. This session will delve into how comprehensive fertility benefits can bridge generational gaps, support employees’ health, and enhance workplace satisfaction. Join us for an insightful session that highlights the strategic importance of fertility benefits in today’s competitive job market.