November, 2012

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The Top 5 Mistakes of Unsuccessful Leaders

Leadership Freak

Mistakes that don’t hurt don’t matter. The worst mistakes are the ones that hurt others. The trouble with leadership is your mistakes always hurt others. The top 5 mistakes of unsuccessful leaders: Not being open to criticism. Trying to hide mistakes. Not making decisions. Failing to explain objectives. Telling people how to do things rather [.].

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What Does Professionalism Look Like?

Kevin Eikenberry

Some time ago, I was delivering two workshops in Toronto. During the first, there were a couple of comments about professionalism, along the lines of, “I want my people to act like professionals.” Others in the room nodded their heads, and while I considered asking a follow up, clarifying question, I opted to move on [.].

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CM and ALM for Global Software Development

CMCrossroads

In his CM: The Next Generation Series, Joe Farah writes that there are many reasons that organizations or government agencies use distributed development. Whatever the reason, a software development team, and indeed the entire product team, needs to do all it can to ensure that development proceeds smoothly.

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Fearful Leaders are Followers

Leadership Freak

Image source Every morning I put my fingers on the keyboard not knowing what will come out. An hour or two later, I post 300 word or less on this blog. (Technically its fewer not less.) Writing is thinking and often I think differently when the hour’s over. Yesterday it happened again when I typed, [.].

Manager 95
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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 Four Powers of Gratitude

Leadership Freak

Show me a leader who is happy with everything and I’ll show you a loser. The gift of young leaders is unhappiness. The tragedy of old leaders is contentment. Unhappiness and discontent ignite passion for change. Warning: Slime pits of ingratitude lie just beyond unhappiness. Nothing de-motivates like churlish ungratefulness. On the other hand, gratitude [.].

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The 5 Positive Powers of Self-Doubt

Leadership Freak

Image source If you grapple with self-doubt, keep reading. If you don’t grapple with it, you’re dangerous. Experts sing, “Believe in yourself,” However, unquestioned self-belief produces self-serving leaders who won’t adapt. Tom Petty captures the experience of many in, “Saving Grace,” when he sings, “You’re confident but not really sure.” Confident but not sure is [.].

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How to Have Life Changing Conversations

Leadership Freak

Your job is bringing out the best in others by the way you interact with them. Well timed, well executed conversation change people’s lives. First: Determine and affirm aspirations and goals. Never have conversations about an individual’s life, strengths, weaknesses, or potential until you understand their hopes and dreams. People open their hearts to people who [.].

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The Real Reason Teams Don’t Work

Leadership Freak

Overwork prevents teamwork. Imagine the feeling of being close to missing a deadline. At 3:00 p.m. a team mate needs your expertise on their marketing project. Are you eager to serve? Or, are they an irritating pain in the a**? You’re frustrated because you want to help but feel you can’t. People who can’t get [.].

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10 Ways to Become a Contrarian Leader

Leadership Freak

Image source Nice leaders finish last, if nice means agreeable. If all you do is agree, go home. You aren’t contributing. “There is a condition afflicting organizations that often goes undiagnosed because it is perceived as benign. In truth, it is corrosive. I call it the ‘the disease of niceness.’” John Baldoni in, “The Leaders [.].

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The Five Powers of Permission

Leadership Freak

Old styles of leadership are about giving permission to supplicants. Followers seek permission. It’s an “I/you” rather than “we” dynamic. Leaders have power while followers ask. I/you leadership is disengaging and disempowering. Successful leaders do more than give permission, they get it. Permission answers the question, “Is it ok with you if we talk about [.].

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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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Making Dreams Matter

Leadership Freak

Dreams smolder and die unless others own them. Passion isn’t meaningful until it ignites others. Igniting passion isn’t pumping up. Pumping up: Is fun at events but manipulative as long-term strategy. Places unnecessary burden on leaders and managers. Never lasts. Drains and exhausts. Pumping up pours energy from you to others. Ignition: Healthy people all dream the same dream; [.].

Energy 90
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Choosing Who NOT to Help

Leadership Freak

I thought leading was getting people on my team. But, leading is getting on their team; grabbing their oar. But whose boat and whose oar? Whose boat: Leaders can’t help those going in the “wrong” direction. By wrong, I don’t mean morally wrong. I mean wrong for the organization. Get out of boats going in [.].

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Recollections of an Empty Cup

Leadership Freak

It’s the one year anniversary of my accident. I remember rehab. There’s pain, discouragement, and negativity in every hospital. Alongside darkness, you’ll find hope and healing in the people who work there. I watched them come to work like most do, kind of blah. But, somewhere between their first cup of coffee and seeing me, [.].

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The Power of Receiving

Leadership Freak

New leaders find giving help easier than receiving help but receiving is necessary. Supporting others earns promotions. Receiving help expands impact and maximizes the talents of others. Doug Conant, author and former CEO of Campbell’s Soup, has a leadership model that centers around the question, “How can I help?” Check out his book, Touch Points. [.].

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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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The Struggle and Power of Divergent Values

Leadership Freak

It’s a mistake to expect everyone to fully align with your values. Shared values are never fully shared. Power of values: Shared values are the heartbeat of vibrant organizations. Values drive decisions. Decisions drive direction. Direction drives satisfaction. Diversity in values: Close alignment and diversity are better than full alignment and unity.

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7 Powerful Ways to Clear Your Path to Success

Leadership Freak

It’s easy to point out mistakes and problems. Offering solutions is another matter. A Leadership Freak contributor writes on yesterday’s article, “I was hoping for the “how not to make these mistakes” version of “The Top Mistake of Team-Leaders.” Any tips regarding how to curtail the mistakes on that list? In other words, don’t just [.].

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Overcoming the Downside of Pursuing Excellence

Leadership Freak

The problem with the pursuit of excellence is there is no done, only better. Done satisfies. Move on. Yes! There is no check box in the pursuit of excellence. The second challenge with the pursuit of excellence is feedback. Excellence demands feedback but feedback begins in the past. Beware, the past sucks in like black [.].

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Five Ways to Overcome the Folly of Perseverance

Leadership Freak

Bad ideas were good once but nothing always works. Quitters never win. At least that’s what we think. The danger of perseverance is it’s virtuous but not always wise. Thomas Edison famously said, “Many of life’s failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Don’t let Edison’s statement [.].

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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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How to Ignore Others

Leadership Freak

Curt said, “I turn away when they load accident victims in the back. If I looked, the medical team would probably have another patient. I don’t want to know what’s going on back there. I can hear it when things are getting dicey but I try to ignore it.” On the one year anniversary of [.].

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Facing the 3 Pressing Challenges of Leadership

Leadership Freak

Image source The first pressing challenge of leadership is focusing on the thing that matters most. People matter most. In one sense, you are the person that matters most. Nurture and develop you as much as you nurture and develop others. In another sense, others matter most. You make others matter when you: Celebrate effort [.].

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The Most Important Thing

Leadership Freak

Facebook contributors completed the sentence, “The most important thing leaders do is _.” The first 10 responses were: Listen. Give feedback. Empower. Communicate vision. Inspire. Enable others… Learn. Lead! Keep hope alive. Pray. Read the entire list on Facebook. The answer: I didn’t have an answer when I asked. Now I believe there is no single answer. [.].

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Igniting Change from the Middle

Leadership Freak

Image source Passion for positive change drives people crazy, especially those in the middle of organizations. People at the bottom go along to get along. They won’t change until they’re sure top leadership supports change. But, what if those at the top fear change? The passionate-middle feels paralyzed by lack of interest or support from [.].

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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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Bone Turkey

Leadership Freak

We were poor college students, over 1,600 miles from home, when we celebrated our first Thanksgiving as husband and wife. The capacity of our kitchen was two, uncomfortably. It was 1976. Dave Tricky, a fellow student, came over with his girlfriend. It was a big deal; friends and food mean a lot when you don’t [.].

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Moving Stagnant Organizations

Leadership Freak

Image source Every team has a few passionate leaders chomping at the bit to create the future. But, dead weight weighs them down. Most teams lead by consensus, the lowest common denominator. I believe in leading with teams but struggle with drifters, underperformers, and the fearful who hold organizations back. It’s frustrating when playing it [.].

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The Surprising Path to the Future

Leadership Freak

The real problem with problems is they draw you into the past. Fixing problems is focusing on something that already happened. The power of leadership is creating something new not fixing something old. One the other hand, preventing problems is a problem. Teams never win if defense is all they play. Organizational success is about doing [.].

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How Leaders Frustrate Others

Leadership Freak

Last week, I frustrated someone, again. I thought I learned my lesson but old habits die hard. There’s always room for improvement, from my point of view. Nothing’s ever done. I’m tempted to add to or modify projects while in progress. It feels great to me. I’m adding value. Modifying project outcomes, after jobs begin, [.].

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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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Leadership Freak Webinar December 12, 2012

Leadership Freak

Image source Date: December 12, 2012. Webinar Time: 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Cost: $19.95 early bird special ends November 30. Use code: Early Bird December 1: $39.95. Register at: Writing Blogs that Get Read You have the passion and message. Now learn the secrets to writing compelling blogs that get read by tens [.].

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Dealing with Jerk-Bosses

Leadership Freak

Image source Everyone has a jerk-boss, sooner or later. Don’t worry if your boss is a jerk to everyone; worry if he singles you out. If the boss is a jerk to everyone, you have three options: Change him. (Good luck) Live with it. Change jobs. If you choose option #1, be prepared for option [.].

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Why Most Leadership Development Efforts Fail

Kevin Eikenberry

George was seen as an up-and-coming leader in the organization. People that worked for him liked and respected him. Those in Senior Leadership saw his potential, so he was slated to attend the company’s leadership development workshop. George was ecstatic! He loved the organization and wanted to move up and contribute as much as he [.].

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A Persistent Feeling of Frailty

Leadership Freak

November 20th is the one year anniversary of my collision with a tree that nearly killed me. I think of life as BA and AA, Before Accident and After Accident. The tree won, I lost. I have foggy recollections of a semi-conscious trip in a life-flight helicopter to a regional trauma center. The noise, the [.].

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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.