April, 2012

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People who Change the World

Leadership Freak

** People who change the world are like everyone else except they do something. They are moms, dads, men, women, young, old, rich, or poor. Some are educated – some not. Race isn’t the issue, either. People who change the world all begin at the same point – the point where you may be today. [.].

Education 103
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What You Must Surrender to Lead Best

Kevin Eikenberry

Surrender? When you think about surrender, you don’t likely think of great leadership. People who surrender, lose, right? The dictionary tells us that surrender, as a verb, means things like: “to yield possession or power,” “to give (oneself) up,” “to give up, abandon or relinquish.” These are hardly the ideas we connect with leaders we [.].

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A/B Testing

GMC

A/B Testing. Brian Christian reports in the May 2012 edition of Wired that (now-classic) A/B testing of web site variations has virtually replaced HiPPO decision-making in tech circles, at least for web design decisions. (HiPPO is “highest-paid person’s opinion.”). “Over the past decade, the power of A/B testing has become an open secret of high-stakes web development.

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16 Secrets for Dealing with an Empty Tank

Leadership Freak

** You can’t lead with an empty tank. 16 energy drainers: Incomplete tasks. Responsibility without authority. Proving you’re right rather than seeking best solutions. Following urgencies rather than priorities. Pretending you’re something you aren’t. Feeling alone and disconnected. Procrastination. Go do that dirty deed before it does you in. Negative people and complainers.

Energy 97
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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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10 Ways to Become a Risk-Taker

Leadership Freak

“Real change agents comprise less than 10% of all business people,” Jack Welch. Most leaders play not-to-lose rather than playing to win, especially in large organizations. The more we have to lose the more we play not-to-lose. What we protect owns, limits, and controls us. What we risk propels us forward. When to risk: An [.].

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10 Powerful Strategies to Build Your Confidence

Leadership Freak

(Photograph courtesy of NASA Langley Research Center) ** Repeating the past in a changing world makes you irrelevant and insignificant. Employing old strategies in new situations tends toward failure. Transition, turbulence, and change test leadership-confidence. Danger and beauty: The danger of confidence is quantity – too little paralyzes; too much and you’re an arrogant fool [.].

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Six Secrets of Inspirational Leadership

Leadership Freak

The real test of leadership isn’t what you do it’s what you inspire others to do. Great leaders inspire others to contribute greatly. The shift from individual contributor to inspiring others may be your greatest leadership challenge. They – not you - become central. Six Secrets of Inspirational Leadership #1. Pushing people isn’t inspiration.

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Being Dissatisfied Without Becoming Critical

Leadership Freak

The line between healthy dissatisfaction and destructive criticism is narrow. Dissatisfaction drives change and inspires innovation – all leaders feel it. Criticism, on the other hand, inspires fear, resistance, defensiveness, excuses, anger, or bitterness. Dissatisfaction points to potential, growth, and improvement. Criticism digs at what was wrong.

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Where Women Leaders Are Better than Men

Leadership Freak

I asked the “Freaks” that follow my Facebook page, “What are women leaders better at than men?” Knowing when there is no value in fighting. Understanding when someone just has a crummy day. Understanding the pressures that other women leaders face. Organization and multitasking. Compassion. *Empathy. Tenderness. Building consensus, supporting staff, sharing credit, and leading [.].

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Read This Before You Attend Your Next Training Session

Kevin Eikenberry

Dear Learner, I don’t know why the training is on your calendar. Maybe you are being told to go. Maybe you don’t even really know what it is about. Maybe you’d rather go to training than be at your desk. Maybe training means a chance to get away from home for a day or two. [.].

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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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I’ve Been Knocked Down, Now What

Leadership Freak

Jack Dempsey on one knee. (From Washington Post) ** The ability to get up after being knocked down is the most important ability in life. ** Alison asked, “After being knocked down it feels a lot slower to rise up? Is it ok to take it slow?” Don’t pop up quickly after being knocked down. [.].

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Why Powerful Women Should Talk Less

Leadership Freak

It perilous to ignore the way people expect you to behave. Like it or not, we have stereo typical expectations when it comes to talking and power. We expect powerful men to talk more than their less powerful counterparts. This is not true for powerful women. Women – men – who talks more: You’d be [.].

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When Working Hard isn’t Working

Leadership Freak

It doesn’t matter how hard you work if you’re working on the wrong things. Managers, leaders, and business owners are the hardest working people I know. Working in your business is necessary but dangerous. You work “in” when you do business. Farmers milking cows, accountants accounting, preachers preaching, teachers teaching, and doctors doctoring are all [.].

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10 Questions That Give Vitality to Beginnings

Leadership Freak

Painful endings and uncertain beginnings are the two moments you make the most difference in a leader’s life. 10 Dangers in every new beginning: Confusing and obscure pictures of success. Listening to counsel from people who don’t first ask, “What’s your vision?” Everyone who offers advice without clarifying vision has their own agenda, not yours, in [.].

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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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Excuses. They Are Worse Than You Think

Kevin Eikenberry

Excuses. wear me out. Here are some examples from the workplace (though I could easily give you a longer list outside of work too): I can’t learn it that way (it’s not my learning style). I need to know this first, so until I know that I can’t. I can’t make it work because. No one will agree with me. I [.].

Energy 85
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Five Ways to Be More Productive Everyday (Starting Now)

Kevin Eikenberry

Everyone would like to be more productive (well, at least anyone who might be reading these words). Today, some simple and important ideas for raising your productivity, starting immediately. 1. Stop. Multi. Tasking. Seriously. It is an illusion if you think you can do it without hampering the effectiveness of either task. Want proof? When [.].

Manager 85
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7 Strategies All High Impact Leaders Employ

Leadership Freak

If high impact – positive leadership – was easy there’d be more of it. Your work-place would be invigorating and supportive rather than defeating and cut-throat. The world would be a better place. High impact is hard because: Leaders with power attract people who want power. Relationships become smokescreens. Leaders with resources have “friends.

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Build the Plane While it’s in the Air

Leadership Freak

If you don’t have something worth talking about, talking and listening are a waste of time. Communication skills are irrelevant apart from meaningful outcomes. Define the future first, then determine and develop the skills that take you there. Leadership skills are best learned when needed. Outcomes, deliverables, and noble goals infuse leadership skills and techniques with meaning. [.].

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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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The Surest Way to a Positive Attitude

Kevin Eikenberry

I had the chance to meet and hear the fabulous and wise Daniel Lapin speak yesterday. Daniel is a best-selling author, radio personality and is known as ”America’s Rabbi.” He spoke about faith and finances, leaving 1200 people with plenty to think about. Today’s quotation is one of the final things he said to the [.].

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Your Hopes and Dreams are Real

Kevin Eikenberry

In this blog, I have shared quotations from William James, often called the father of American psychology, before (here is an example). Today, I share another one – this one, full of positive possibility. “Your hopes, dreams and aspirations are legitimate. They are trying to take you airborne, above the clouds and above the storms, if you only let [.].

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Saying Less May Mean More

Kevin Eikenberry

Have you ever had a problem and needed to vent or just share what you were dealing with? When you are in this situation, are you always necessarily looking for advice, input, or counsel? If you are like most people, probably not. So why is it that when people come to us with their problems or [.].

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The Truth About Influence

Kevin Eikenberry

Eight year old Sam Baker was wondering about something, so he asked his parents, “How come our town doesn’t have a Christmas tree lit up for everyone in town to enjoy?” He reasoned that other nearby towns had trees, that they had a tree at the White House, and that he saw them light a [.].

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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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Forget Thriving Just Survive

Leadership Freak

It’s unrealistic and foolish to think you’ll always thrive. Sometimes just making it is enough. Dennis N. T. Perkins, author of, “Leading at the Edge,” did a lot of things well until Plebe Year at the Naval Academy, then he couldn’t do anything well. It’s designed that way. His goal – survive. I asked Dennis [.].

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How to Build Your Leadership Brand

Leadership Freak

People who aren’t known for something haven’t done anything. “How to Build a Brand,” was the title we settled on for a recent presentation. It included social media content and making money using your online presence. Leadership brand building: On the negative side of brand building, I know leaders who are “save the day” leaders. They love [.].

Media 82
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How Talking Makes Leaders Dumb

Leadership Freak

Dumb people talk – smart people do. Talking makes you seem smart. Talking without doing, in reality, makes you dumb. Doing is the only thing that makes you smart. Stuff in our heads doesn’t make us smart until it’s put into action. If you can’t describe it, you can’t do it. If you can’t explain it, [.].

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Moving Toward the Truth

Leadership Freak

Dishonest leaders lie to cover up, manipulate, and protect their image. Deceptive strategies range from false humility – the subtlest form of arrogance – to telling people what they want to hear. All deceptions begin with cowardly self-interest. Lying is fearful posturing for personal advantage. For example, we don’t want to look dumb so we pretend [.].

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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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Finding Courage

Leadership Freak

The past is the future, apart from courageous leadership. Doing hard things takes courage; letting go takes most of all. Someone moves first, that’s you. Leaders move toward “not yet” while letting go of what is. The challenge of leadership is we never move up till we let go of what’s below. Testing points: [.].

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When the Problem Isn’t the Problem

Leadership Freak

Big problems are the result of neglecting small ones. “How often have we learned the harsh lesson that, like unharvested fruit, untended problems turn rotten?” Jim Moorhead, The Instant Survivor. Delay: Delay, not problems, destroys us. A crisis was a small problem, once. General Douglas Macarthur said, “The history of the failure of war can almost [.].

Manager 81
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Books that Most Changed my Leadership

Leadership Freak

Leadership Freaks who contribute to the Leadership Freak Coffee Shop on Facebook answered, “The leadership book that most changed my leadership is. Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson *Failing Forward by Maxwell *Bible Servant Leadership Spiritual Leadership by Oswald Sanders First, Break all the Rules Situational Leadership II by Ken Blanchard Strength Based [.].

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Seeing the Way You’re Seen

Leadership Freak

If perception is reality, pay attention to perceptions. It’s frustrating that hands-off leaders may be perceived as distant rather than making space for others to shine. The way you see you and the way others see you frequently aren’t aligned. Identify: If more eye contact made others feel you cared, would you give it? First, determine if [.].

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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.