I have talked about trusting your gut in some of my other posts when it comes to decision making. There are times where you are dealing with such an ambiguous situation that you may not have anything else to go on. We even had buttons in our office that said “ambiguity is my friend” on them because we had to deal with so many unknowns. These type of situations will force you to make decisions with what you know at the…
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If you have ever seen a picture of an iceberg you know that there is a portion of it that rises above the water and the rest is below the water. This is the perfect metaphor for a leader. Above the surface it is calm and everything appears to be good. Below the surface, however, there are the unknown things occurring that we can’t see. I have been told that I am a very calm person. I try to be calm…
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For the rest of the week, I am going to dive a little deeper into the leadership traits that were covered in the post that I did yesterday. If you missed it, you can read it here. Initially, there were two leadership traits that were very challenging for me to learn. This could be because they seemed to be in direct conflict with leading to me. What I didn’t realize then was that instead of “leading others”, I was actually…
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My first role with direct reports was a new role that didn’t exist before. I had three direct reports and oversight of the daily activities of 22 indirect reports. It was a little overwhelming at the time. The great thing was I got to make up what the role would do, how it would work and define it all as I went along. For a first time leader of people, it was a little scary. There was no one else…
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Part of why I enjoy writing this blog is that I get to learn new things as I research topics to write about. One of my strengths is a love of learning so this fits in perfectly for me. What is even better for all of you is that I share the ones that I think you will find to be the most valuable. I hope that you agree and will find at least one take away from what is…
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In yesterday’s post, Do Something Great Today I talked about getting things done and how people work differently. What that really comes down to is procrastination. The word procrastination means “the act of delaying or postponing something.” What I described as my work style yesterday was my “procrastination” to get started on things and delaying them until the last possible minute. It is a habit that I have had as long as I can remember. Cramming for tests the night before, writing…
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Opportunities come along every day, but are you ready for them when they happen? It would be great if you could predict what to know and when to be ready, but you can’t. All you can do is to prepare yourself as much as you can, be ready to learn on the job and from others who can mentor you. Let me share a story with you that illustrates this point. A football player named Jordan Howard played the…
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The beginning of the year is the time of the year to clean the slate and try new things. What things have you been thinking about, but haven’t put into action yet? What is holding you back? So many people that I work with have a lot of dreams and aspirations for change to occur, but are hesitant to try. So let’s clean the slate and try a new approach. Write…
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Today’s article was written by Mona Reiser, a guest contributor and one of my former managers. (You can see more about her at the end of the article.) She is one of the smartest leaders that I know and I am so honored that she is sharing one of her stories on my blog. I was a part of the organization that is discussed in her article. I took many lessons from such a great management team and applied them…
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I heard an interesting podcast today on the subject of being an impostor. This is something that many people feel throughout their career. Here are some of the questions that go through an impostor’s mind: “What if people find out I don’t know everything that I should? What if they realize I am not ready for this role and they shouldn’t have given me the job?” Does this sound like you? Surprisingly this happens to many high potential people, especially…
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