Alan Feirer Let’s make the assumption that, as a leader, you’ve taken a number of human behavior assessments (like the Leadership Practices Inventory, Everything DiSC®, Strengths Finders or Myers-Briggs), and therefore you have some sort of description (or two or five descriptions) as to what kind of leader you are. What happens to those analyses after you … Read more
I do quite a bit of work with youth organizations, with an emphasis on true empowerment of youth leaders to contribute to the organization’s work. It takes effort, so I was recently asked “Is it worth all the effort to have student leadership?” I said yes, and here is my full answer: Many would agree … Read more
Last fall, I spent two blog posts discussing how effective leaders stay organized. At that time, I was referring to your actual to-do list, which typically won’t have the actual words “pay attention to John on Monday.” But maybe you should consider it. A colleague of mine was telling me about a car salesman who … Read more
When I was in 6th grade, my music teacher, Mr. Jones, played us some “Switched-On Bach” – Bach performed on synthesizer. That was pretty cool back in 1980. If you’re over 40, I bet you know what I’m talking about. It actually got me really interested in “real” Bach music; I’m a fan to this … Read more
If you’re a leader, you’re likely an expert on something. If you’re an expert, people come to you for advice and opinion. And you might find yourself talking and talking and talking. Then, you realize that you’re talking too much, and listening too little. You know better, but you’re stuck. What can you do? Here’s … Read more
Sometimes, servant leadership calls for relinquishing power. Insecure leaders look for opportunities to take power, and we know this on some level. Here’s an opportunity to let others steer things. Ignore caller ID. Pretend it doesn’t exist. This means two things: 1) If you’re free to answer the phone when it rings, answer it. No … Read more
I ate in a London pub with a group once, and the server made a mistake when calculating the bill. Unfortunately, he didn’t believe us, and our argument kept escalating. I got a little, um, animated myself. He was in the wrong (I have witnesses), but now he had a service issue with an obviously … Read more
Happy Anniversary to the most important book on leadership on my shelf. Not only is it compelling, research-based, comprehensive, elegant, immediately applicable, and timeless; it changed my life. Research ought to be relevant, right? So, when it was time to pick a topic for my master’s thesis, it was easy. I was a band teacher … Read more
I’ve heard the word “wow” twice recently. 1) “Wow! Thanks for calling me back!” Someone called and left a voice mail; he wanted to meet for coffee to visit about the computing support services his company offered. I called him back an hour later, and I think he was surprised I called back at all. … Read more
Four-way stops are easy, right? Stop, then take your turn after everyone else has gone. Is it a tie? Person on the right goes first. Easy. No problem. Does everyone totally adhere to The Rules of the Four Way Stop? I bet they think they do. But you’ve seen these… -The “rolling stopper”…-The one on … Read more