Tag Archives: Lead BIG

Leadership reading to enjoy with your leftover pumpkin pie


Posted by Jane Perdue

Brain science, the impacts of saying ‘good morning,’ and character-based leadership were high on the research list this past week for the LeadBIG team. Enjoy the highlights!

The 5 Perils of Leadership (Miles Anthony Smith on Great Leadership)

A thoughtful character-based approach to leadership. “This world desperately needs leaders who aren’t afraid of the discomfort that is required of leadership and will do the gnarly job of putting the needs of others first, not their own selfish interests.” Continue reading →

Share

Leadership Reading Favs


Posted by Jane Perdue

Influence, diversity, inclusion, a-name-for-the-deadbeats-in-a-project-group, and office politics snagged our reading attention this past week and show up in our curated list of reading favs. Enjoy!

Why Inclusion is the New Competitive Business Advantage (Patty Rasmussen, Womenetics)

A great little interview that shreds some good light on how diversity is different from inclusion. “While diversity is certainly linked to inclusion, organizations can be diverse and not inclusive.” Continue reading →

Share

5 Strategies for Teamwork at the Edge


Posted by Dennis Perkins
Today’s guest post is from Dennis N.T. Perkins, author of Into the Storm: Lessons in Teamwork from the Treacherous Sydney to Hobart Ocean Race, CEO of Syncretics Group, a consulting firm dedicated to helping leaders and teams thrive under conditions of adversity, uncertainty, and change. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, he successfully completed his first Sydney Hobart Race in 2006.

Dennis PerkinsImagine navigating a tiny boat through a sudden, violent storm at sea — with winds roaring at nearly 100 mph and waves soaring to 80 feet — to not only survive, but triumph over formidable competitors in one of the world’s toughest ocean races. Continue reading →

Share

An eclectic leadership reading collection


Posted by Jane Perdue

Our leadership reading, tastes and research were all over the map this past week, from influence to bias, feedback, brain science and Halloween costumes. We hope you find some food for thought here!

Leadership: Intentional Influence (Joseph Grenny, Bloomberg Businessweek)

The BIG team loves Joseph calling out leaders for not doing things that should be a normal part of their job: failing to address organizational fiefdoms, not focusing on active efforts to create behavior change, and confusing talk with influence. Continue reading →

Share

Five Ways to Manage Workplace Conflict


Posted by Jane Perdue

It’s the weekly department staff meeting, and your boss  just recognized a colleague for her innovative  idea to improve customer service. Her public praise brought a round of applause from your colleagues.

You can’t applaud because you feel like you’ve just been hit by lightning — that idea was yours! Continue reading →

Share

How the “Power of And” Changed My Life


Posted by Margaret Seidler
Today’s guest post is from Margaret Seidler, a nationally recognized Organization Development consultant, master trainer, and author based in Charleston, SC. As one of only twelve certified Polarity Management Masters in North America, central to Margaret’s work is Polarity Management®, a set of principles and method to guide people in tapping the power of “both/and” thinking for better, more sustainable results.

After a 360° assessment that was, shall we say, less than stellar, I looked for a magic bullet to improve my leadership abilities.

What made a pivotal difference and accelerated my own abilities was discovering Polarity Thinking — a set of principles and a mapping tool introduced by Dr. Barry Johnson in 1975. I found polarity thinking a straightforward way to both document my wisdom and to shine a light on my blind spots. Continue reading →

Share

BIG’s Leadership Picks of the Week


Posted by Jane Perdue

This was a week of helping clients “make it so” - so posts about leadership action and results appealed to us. We hope these nuggets inspire you to turn a thought or a dream into reality!

If it were just about leading, would you still want to be a leader? (LeadershipNow)

Great little piece to get you thinking about defining success, purpose and your leadership legacy.

Leadership: Challenging The Status Quo (Lolly Daskal, Lead From Within) Continue reading →

Share

Are you an esteem slayer or builder?


Posted by Jane Perdue

A March 2012 DDI study “Leadership Lessons from the People Who Matter” reports 40% of respondents say their boss has never damaged their self-esteem. Only 40% with no damage? Yikes, that means 60% of respondents have had their self-esteem — their sense personal worth and competence — damaged by their boss. How disturbing.

In a business world where the fast forward button seems perpetually stuck and performance demands are ever-increasing, leaders can get caught in the quicksand of focusing on results, results and more results. Have you noticed morale dropping? Turnover increasing? People doing just enough to meet minimum requirements? Fewer and fewer smiles in the hallways? Continue reading →

Share

Leadership Nuggets BIG Liked


Posted by Jane Perdue

The team at BIG was drawn to “glass half-full” leadership topics this week:  happiness, being a positive leadership role model, going for it, resiliency, and making things better. Soak it up and pay it forward!

Why are managers so afraid to show some happiness? (Alexander Kjerulf, Chief Happiness Officer)

“Happiness pays off. Happiness at work is catching – and when the boss is happy, it’s downright infectious. If you, the person in charge, seem unhappy, you dampen the mood of everyone else in the company.” The BIG team says go for it! Continue reading →

Share

Losing our bloody minds over bald leader bias


Posted by Jane Perdue

What is wrong with us?! Have we lost our bloody minds?

As leaders, we’ve worked long and hard to stamp out overt bias in the workplace. Then we fawn like star-struck finders of the holy leadership grail over a ridiculous Wharton School study revealing baldness to be a business advantage for males. Talk about replacing overt stereotypes with covert ones! Continue reading →

Share