We completed Week 2 of our four-week “bootcamp” on June 29th, focusing on Effective Communication.   An ability to communicate effectively is essential to building high performing teams and generating business results. Good leaders are good communicators, whether meeting with colleagues in person, presenting to a group of executives, or sending emails. Key points: Clear writing requires clear thinking—you can’t have one without the other Inspiring writing is essential in becoming a more effective leader Email responses should be action-oriented [...]

  Hello! We completed Week 1 of our web-based “bootcamp” for busy executives on June 22nd. I’m happy to share weekly updates so you can follow along and learn the same things we’re covering in class. Week 1 focused on building Emotional Intelligence, or “EQ”, which I consider to be the corner stone of effective leadership. Without it true leadership is nearly impossible. After providing an overview of EQ, we discussed Dan Goleman’s seminal HBR articleon the subject. Goleman notes that high-EQ executives can admit that they have blind [...]

  Greetings! I’m launching a weekly web-based “bootcamp” for busy executives on Thursday, June 22nd at 11am EST. While the “bootcamp” is closed to additional executives, I’m happy to share course content and provide updates on our progress each week. This way you can follow along and learn the same things we’ll be covering during our four sessions. Here are key excerpts from the Introduction section: I developed this Bootcamp because it covers the four professional development [...]

  The Basic Principles of Asking for Feedback In my previous posts, I shared reasons we resist seeking feedback and then pointed out why it helps you become a more effective leader. In this post we'll discuss a few tips on "How". 1.      Start with ‘safe’ and then go ‘higher-risk’ later: Instead of going straight to your boss, ask for feedback from a trusted member of your team. Work your way up to ‘higher-risk’ colleagues over time. 2.      Keep it Focused: Seek [...]

  In my last post I listed reasons why as executive leaders we're resistant to seeking feedback. To overcome this resistance, it's best to think about what we gain. Here are a few reasons feedback is the gift that keeps on giving: Reason #1: It immediately makes you a more credible leader: The key to effective leadership is authenticity, which includes large portions of leader vulnerability and mutual trust. By asking your employees how you can be a [...]

  Constructive feedback from colleagues and clients is essential in developing effective corporate leaders. In fact, the most successful executives I know are comfortable, even eager, to use feedback to improve their leadership effectiveness. While we know feedback is important for our professional development and career advancement, we also know that it can be difficult to ask for it. The first step to becoming more open to feedback, and using its power, is understanding the [...]