What is the Return on Character? (An Interview With Author Dr. Fred Kiel)
People long for their leaders to be men and women of character, to be people of integrity. Researchers and leadership authors continually contend that the best leaders are those who love and care for those they lead. But does character impact results? Is there a return on character? People often measure ROI (return on investment), […]
Three Ways Millennials Make You a Better Leader
Some bemoan the inevitable—that millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) are becoming a larger section of the workforce. If you Google “millennials and work,” a plethora of articles will show up. Some affirm traits in millennials that contribute to a healthy work environment: creativity, technological savvy, or altruism. Others point to millennials and express […]
The Power of a “Cheating” Community
How many cheating friends does it take to ensure you cheat? Rick Grannis, a sociologist, tracked thousands of UCLA students over multiple years and discovered that those who are friends with people who cheat are much more likely to cheat themselves. He summarized, “If five people encourage you to cheat, welcome to the club, you […]
Three Ways a Disorganized Leader Holds Back a Team
One does not need to be overly gifted in administration to be a leader. Many have made the case that leadership and management are different from one another. Joseph Rost, in his work Leadership for the 21st Century, argues that both leadership and management are essential but distinct from one another. In his view, management […]
Four Common Errors in Church Strategy
A church benefits from both spiritual and strategic leadership. The latter must not overpower the former, as spiritual leadership must trump strategic leadership—but both serve a church well. When a ministry leader leads well, the ministry will receive strategic direction, even if a different term is used. As ministry leaders seek to organize the work […]
Two Ways to Create Urgency
John Kotter, Harvard Business School professor, has written extensively about the need for leaders to first create a sense of urgency when attempting to implement change or launch a new initiative. Kotter has stressed that most change efforts fail because leaders are unable to create sufficient urgency. Urgency helps foster both focus and action. Without […]
“Mean Tweets” Video Shows Us How Messed Up We Are
Last week a video of guys reading mean tweets to female sportscasters went viral. [Caution: the language is offensive] The women had read the tweets beforehand, as they likely saw them in their twitter feed in real time. The guys had not read the tweets and were recruited to read them to the women as […]
Two Common Hiring Mistakes Churches Make
Every hire is a risk. Every time I have hired someone or have been hired, there was a risk involved. Some argue that proven track records eliminate the risk, but in reality a great history only minimizes the risk. Even when hiring someone who has a proven track record, it is hard to separate the […]
What Makes A Great Leader? (An Interview With Author Dave Ulrich)
In my upcoming book with Kevin Peck on leadership development (Designed to Lead), we reference research and writing from Dave Ulrich. Dave is a professor of business at University of Michigan and partner and cofounder of The RBL Group. Dave has been ranked the #1 Management Educator & Guru by Business Week, selected by Fast […]
Three Reasons You Should Care for Your Team’s Self-Leadership
Dee Hock is the founder and former CEO of Visa International and has been an advocate of leaders investing significant time and energy in self-leadership. He has advised: If you seek to lead, invest at least 50% of your time leading yourself—your own purpose, ethics, principles, motivation, conduct. Invest at least 20% leading those with […]