4 Possible Reasons Team Members “Over-Quote the Leader”
Over-quoting the leader is a common practice in organizational life. Here are some examples you have surely seen: You are at a meeting at your kid’s school. A teacher stands up and says, “The district says we need to talk about this.” Or “our principal is asking us to talk about …” Immediately you get […]
“Why Do You Mainly Quote Dead People, Eric?”
Someone on my team recently asked me why, of all the people I quote when explaining a passage or a topic, I mainly quote dead people. I don’t exclusively quote dead people. And I don’t reference other’s thinking in all my sermons and definitely not in every point I am attempting to make. But it […]
4 Signs of Unhealthy Communication on a Team
A team that trusts one another is a team that moves quickly. That is the premise of the book, Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey, which builds the case that trust is one thing that changes everything for a team. The inverse is also true; a lack of trust and a lack of clarity slow […]
How Should I Confront My Leader?
In my latest book, How to Ruin Your Life, I share how isolation typically leads to destruction. Leaders are not the only ones who face the temptation to abandon community, but the temptation for isolation is strong for leaders because they can use the guise of “it is lonely at the top.” Since writing the […]
3 Phrases That Continually Betray Leaders and Team Members
On healthy teams, dialogue can be robust and transparent. When there is trust, communication can be open and honest. Getting to solid decisions can happen much faster on teams that trust one another. When there isn’t trust, even routine decisions take insane amounts of time as people waste time building alliances with pre- and post-meetings […]
To Phone or Not to Phone—and When?
In previous generations, when parents gathered for dinner and compared parenting notes, a pressing question was “When are you going to let your teenager get a driver’s license?” Comments would be made about how hauling the kid around was proving to be less and less practical, about the high cost of insurance, about safety implications, […]
7 Small Ways Leaders Can Build Credibility
Credibility is absolutely essential in leadership. Without credibility your great ideas won’t be heard and your big plans won’t be embraced. In the classic work The Leadership Challenge, credibility is offered as the most indispensable quality a leader must possess. I recently wrote about big ways leaders can bolster their credibility, and while those are […]
3 Common Ways Leaders Miscommunicate
Great leaders are always great communicators, but not always great speakers. Great leaders may not excel with a microphone, but they are able to communicate what is valued and what direction is being taken. Communication and leadership are intertwined and deeply connected. When leaders fumble in execution, culture formation, or rallying a team, the fumble […]
3 Phrases Smart People Should Stop Saying
As I have been driving to Birmingham and back on Sunday mornings to preach at Valleydale Church, where I have been serving as interim preacher, I have listened to a lot of podcasts. Some sermons, some NPR, some HBR, and some random ones too. All really smart people, smarter and more articulate than I am. […]
6 Basic Email Observations from Leading a Team
Few things are as lamented as email and staff meetings. And yet, both are very important in communicating, in ensuring execution, and in keeping work moving forward. They are, however, lamented for a reason. Poorly led meetings and poor email practices waste immense amounts of time and energy. Here are six basic email observations from […]