It’s pretty common that my friends or folks in my network will ask me what book they should read. I love the question, but it always puzzles me just a bit. Without any context, it feels kind of like they are asking me what outfit they should wear that day! But after a couple interchanges, it turns out they are usually referring to some kind of leadership book that will help them get to the next level.
I came across an alarming statistic awhile back from Dan Miller that college graduates on average will spend more money on soft drinks than on post-graduate education. Right then and there, I resolved that this would never be true of me. I heard Dave Ramsey say that the average millionaire reads one non-fiction book a month. So I committed to read two a month. And I heard Charlie “Tremendous” Jones used to say that you’ll be the same person in five years that you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read. So I decided I would never stop reading.
What could you do to completely ruin the leaders in your organization? By that, I mean what could you do to destroy their motivation, deplete their energy, defuse their creativity, replace their confidence with cynicism, and then cause them to leave – or worse, have them stay? Go ahead, make a list. I started my own list, in no particular order, just to help get your thinking going:
Have you ever stopped to think about how your perceptions of any given institution are formed? By institution, I mean anything from an organization, group, idea, person, legislation, or even religion. Most of us are quick to form our opinions, but how informed are those opinions?
We all know intuitively that good leaders ought to delegate. So when push comes to shove, why do we have such a hard time with it, especially if we are relatively new at being in charge? I want to share with you five barriers that keep us from delegating successfully and then some strategies to become more effective. But I’m warning you upfront, they aren’t pretty.
So many organizations hire new employees, give them generous compensation packages ripe with incentives, and then expect them to work happily for years on end. Then they are shocked when a couple years (or months) later the same employees leave to take LESS lucrative jobs elsewhere. What gives?
Everyone is a leader. I really believe that. That may be a new idea for you if you’ve always thought you needed a title or a position, or be a charismatic person in order to be a leader. But let me give you an example by way of posing a question. Is there anything you could do today that would make things worse for the people around you? If you can do something to make things worse, doesn’t it follow that you can also do something to make things better? The bottom line is that leadership is influence.
But here’s the catch: most people don’t think about leadership until they experience a leadership challenge. (Click to Tweet)
Hello and welcome to my leadership blog Thoughts for the Everyday Leader. My name is Nathan Magnuson and I’m a consultant, leadership coach, and aspiring thought leader. I write on personal and organizational leadership topics and ideas that apply in leadership situations you are likely to encounter regularly. Occasionally I’ll write on other topics that I think you might find helpful.
