Category Archives: Personal Effectiveness

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Your Career is Your Responsibility

I’ve been thinking about career selection and management a lot recently. When I’m asked how I landed where I am, I’m quick to reply that I wouldn’t wish my career path on anyone but I sure do love where I am now. In all honesty, there has been a lot of hard work, difficult choices and tough breaks along the way. But that’s true for anyone who wants something more.

So what does career management have to do with leadership? It’s a lot harder to lead if you’re not in the right job fit. One of the best ways to excel as a leader is to choose the right context.

Here’s some of the best conventional wisdom I use with myself and others when it comes to charting out a career path – or just making a change.

Your Career Keyboard

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12 Books that Shaped My Leadership

For years I’ve been asked for book recommendations. I always take them seriously because I wouldn’t be the leader I am without my library. It’s been a huge part of my leadership education. As a senior in college, I started reading business bestsellers to see how they compared with my textbooks. When I joined the workforce, I quickly started noticing positive and negative organizational dynamics I had “seen” before in the books – and I knew what needed to change. Several years later I finally landed my first job in leadership development. I wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity without having my mind stretched by the books I’d read.

One of the things I’ve learned over the years is everyone has leadership development opportunities. You don’t need to be the boss or work in HR. And the right book at the right time can make an incredible difference.

If you’re looking for a leadership read, here’s a great place to start.

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When Taking Too Much Initiative Hurts You

One of my all-time favorite leadership values is being proactive. It’s Stephen Covey’s first habit. Taking initiative (and accepting responsibility) is the characteristic that makes all the others possible. But can it be taken too far?

Unfortunately, I’ve learned it can be – mostly because of the challenges I’ve noticed or inadvertently created for myself over the years. So if you’re a go-getter, keep it up. But know when to go fast and when to slow down. Otherwise, you may experience some of these unpleasant reactions.

Businessman Running

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Be Known Positively

Recently I shared 9 Leadership themes for the new year, including this one: be known positively. I’m realizing this particular theme is harder that it seems. But that doesn’t change the fact that you and I are largely responsible for our public perception.

So how can we build positive interactions and relationships with others? Here are nine distinct strategies I’ve picked to focus on.

Shaking Hands

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12 Ways to Make Your Teammates Look Good

In the past, I’ve shared the value of being a “Kamerman teammate” – that is, going the extra mile to make your teammate look good. It’s a mindset shift for most of us, and a complete game-changer at that. I’d like to take this concept a step further and share some practical ways to get started. Over the course of my career thus far, I’ve found that these twelve strategies for extraordinary teamwork not only make your team stronger, they have the power to significantly influence the culture of your organization if others begin to follow your example.

Business Colleagues

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The Best Leadership Education You Can Get for Free

Just about all of us are Monday morning quarterbacks when it comes to leadership. Everyone has an opinion. But how informed are those opinions, especially if we’ve never been there before?

Here’s the thing: if you wait until you receive a leadership role to get a leadership education, you may be waiting for a long time and you may not last long once you get there. We all need a leadership development plan that includes work experiences, formal training, networking and self-study. But don’t overlook the easiest, cheapest and most accessible one of all: observation.

Here are eight observations to make of the leaders around you.

Pay Attention Sign

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9 Leadership Themes for the New Year

I don’t know what last year brought your way, but as the saying goes: all new beginnings are hopeful. I believe that’s true when it comes to leadership effectiveness as well. Wouldn’t this be a great year for some meaningful strides? If you haven’t thought much about it, I’d like to share some of my leadership themes for the new year.

Reaching for Idea

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What I Learned as a Failed Gang Leader

I didn’t start thinking much about leadership until I was a senior in college. But it’s crazy how many lessons I can draw from my younger years. Incidentally, one of them was my “gang activity.” I joined a gang when I was younger. Actually I sort of started one. Now before you get too surprised, I should mention that I was probably about 10 years old and the gang consisted of about 3 or 4 neighborhood friends. And it essentially existed in theory only – and only until my dad told us we couldn’t call it a gang and had to call it a club instead. (As a homeschool kid, the association with drugs and crime was still over my head at that point). Nevertheless, here are several things my oblivious self could have done differently from a leadership standpoint.

People Silhouette

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Guide Conversations to Action with GROW

When was the last time someone came to you with a problem? Did you solve it for them? If so, you may have missed out on a development opportunity – both for that person and yourself.

If you’re looking for problems to solve, you’ll find them everywhere. New managers want to pick up the slack. Department leaders can find it easier deal with problems themselves than let others handle them. By the time an executive assignment comes around, leaders can sometimes be addicted to addressing smaller issues – at expense of their own effectiveness with a staff trained to consistently feed their problems up the chain.

I’d like to share a simple conversational model that can change the entire way you approach the problems that come your way. Whether you’re an executive coach or a frontline manager (or have an hour to invest or five minutes), it will allow you to develop the problem-solving skills of the people you lead rather than addressing each issue yourself. Here’s how works.

Plant Growing

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Becoming Excellent

Excellence is a blessing and a curse. It’s always a noble pursuit. But it can be intimidating as well. With so much information and many high profile examples of what excellence looks like, how can we contribute in a significant way?

Regardless of what you aspire to do, excellence is a worthy goal. But it probably won’t be your starting point. So how do you get there? Try this.

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Be a Millenial Who Shines at Work

2015 was a big year for Millenials. According to Pew Research Center, Millenials became the largest generation in the U.S. workforce in 2015. I recently shared my thoughts on Eric Jacobson’s leadership website about how managers can engage their Millenial employees. What I’d like to do next is share how Millenials themselves can thrive in the workplace.

Here’s a start.

Millennials at Work

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Put Fear in its Place

Fear is an intensely human experience. We’ve all felt it. We probably learn to live with most of it. But the emotion often translates into crazy, irrational behavior. For an individual, that’s one thing. But what happens when a team or an organization hangs in the balance?

I’ve become convinced that fear is the single factor most capable of derailing a leader’s effectiveness. Responsibilities, pressure, visibility – all of these factors tend of “pile on” over time. Sooner or later we all need to come to grips with the fears inherent with the position.

Fear is a given. Our response to fear determines the outcome. It takes courage to lead.

Below are a sample of common fears leaders face – along with some common reactions and opportunities for response.

Burying head in sand