Hot Potatoes
Hey Readers,
I have an important question for you. It’s about a new idea for the Leadership2Go subscription we’re offering next year. (Leadership2Go is an online mentoring community where leaders receive video training, reading assignments, discussion questions, robust notes, and an exercise. It’s like a leadership growth plan for the year.) Even if you don’t plan to participate, I hope you can take one minute and respond to my question.
In 2011, we plan to utilize experts each month and talk about the “Hot Potatoes” that people rarely talk about. By this I mean leadership issues that are common, but few trainers address them and provide solutions. These might be: Colleagues who can’t get along, senior executives who are poor leaders and don’t know it, insecure teammates, etc.
My question is: What are one or two great issues you think we should address? We plan to choose 12.
I appreciate any input you can provide. I think 2011 will be an amazing jump forward in helping to equip you as a leader.
All the best,
Tim
Leading from the middle! Living out a leadership role when you don’t have the “position”… or perhaps you recognize a lack of leadership or management skills at the top.
Confronting someone in the workplace who has been ‘talking about you’. I confronted someone once, asking why they were saying such awful things about me and it ended up that someone (who was our boss!) was playing us against each other. End result, we ended up great friends, and although we both left the work place and currently live in different states, we still (25 years later) keep in touch. It relieved a lot of stress at the time. And the boss, he eventually got fired, and the person I confronted became my boss.
Tim, we often talk about calling and emerging leaders, but we seldom discuss how in fact to step aside and finish well when it is our time move on, or out of the way. Seasons in life come and go. The end of one is usually the very beginning of another, yet it remains an extremely difficult transition for most. This is a hot potato today, especially as iY’s emerge and boomers retire and consider encore career choices.
Joe Mascia
[email protected]
http://nobilify.wordpress.com/
Twitter @nobleplans
Thanks for your comments everyone! I greatly appreciate you sharing these great points and your feedback.
Just tuned in after listening to iY Catalyst podcast. As a re-entry (older) University student working with a variety of students in much group work and also working as a professional with undergrads teaching at same U. I love all this… gleening and applying.
I believe in the next generation. I so desire to challenge them to STEP UP!
Biggest issues for me;
1- working with authority who do not have ability to lead/manage,
2- moving followers beyond the “great idea” to act on what they learn with immediacy and efficacy.
Tim, One key area I seem to be noticing quite frequently in the workplace is connecting or rather should I say the lack of communication. Another thing is why is it important to be a servant in other words what can a person learn when they are willing to serve others verses oh lets say being served
1. Even the greatest leaders hit their creative plateau or the passion temporarily slumps (publicly or privately). What are some practical ways to work through that?
2. Reconciling Visions: What to do when you, as a visionary, received a God-given purpose for a ministry…and so do 5 other people on your team! And they are ALL different.
3. How to professionally handle brewing dissention within a team before it gets out of hand.
4. How to say “No!” to great ideas. Are we even supposed to?
5. How to say “Yes!” to ideas that are calculatedly risky.
Chris Bartley
Who leads when THE leader chooses not to or does not know how to?
How to change a nasty unethical corrupt organization from the middle-management position… not sure I could tell people what to do, but I can definitely pass on what not to do. Was a hard pill to swallow that broke me and caused (luckily, only) eight months of extreme stress and left me pretty apathetic about being able to change a culture of extreme corruption & nastiness. Would prefer successful experiences from people that have actually been there. Please, no offense, Tim. I love following you, but you’ve been in (mostly) healthy organizations.
Differences in leadership style of the leader compared to preferred style of those individuals expected to follow that leader. These differences could be related to a change from previous leadership and/or generational differences. Gen X and Gen Y leadership style and preferences are different from Veterans and Baby Boomers who have dominated the leadership roles for many years.