Imagine a jar. You have a limited amount of space, and you need to fill it with important things. Do you start with the small stuff – pebbles, sand, even water? Or do you begin with the largest items – the boulders? This simple analogy, famously illustrated by Stephen Covey, perfectly captures the essence of effective time management and goal setting. In this blog post, we'll explore the concept of 'Big Rocks' and how prioritizing them is crucial for scaling up your leadership and achieving your most ambitious business goals.
The corner office can be a lonely place. With decreasing tenures and increasing demands, today's CEOs face unprecedented challenges in leading their organizations. While McKinsey's groundbreaking research in "CEO Excellence" reveals six fundamental mindsets for success, what truly stands out are the counterintuitive lessons beneath the surface.
In the dynamic and demanding landscape of modern leadership, the power of connections is often overlooked. Yet, it's the threads of relationships that weave together the fabric of our success. Your network isn't just a collection of names; it's a reservoir of knowledge, support, and opportunity. By strategically building and nurturing your leadership network, you can unlock doors, amplify your impact, and drive your career forward.
In the dynamic and competitive landscape of modern business, the success of an organization is inextricably linked to the capabilities of its leadership. While external factors such as market trends and technological advancements play a significant role, the quality and development of leaders are the driving forces behind long-term sustainability. Let’s explore the critical importance of leadership development in fostering company growth and resilience.
Leaders are often cast as the architects of their own destinies, expected to build empires while maintaining an idyllic personal life. The concept of work-life balance, a term laden with equal parts aspiration and unattainable perfection, has become a modern-day myth. Yet, thriving in this high-stakes world is not about achieving equilibrium, but rather, about cultivating a dynamic harmony.
Regardless of industry, size, geography, or title, we are all impacted by the quality of our leadership, which directly relates to our ability to scale. We are unique in how we lead and what our end goals are, but we can find common ground through our desire to become better leaders.
Since we can all connect through leadership, let’s look at leadership through the lens of a former Navy SEAL…
Executing on our strategy is a high priority, but a roadblock that can prevent effective implementation is a culture lacking accountability. We will not accomplish our goals or strategy without a strong culture of accountability in our teams. We all may have a different idea or understanding of accountability, so let’s align ourselves on the topic.
We’ve touched on the concept of the Working Genius in previous blogs (See: Trust. The Antidote to the Great Resignation and The 3 Questions to Build Your Dream Team), but we haven’t discussed the model in full detail and, frankly, it deserves its own spotlight. The Six Types of Working Genius is a very powerful assessment that, in my opinion, is superior to any personality test as it focuses on how on the natural talents within a team can enable us to get things done in the most productive way.
I get particularly excited when an opportunity arises for us to combine an important topic and a powerful exercise into one. In this case, I’m referring to employee engagement and the Flywheel Effect. For those of us who aren’t familiar, the Flywheel Effect, a term coined by author Jim Collins, describes the momentum gained from small wins that accumulate over time and generate growth and improvement. Each turn of our “flywheel” builds upon work done previously and when we stay focused on core concepts that power our flywheel it can lead to tremendous success.
Teamwork.
The power of this two-syllable word can dramatically change the way our organizations operate and its ability to both survive and thrive.
In honor of the 20th anniversary since the book’s original publishing, author Patrick Lencioni recently hosted a webinar on his bestseller, The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team. Throughout the presentation, Lencioni not only shares how to overcome the 5 dysfunctions, but also discusses the ‘Teamwork Trifecta’. This focuses on how to create a high-performing team and addresses the most critical questions around teams within an organization. I have found these to be tremendously helpful resources and useful tools as I coach leadership teams.
