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Everything you need to lead well — free blogs, videos, and panel discussions from people who are passionate about helping leaders thrive.
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Headache Vs. Reward: How to Determine If People or Projects Are Worth the Risk
When it comes to hiring people and launching projects, it is important to look at the ratio regarding how great the headaches will be versus what the potential rewards will be. Here is a tool to help you make that decision for your unique context.
When Small Is Big: 7 Small Acts That Can Have a Big Impact
When was the last time that someone's small act made a big impact on your life? Even though they may not have realized it, their simple gesture made an impression on you. Here are 7 small actions that can have an unexpectedly big impact on your leadership.
How to Extend Your Leadership Shelf Life
Mayonnaise, turkey, and milk are not the only things that have a shelf life. Leaders do too. Symptoms include loss of motivation, decreased learning, and adding less value to the organization. Here are 8 ways to extend your leadership shelf life.
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Gaslighting: How to Identify It & Take Back Control [VIDEO]
Gaslighting may seem like a newer term, but it originated in a 1944 movie where a man deliberately convinced his wife that she was insane so that he could steal her family’s treasure. Here are the different ways people gaslight others and five steps to help you take back control if it is happening to you.
10 Ways to Create a Positive Work Culture
“Depressing.” “Friendly.” “Efficient.” “Ruthless.” Every organization has a culture, and a positive one adds to the retention of your top team members. In this free chapter from our book, STRETCH – 26 Weeks of Leadership Exercises, learn 10 ways you can shape the culture of your organization.
Unlikely Leadership Lessons from a Haunted House
In my job as a youth pastor, we once organized a haunted house outreach for the community. What started as an idea with a handful of teens grew into over 1,000 people touring the House of Horror! Here is what I learned as a very young leader of this event.
Broken Leadership: How to Identify and Address It
In politics, church, business, and community leadership, there is no shortage of examples of the abuse of position and power. Here are the most common roles within every system of broken leadership and what you can do to change them.
![Decision-Making: Why Smart Leaders Do Dumb Things [VIDEO]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/571fc0ea1d07c0fd6d72c167/1696947285846-ZIA5M26B5AF9SRFGWFPV/Dumb+Things+blog.png)
Decision-Making: Why Smart Leaders Do Dumb Things [VIDEO]
There are a lot of examples of people who are perhaps smart, but not smart all the time. Here are five reasons smart leaders sometimes do dumb things.
Your Leadership Superpower: What Sets Great Leaders Apart
Leaders can have superpowers - like influential networking, extraordinary intelligence, or visionary insights. If you could pick one leadership superpower that would help you lead the most effectively, what would it be? Here's one of the top ones and what you can do to cultivate it.
Plowing Through Bureaucracy: 12 Actions to Improve Workflow
Delta Force is a highly secretive unit of the U.S. military involved in critical special operations. Yet, it took 14 years to be approved and funded! Bureaucracy is where good ideas go to die. Here are 12 ways to start plowing through the bureaucracy in your organization.
If Your Consultant Doesn’t Provide These 7 Essentials, It's Time to Move on!
There are almost 1 million consulting businesses in the U.S. Every consultant works hard to seem unique, but it comes down to how motivated and capable the client is and how capable and experienced the consultant is. If your consultant is not providing you with these 7 deliverables, it may be time to move on.
DISC Behaviors: How to Work with Others Who Are Different Than You
Your ability to interact with others could be the difference between success and failure in your personal life and in your work life. Here’s how to effectively work with those who are different than you.
Pain Points: 8 Hot Spots That Can Drain Even the Best Leaders
All leaders have pain points. But recently, they have gone from managing one or two to now dealing with six or more all at the same time! Here are the most common pain points we are seeing as well as a few suggestions for how to stay strong in the midst of distress.
Victors: 5 Factors That Separate Those Who Finish from Those Who Quit
Soldiers who stand strong in battle. Leaders who refuse to quit even when pummeled by overwhelming obstacles. Parents who forge rough waters with a struggling child. They all have something in common: endurance. Here are five factors that separate victors from quitters.
The Trust Factor: The Most Important Element of Leadership You Cannot Afford to Ignore
Did you know, only 46% of employees place “a great deal of trust” in their employers? But research has shown that high-trust environments have higher productivity and less stress. Here are the top ways we lose trust and the best ways to build it back up again.
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Meeting Effectiveness: 4 Different Types of Meetings & Why It Matters [VIDEO]
Have you ever been sitting in a meeting wondering why you are there? This feeling is common and often happens because the meeting type was not communicated. Here are four meeting types and why it’s important to communicate the type before starting a meeting.
Staying Power: 7 Vital Signs for Effective Recruitment and Retention
40% of employees stated that they are at least somewhat likely to leave their current job in the next 3–6 months. Here are the seven most important reasons people leave or stay. How does your organization measure up?
When Leaders Publicly Break: 7 Common Traits
Many high-profile leaders who have resigned or been dismissed from their positions over the past few years appear to have some traits in common, regardless of whether they worked in a church, government, or business. Here are the most evident characteristics they share.
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Leadership: 4 Directions You Need to Lead [VIDEO]
“What is the most difficult aspect of leadership?” I get asked this frequently. In my opinion, it is the four directions of leadership – leading yourself, leading lateral, leading up, and leading down. Here are best practices to manage each of them well.
Communication Breakdown: 6 Causes & How to Avoid Them
“Communication around here is pathetic!” Have you ever thought this? The natural path of communication is to break down, and that can only be corrected by intentional action. Here are the common causes of a communication breakdown as well as ways to prevent it from happening.
A business leader’s biggest breakthroughs often come from the moments that tested them most. Listen as our panelists discuss the hard-won lessons behind decades of leadership in business, from decisions they would take back to the ones that changed everything.