Lessons in Leadership
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Expanding a Startup Composites Firm One Foundational Strategy at a Time
President and CEO of Atomic-6, an advanced manufacturing firm that makes composite parts for the aerospace and defense industry, Trevor Smith was running a growing, successful company but was not confident in how to communicate with, or direct, engineers. In order to...
From Regional Manager to Senior Director in Three Years
Matt Inkmann was a regional sales manager at a stewardship and communications company. While he was effective in his role and viewed as the guy who made his job “look easy,” he struggled with imposter syndrome, managing a team of 10. He wanted to become a better, more...
Anyone Can Be a Leadership Coach
Did you know that anyone can be a leadership coach? That’s correct. You don’t have to be a manager or leader to be a coach. Coaching is about behaviors, not titles. With the right set of behaviors and techniques, you too can bring out the best in anyone. And believe...
Before You Provide Feedback, Check This One Thing
I’m a big fan of Kevin Eikenberry and his writings. A recent article he wrote on negative feedback was a great reminder on the timing of coaching and feedback. And the reminder is that emotions of both the deliverer and receiver are the underpinning of effective...
Don’t Risk Losing Your “A” Players
One of the critical steps in Succession Planning is assessing your talent during a talent conversation, which I discuss in Chapter 8 of my book Replaceable, An Obsession with Succession. In a new Forbes article Critical Thinking About Critical Roles by Tonushree...
The Best Way to Develop Employees isn’t Training
I’ve always admired Dan Rockwell and his concise blogs on Leadership Freak. One of his recent blogs, How Busy Managers Practice People Development, reinforced my belief that great managers who incorporate coaching skills into their management style, separate...