Steven's Own Words

If You Had The Courage To Look, What Would You See?

If You Had The Courage To Look, What Would You See?

Have you ever had one of those bosses whose actions and words are out of alignment? Where they talk about collaboration and pretend to solicit your feedback, but you know full well they have no intention of ever taking it? I have several clients facing that very...

A Useful Strategy for Every New Leader

A Useful Strategy for Every New Leader

If you're a new leader, joining a new team -- or you think you might be doing that some day -- have you thought about your entrance strategy?  Every new boss, manager, CEO, and everything in between, has an entrance strategy -- even if they're not consciously aware of...

We Have Strategies for Everything Except This

We Have Strategies for Everything Except This

Have you ever noticed that in business, we have strategies for everything — everything, that is, except people? Think about it. Most leaders will sit down and thoughtfully design all kinds of strategies with their team: goals, growth, skillset, compensation...

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Last week a client said something fascinating: He said he didn’t really know his people. Prior to our work together, that is. A little context: He was the manager of a team he invited me to be a part of to help facilitate communication and improve functionality. Now...

You Can’t Choose Success

You Can’t Choose Success

I heard John Mayer in an interview once make a brilliant statement: “The problem with success,” he said, “is that success justifies every stupid decision we’ve ever made.”The irony of some success is it doesn’t always come as a result of good choices. It’s like that...

Leadership: A Skill or an Art?

Leadership: A Skill or an Art?

A lot of people seem to operate under the assumption that Leadership is an Art — that it’s an intuitive action and should therefore come naturally. That great leaders are ‘born’ with the skill to lead, just lying dormant within them until they come across a team. It’s...

Following the Thread of Leadership

Following the Thread of Leadership

Can your team see the thread of your leadership at work? At a human level, people want to see, need to see, the connection between decisions being made and the reasons for those decisions.  Without that, they can feel like automatons simply complying with instructions...

One Simple Step To Turn Your Office Culture Around

One Simple Step To Turn Your Office Culture Around

I once worked with a team that was — and there’s no gentle way to put this — highly dysfunctional. Most of the team was unhappy and in conflict with the manager, who couldn’t really see the problem. When I asked the manager about the problems the team had listed, he...

What Do You See?

What Do You See?

Paradox: a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true. - (Dictionary v2.3.0) We have trouble with paradoxes, don’t we? Is seems to me that so many people much prefer...

Vulnerability Is…

Vulnerability Is…

… Leadership. To put it simply, if you are not willing to be wrong, not willing to be vulnerable, you’re not really leading. Doing only that which you know works from the past, or leading only those who agree with you, is not leading. To lead is to be vulnerable, to...

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