Category Archives: Leadership

Nurture Leadership

I saw a phrase recently about the need to “nurture leadership”. The article was about a centuries-old institution that is in decline for reasons that are complex. And while I may find a way to tie the institution and the… (read more)

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Without a vision . . .

Successfully communicating a vision to your people can make the difference between a lethargic, apathetic group and an energized, motivated one. Where there is no vision, the people perish.

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Lingering at the table

Stanley Ott has another great post over at VCI this month. He encourages us to slow down over our meals to create “leisurely times of conversation and mutual encouragement.” Building team-friendly environments One of my favorite ways to build an… (read more)

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The value of a badge

Last night my son and daughter and I attended an Eagle award ceremony—a double Eagle award ceremony—two Scouts from the same Troop being awarded the rank of Eagle Scout on the same evening. For readers who aren’t familiar with Scouting,… (read more)

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Lead Diligently

I read a lot. I read to find answers, to receive encouragement and to stay sharp. I read old things and new things, popular material and hard-to-find stuff. Yesterday I was reading a particularly ancient text which says (in part):… (read more)

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Accidental Leaders

Michael Norton over at Doc on Dev brings up some interesting points today in his post on leaders. I’d like to focus on just one. “Leaders are chosen”, he says, and he’s right. A person can be assigned to your team… (read more)

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Stages of Team Development

The stages of team development are already well-described in various places and so going into great detail here would serve little purpose. I will, however, provide a brief overview since I think more leaders would benefit from being aware of… (read more)

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Getting over the hump

I had lunch with a colleague this past week and the subject of long, large-effort projects came up. Projects with a big “hump” keeping you from finishing easily and quickly. (see graph) He manages a small team of folks who… (read more)

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True Top-Down Org Charts

The traditional top-down org chart has become so standard in today’s corporate America that the first time I posted my alternate version for our team, very few people understood it. Let me describe it for a moment.

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