The second path to curiosity for leadership is to view things from another person’s perspective. It’s a common pitfall not to do this. In a recent coaching conversation, a manger was telling me about how one of their direct reports had turned hostile and rude. They couldn’t understand why. As we talked further, it became…
Tag Archive: reflection
The Leadership of Letting Go, Part 8
Managers have answers; leaders ask questions. Lawyers only ask a question (in court) when they already know the answer; leaders ask questions to which they don’t have the answer. They are curious. This curiosity pays dividends. By asking questions, leaders engage their followers and tap into the knowledge and experience of their team. They have…
The Leadership of Letting Go, Intermezzo
When I started this series on the leadership of letting go, I thought there might be four or five entries in it. The I decided to drop my preconceptions and my planning and allow the series to emerge, piece by puzzling piece. If there is a piece of the puzzle that you’d like me to…
The Leadership of Letting Go, Part 7
When leaders operate under the illusion of control, it’s a sign that their ego is running the show. Sometimes this is a good thing (it reminds them to get to a meeting on time), sometimes it leaves no space for a good way to emerge to meet their current challenge. However, this show running…
The Leadership of Letting Go, Part 6
In Part 3 of “The Leadership of Letting Go” I touched on the role of trust in leadership. People want to be able to trust, and be trusted by, their leaders. This demands that leaders be authentic. One roadblock on the road to authenticity is that what we say may not match what we really…
The Leadership of Letting Go, Part 5
Leadership is increasingly challenging: more demands in less time. Upping the number of hours doesn’t help either since the time to recharge and be fresh for the next day’s challenges gets eaten away. During the rest of the week, we look at some simple tools that leaders can use to help them let go of…
