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Leadership Essentials

Striking the Optimal Balance for Leadership, Know Your Limits

Set boundaries and leave work at the office. When work continually intrudes on your personal life, quality of life suffers at the expense of your happiness.  Activate your assertiveness skills to address unreasonable workloads (as much as appropriate) and demonstrate flexibility by taking breaks, breaking for lunch, and signing off in the

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Competence is More Than Performance, Increase Your Airtime

Increased collaboration creates buzz throughout the organization about you.  Over time, people will be talking about you in a good way when you are not around. With whom should you be collaborating?  If you were to create a list of thought partners, who would be included? Click here to purchase

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Competence is More Than Performance, Demonstrate Authenticity

The more exposure people have to different aspects of your personality, the more they will understand you.  In the absence of information, people will create their own stories.  It is hard as hell to deconstruct an inaccurate perception.  Manage perceptions by freely sharing who you are… with boundaries.

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In The C-Suite Business Leadership Trumps Functional Leadership

The executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles conducted interviews to explore the trends of C-level success.  One consistent finding across C-level roles surfaced. Once people reach the C-suite, technical and functional expertise matters less than leadership skills and a strong grasp of business fundamentals. Members of senior management are expected

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C-Suite Success Requires Self-Management

A final component in the McKinsey report on successful C-level transitions dealt with self-management.  Just over half of the executives in the study reported they spent too little time preparing for the personal demands and their own readiness in the new positions. The executives with the most successful transitions, however,

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The Role Culture Plays In Successful C-Level Transitions

One aspect of the McKinsey study that explored successful transitions into the C-suite looked at culture. It is an aspect of the transition process that can pose a challenge. Many executives believed they did not have accurate ways to measure or even describe it. This was especially true for external hires.

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Successful C-Level Leaders Leverage Their Teams

C-level executives in the McKinsey study on the successful transition to the C-suite acknowledge they did not have all the answers when they began their new positions. Most executives in the study said they relied on the input of their direct reports when determining solutions to the strategic problems they

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Successful C-Level Leaders Share Their Vision On Business Priorities

Executives in the McKinsey study on what factors contribute to the successful transition into the C-suite, ranked business-related activities as the most impactful.  The majority of executives said it was “very or extremely important to create a shared vision and alignment around their strategic direction across the organization.” Executives reporting

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Leading Diverse Talent – What it Takes

Demonstrate Vulnerability Leaders who successfully lead and develop diverse talent are students of vulnerability.  They let their guard down, put aside pretenses and share their stories to establish common ground.  These leaders are comfortable with not having all the answers, they listen actively, and freely embrace the perspectives, opinions, and

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Leading Diverse Talent – What it Takes

Sponsor “the Risk” The conversation regarding the advancement of diverse talent is often thought of in terms of risk.  Leaders that successfully lead and develop diverse talent willingly sponsor “the risk.”  They understand that the perceived risk is no more or less than it would be for other individuals.  They

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Leading Diverse Talent – What it Takes

Challenge stereotypical thinking Leaders who successfully lead diverse talent have the courage to challenge the biased thinking of others. Negative comments and jokes targeting specific groups are squelched; and micro-aggressions are called out, not ignored. I was once in the presence of a leader who suggested that what was interpreted by one

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Leading Diverse Talent – What Works

Participation in experiences that broaden perspective The efforts of leaders that demonstrate success leading diverse talent are often supported by their organizations through professional and leadership development experiences that raise awareness and influence perspective.  These leaders willingly participate in internal training like Unconscious Bias which broadens their perspective and shifts their thinking. 

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Leading Diverse Talent – What Works

Expanded exposure and visibility – It takes a village Leaders who successfully lead diverse talent understand that they do not have all the answers and they provide access to their internal network for additional support. These leaders understand that retention, development, and advancement of diverse talent are organizational responsibilities that

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