The World's Best Book Summaries
What makes a negative leader? What are some examples of bad leadership? In his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, Marshall Goldsmith discusses five bad habits of leadership. These five bad habits center on either negative leadership (for example, through anger, criticism, or hurtful comments) or withholding positivity (for instance, by refusing to praise people). Here are the five top habits to avoid when it comes to negativity as a leader.
Are you in a position of leadership at work? What leadership mistakes should you avoid making at all costs? There are four leadership mistakes that you may be making without even realizing it: withholding information, taking undeserved credit, practicing favoritism, and obsessing over goals. These bad habits may even be holding you back from receiving a promotion. Learn more about the four leadership mistakes and how you can work to fix your bad habits.
What do Posner and Kouzes mean by “model the way” in the context of leadership? What can you, as a leader, do to instill your way of doing things in your subordinates? “Model the way” is the first principle of Barry Posner and James M. Kouzes’s outstanding leadership. You can do this by ensuring that your team members understand what you stand for and believe, and then by demonstrating how your values can increase the success of your organization and the overall happiness of your team. There are two guidelines for “modeling the way”: 1) establishing your values, and 2)
Looking to improve your leadership skills? What steps can you take to become a better leader? Improving leadership skills can help you move up the corporate ladder, get a raise, gain the respect of your colleagues and employees, and more. In the process, you may even find that you’re not only improving as a leader, but as a person as well. Here are six ways to improve your leadership skills.
Why is it important to lead by example? What’s the best way to exemplify what your organization values and stands for? Leading by example is the best way to communicate what’s truly important to your organization—its values. By nature, values are elusive, so explicitly stating them will never be the most effective way to instil them. Moreover, it’s easy to say you believe in certain values, but harder to follow through and live them, so when others see you doing just that—practicing what you preach—you gain credibility, and people will more enthusiastically follow your lead. Keep reading to learn how
Are you or your manager guilty of feeling superior at work? How can you recognize these bad habits and work to improve them? Many managers accidentally slip into harmful habits without even realizing it. A common trend among these habits is the tendency to flaunt their superiority to their colleagues. Luckily, these bad habits can be changed if the perpetrator is willing to accept their flaws and work towards change. Here are the top five superiority habits and how to fix them.
Why is it important to define shared values within an organization? How does having clear organizational values help improve both morale and performance? Effective teams are built on shared values, so as a leader, your first job is to define the organizational values that will guide you and your team. Clear organizational values help guide your team’s behaviors and choices so that they stay on the path toward organizational goals. Establishing your organizational values is a two-part process: 1) figure out your values, and 2) affirm your values amongst your team. We’ll discuss both of these concepts below.
What is the best way to respond to co-workers’ feedback? How do you overcome defensiveness in the face of negative feedback? Requesting feedback from your colleagues is the first step to improving your management skills, but that feedback means nothing if you don’t know how to respond to it. You need to resist the urge to become defensive and instead, figure out what you can do to improve. Here is how you should go about responding to feedback from your colleagues.
What is visionary leadership? What are the key qualities of a visionary leader? People expect a visionary leader to be forward-thinking. A forward-thinking leader creates a positive vision—one that engages people’s imaginations and emotions—and then works to make it happen. Visionary leaders are not born, they are made, and there are specific steps you can take to make one of yourself.
Have you realized that your management style needs improvement but don’t know how to start the change? What are the first steps you should take? When it comes to changing your management style, the first step is to discuss your changes with your colleagues. There are two important steps you need to start with: 1) apologizing for your past behavior, and 2) announcing your intention to change. Here are the first steps to improving how you lead.