We Only Ever Learn The Hard Way
Words, teachers, books, and classes don’t teach, really. They are only aides. We can only learn through our own experience. That’s why, as leaders, telling …
telling
What Do We Do When Something Goes Wrong?
If we want to forever be in charge of fixing the problems, then we should give lectures, orders, and consequences. If we want others to …
When We Can and Can’t Tell People What To Do
There are only two times when we get to tell people what to do: in a true emergency or when they are not yet competent …
Ask, Don’t Tell
Tell me the answers, what I should do, what’s right, and you may get my grudging compliance. You certainly will be training me to distrust …
Question Me, Please
What is the difference between, “Do this,” and “How should we get this done?” Tell me something or tell/ask me to do something and I …
Don’t Bother Making Your Case
The best way to make our case is, oddly, not to make our case. In leading, selling, and influencing, our first temptation is often to …
We Don’t Need to Know Everything
Contrary to common wisdom, we as leaders do not need to know everything or even most things. Others can and should be the ones who …
Good Leaders Expose Rather Than Impose
Here is the fundamental conflict in leadership. People universally resist being told what to do. We, as leaders (with or without titles), feel we are …
The Problem with Being Right
Here’s something that gets in our way. We frequently think that, if only we detail things enough, explain it all just so, show them the …
Why Telling ’em to Do Stuff Stops Working
We can tell people what to do (or ask them forcefully) and it can cause them to act or to change their behavior as we …