Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: leadership

  • Flip

    FlipFlip: How to Turn Everything You Know on Its Head—and Succeed Beyond Your Wildest Imaginings

    Peter Sheahan, Wm. Morrow Publishers, New York, NY 2008.

    In the spirit of enjoying any piece that affirms my counter-intuitive tendencies, I believe I have come upon a treasure.

    “There is nothing more important in business today than an action orientation.” If that quote isn’t what you and I have been working on together in developing a “bias toward action,” I don’t know what is. Instead of making big changes, experiment and adjust while moving. If we are coaching together, I will be wanting you to read this book.

    At the other end of the spectrum, Sheahan asserts that control does not come from controlling, but from equipping and empowering others to act. He also shares how to personalize business relationships and find marketing niches where no one else is looking for them.

    More beneficial for its paradigm shifts than for any practical specifics, you’ll go away with a fresh and clearer set of lenses through which to evaluate your efforts.

  • Question of the Week

    When does your anger catch you off guard and erupt with mixed results, and when is it an intentional leadership tool you choose to employ? Can you tell the difference?

    The Question of the Week is offered to increase awareness of one’s personal leadership practices and encourage experimentation with creative alternatives.

  • Question of the Week

    Are you as careful to stay ahead of the competition in your management practice as you are in your technical practice? What will any inattentiveness cost you?

    The Question of the Week is offered to increase awareness about personal leadership practices and encourage experimentation with creative alternatives.

  • Listen In -> Decision-Making #4: Becoming More Poised

    How much ego gets wrapped into your decisions?

    Can you imagine how freeing it would be not to have to dedicate so much energy to self-protection? Do you inadvertently avoid making a decision in order to avoid complaints, blame or other consequences of being the one to make the final call?

    In this week’s podcast conversation, we talk about developing a secure poise in decision-making. Join us as we think about being willing to make difficult calls with limited information.

    Listen in.

    powered by ODEO

  • Perception or Reality?

    Not all our decisions are based on facts. Not all our facts are accurate interpretations of reality.

    Our “take” on any given decision depends on the accuracy and completeness of our understanding of the issues involved. In other words, whether or not our perceptions are grounded in reality.

    Could your frustration with a certain employee’s performance really be a frustration with your own inability to provide clear instructions? Could the recent drop in sales have more to do with a drop in product quality than the missed goals of the sales team?

    Crucial is whether you have a safe way to get as many issues as possible out on the table. Are you involving others in the issue-unearthing process or are you operating in isolation? Do you have access to a variety of perspectives and sources of information?

    Listen to this week’s podcast conversation and tell us how you stay grounded in reality when making decisions.

  • Listen In -> Decision-Making #2: Becoming More Intentional

    This week Claudia and I begin laying out a positive framework for more effective decision-making.

    Key is becoming aware of your focus. Is it the decision itself? Is it the problem being addressed? Is it on getting enough information to make an informed decision?

    We’re going to suggest you focus on the outcome you want to see result from the decision.

    Listen in.

    powered by ODEO

  • Question of the Week

    If you were to delegate 50% of your workload, what criteria would you use to decide what would be done by others? Why?

  • Listen In -> Decision-Making #1: Battling Unfortunate Patterns

    When making decisions do you rashly shoot from the hip, or analyze data forever?

    This week we begin a new series on decision-making. Instead of searching for the perfect decision, we need to develop a posture oriented toward being able to assess and decide in an intentional, timely and poised manner.

    1. Battling Unfortunate Patterns
    2. Becoming More Intentional
    3. Becoming More Timely
    4. Becoming More Poised
    5. Practical Challenges We Face

    We begin the series with a discussion of the decision-making traps many of us fall into that don’t serve us well.

    Listen in.

    powered by ODEO


    New No Excuses Leadership Course
    This series on Decision-Making is the first of three series that will comprise our No Excuses Leadership Course. Watch for opportunities to participate in this online coaching experience toward the conclusion of these series.

  • Complex Simplicity

    butterflyTo take all the complexities of a situation into account is overwhelming. To insist on simplicity is naive.

    Keeping processes and structures as simple as possible while keeping one’s awareness of the complicating issues as high as possible might be the constructive tension that would serve best.

    How do you manage the tension between the value of simplicity and the reality of the complex?

  • Question of the Week

    How do you quantify what employee turnover costs your team in lost time, lost knowledge and retraining?