Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: leadership

  • Leadership B#llsh&t in a Tough Economy: A New Audio Series Begins

    bossA raw mixture of disappointment and anger motivates this series.

    In the wake of our biggest and most complex economic crisis since the Depression, our business and political leaders are functioning like ostriches with their heads in the sand as if anything they don’t see won’t really be happening.

    Instead of the thoughtful, probing rethink of policies and practices that have proved themselves disastrous, these leaders are simply waiting on the sidelines… continuing with all that we now know doesn’t work and squandering a significant—and possibly limited—opportunity to learn and change in deep and transformative ways.

    More than a personal disagreement about approach, I want to identify these practices out for what I am convinced they are: Leadership Bullshit.

    Leadership Bullshit is the public bravado that those with power muster to disguise their own lack of knowledge, capabilities and integrity about how to proceed forward in these challenging times. They mistakenly interpret those three deficiencies as weaknesses to be hidden at all costs instead of learning edges to be addressed in partnership with their peers, staffs and coaches.

    In this next audio series, Claudia and I have some fun pointing out that the proverbial emperor is wearing no clothes.

    Join the conversation and share your own experiences where the leaders in your life have tried to pull any of the following stunts.

    Leadership B#llsh&t in a Tough Economy
    Week #1: Brainless Downsizing
    Week #2: The HR Cop-Out
    Week #3: The Fine Art of Blaming
    Week #4: Fear & Panic on Main Street
    Week #5: Political Mumbo-Jumbo

    Listen in.

  • Question of the Week #4

    How might the magnitude of your investment in one solution be making it difficult to recognize that it might be time for a different solution?

    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 #3

    Does it matter who is sitting in your chair?

    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 #2

    What question or concern lies behind the question you are asking?

    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 #1

    How might you be a part of the problem that won’t go away?

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

  • Quote to Consider: Leadership Reimagined (2500 Years Ago)

    quote-to-consider“Go to the people. Learn from them. Live with them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. The best of leaders when the job is done, when the task is accomplished, the people will say we have done it ourselves.”

    Lao Tzu

  • Question of the Week

    How often do you find yourself asking employees in retrospect, “How did that happen?” How often do you find yourself asking them during the process, “How is it going?”

    If you discover that you ask the first question more often than the second, how might you become more proactive about finding out what’s going on?

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

  • The Most Astounding Failure in Modern Business History

    Invisible PersonAs you know, one of my favorite questions for leaders is, “Does it matters who’s sitting in the chair?”

    The question helps tease out how well a leader knows who is on the team and what each person brings to the table.

    Most leaders look to their organizational charts and each specific job description to describe the make-up of their team. But such a view is only half the picture.

    Less than half the picture actually.

    How would you evaluate an employee who understood less than half of the issues related to their job? Who didn’t have an in depth knowledge of their firm’s assets?

    Negligent? Incompetent? A failure?

    Sadly, many leaders not only don’t know who is on their team, but boast of the fact. They call such intentional blindness “maintaining objectivity” and “staying focused on the bottom line.”

    It is, in fact, negligence. The most astounding failure in modern business history.

    These leaders are making decisions of huge significance without (more…)

  • When To Play Your Weaker Players: The Leader’s Conundrum

    weaklingDoes anyone really play their weaker players when serious about winning the game?

    It’s a nice sentiment. But if victory is at stake, rare (probably non-existent) is the coach who decides to extend an opportunity for challenge to anyone other than their best.

    But how do your weaker players become stronger players when they get no game time?

    Experience is a vital and irreplaceable form of training.

    So do you risk the game on building a stronger future? Do you even have a future if you don’t build your weaker players?

    But will you have a future if you don’t play to win now? What if the game ends early because you bet on the future and lost in the present?

    I don’t know that there’s a definitive answer to these questions.

    And that’s the point. The conundrum. The choice every leader faces. The risk every leader must take. Does take. Takes whether he or she knows it or not.

    What are you doing to develop your weaker players? Is it worth it? How do you decide how much of the present game to risk on the future game?

    How do you deal with this leader’s conundrum?

    On your side,

    – Karl

  • My Guest Appearance on “Management Tips”

    wooden-nickel-management-tips-4Nick McCormick, author of Lead Well and Prosper, interviews me on his podcast, “Joe and Wanda on Management.”

    I share my three “Hard Facts of Working with People.”

    If you want your team to come alive and give 110% on the job, they need an opportunity to:

    1. Contribute and make a difference.
    2. Learn and develop.
    3. Connect and belong.

    Listen in and join the conversation.