Team Leadership

8 Great Team Meeting Ideas You Probably Aren’t Using

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team meeting ideas every leader should know

You need great team meeting ideas because team meetings are a basic building block of work today. Nothing happens in isolation in today’s hyper-connected world. Too often, however, team meetings fall into a rut. A routine is established, often without much thought. And then it is repeated out of habit. This creates a problem because every team needs to adapt to changes and new challenges. Different team members need to play different roles at different times. You can avoid the rut and build more dynamic capabilities into your team meeting structure using the ideas shared in this post, whether you … Read more

The Best Prioritization Advice: Priority Channels

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prioritize using priority channels instead of lists

Setting and keeping priorities is hard these days. You might have things set one day and the next day things change. Everything seems a little more chaotic than it used to be. Maybe that’s because the world is changing at a faster pace. Businesses are facing new dynamics. People are more easily distracted. When everyone seems to be overwhelmed, it’s can be hard to find your footing. And it can be difficult to work a consistent path forward. Not to mention, of course, the fundamental issue that you have too many priorities and not enough resources. All of this makes … Read more

This is Why Reading As a Team Leads to Better Business Results

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This is Why Reading As a Team Leads to Better Business Results

Deep thinking is a super power in today’s frenetic business environment. But it’s not always easy to achieve, especially if you are leading a team. Even if your team is full of smart people, they are probably scattered across too many responsibilities and chasing too many goals. Still, the best way to move your particular initiative forward might be to slow down and get some of that deeper thinking going. The problem is that today’s work culture often goes the other way. People scurry from one meeting to the next, scramble to and from work in a tedious morass of … Read more

A New Way to Think About Training

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A New Way to Think About Training

You should probably approve just about any request for training that comes across your desk. That may sound a little crazy, but it would actually be a good leadership strategy. I’ll tell you why. Your job as a leader is to build a strong team. You work hard to attract top talent, articulate a clear vision, and organize work and processes for maximum productivity. That’s all good, but not enough. You need to develop the team and talent that you have, always. And, it turns out, training is one of the absolute best bargains for accomplishing that. If you are … Read more

The Specific Time Management Strategies You Should Be Focusing On as a Leader

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The Specific Time Management Strategies You Should Be Focusing On as a Leader

One of the most impactful decisions you can make as a leader is how to spend your time. Because what you do with your time gets magnified. Should you be spending your time on “high level” stuff? Do you need to be “down in the weeds?” Maybe you should be in lots of meetings? Probably none of this is ideal. Meetings are a killer. Most of them are poorly run, with not enough people coming prepared, and have no clear outcome when the clock runs out and everyone rushes off to the next unproductive meeting. Some meetings are good. But … Read more

A New Way to Think About Leadership Gaps

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Leadership Gaps

You probably think a lot about those who fall under your leadership or influence. Leadership comes with some pretty hefty responsibilities, if you want to do it right. Maybe you work hard to figure out the best way to convey a message. You might strive to provide clarity of direction while also allowing for creativity and innovation to flourish under you. Perhaps you work hard to find the best ways to motivate others, or to influence their thinking, or to make sure that all individual efforts are orchestrated toward a major shared goal. That all gets a little harder when … Read more

Add New Life to Your Team Meetings (Manage The Yes/No Effect)

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Team meetings need good energy. Just like a band. I’m in a band (sort of). And being in the band has been a helpful reminder of some crucial elements for team success. My band is really just a bunch of neighbors goofing around for a few laughs and playing once in awhile at gatherings. This informal group is like a team. And it does make an important lesson clear. You might find this lesson helpful to your teams, which is why I’m sharing it here. In any group of people, energy flows in different directions depending on how those people are feeling. If you pay attention … Read more

Team Meeting Agenda Supercharge (One Simple Change)

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team meeting agenda

How strategically do your run your team meeting agenda? You might run a variety of team meetings. Maybe some are just your direct reports. Others could be for a specific project. Some probably include people outside of your department, or maybe even outside of your organization. Whatever the case, one thing is certain: how you run your team meeting agenda makes a world of difference. You can run that agenda in the typical fashion. You will probably get typical results (hint: typical meetings are boring and unproductive). Or you could run that agenda in a very strategic way. You might … Read more