Let's Grow Leaders

NOVEMBER 15, 2016

Skip level meetings always seem like a good idea at the time. A little MBWA (management by walking around) never hurt anyone. Or did it? Done well, skip level meetings are a remarkable tool in your Winning Well toolkit. Skip level meetings help you connect “what to why,” reinforce the MIT (most important thing), help you build genuine relationships, give you a chance to ask strategic questions to learn what’s really going on, and most importantly, to build genuine relationshi

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Let's Grow Leaders

DECEMBER 12, 2016

The second half of December is a great time for recognition, celebration, white elephant gifts and other fun. Yes, yes, please do all that, but don’t stop there. The best holiday gift you can give your team is to “own the ugly.” To help your team have the tough conversations they’re longing to have. To stare squarely in the face of what’s not working and clear the decks for a remarkable 2017.

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Let's Grow Leaders

SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

Last week I was doing a Winning Well workshop with the United Nations, when one of the participants, “Pete,” looked at me sincerely and said, “I hear you, and all these tools sound good, and I’m going to use them. But what do you when Winning is impossible?” I waited for more. . “Our mission is world peace.” Okay, Pete has a point. .

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Let's Grow Leaders

NOVEMBER 15, 2016

Skip level meetings always seem like a good idea at the time. A little MBWA (management by walking around) never hurt anyone. Or did it? Done well, skip level meetings are a remarkable tool in your Winning Well toolkit. Skip level meetings help you connect “what to why,” reinforce the MIT (most important thing), help you build genuine relationships, give you a chance to ask strategic questions to learn what’s really going on, and most importantly, to build genuine relationshi

Learning-by-Doing 404

Learning-by-Doing Follow-up Resistance Consultative 404

Let's Grow Leaders

DECEMBER 1, 2016

He’s in the background responding to emails, setting appointments, or fixing your website. She’s overseeing projects, and clicking off those daily/weekly/monthly tasks that you may forget about while you focus on what YOU do best. He’s the glue that keeps things together, she’s the one who graciously gatekeeps, protecting your time and workload when she can.

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Let's Grow Leaders

DECEMBER 19, 2016

We’d both been looking forward to it–our first Thanksgiving together. We’d each been the primary holiday cooks in our previous marriage, which can feel lonely and overwhelming at times. But not this year. Now we had each other. We’d planned the perfect menu the week before while eating sushi over candlelight. We’d had fun shopping.

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Let's Grow Leaders

NOVEMBER 29, 2016

“Greg” called to share his news, “You know that situation with my boss is going a lot better! I decided to go on the offense and just keep him over-informed. He loves it. Now he stays off my back and I can do my work.” Bingo. Another “bad boss” tamed. 5 Ways to Tame a Bad Boss. Sure I’ve met some loony tunes over the years.

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Let's Grow Leaders

OCTOBER 24, 2016

Once your product becomes a commodity, you’re hosed. Even your once loyal customers start looking around for where they can get your offering cheaper, faster, or with less hassle. Most companies get this and take deliberate steps to differentiate their products. Sadly, as companies work to scale, one of the biggest mistakes I see is that they begin to de-personalize the customer experience in the name of efficiency. .

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Bureaucracy Policies Efficiency Training 315

Let's Grow Leaders

OCTOBER 20, 2016

Welcome back to the Let’s Grow Leaders Frontline Festival. This month’s festival is all about having fun. Thanks to Joy and Tom Guthrie of Vizwerx Group for the great pic and to all our contributors! Next month’s Frontline Festival is all about giving thanks. Submit your ideas here! Chip Bell of the Chip Bell Group finds fun in his surroundings such as a happy office with great music, quirky artifacts, awesome pictures, a gazillion books, and a cat that sleeps on the copier nearby.

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Let's Grow Leaders

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

Have you ever been an intern? Have you ever hired an intern? . There are many reasons to hire an intern. Sure some see it as a short-cut to cheap labor or to appease HR. . But if you’ve ever been part of a great internship program–on either side of the desk– you know that it can be an amazing job preview– an extensive 2-way interview process… to try before you buy.

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Let's Grow Leaders

DECEMBER 1, 2016

He’s in the background responding to emails, setting appointments, or fixing your website. She’s overseeing projects, and clicking off those daily/weekly/monthly tasks that you may forget about while you focus on what YOU do best. He’s the glue that keeps things together, she’s the one who graciously gatekeeps, protecting your time and workload when she can.

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Hammer Bottom-up Tips Team 358

Let's Grow Leaders

AUGUST 29, 2016

Sam knew something was wrong. It just wasn’t fun anymore. The creativity and enthusiasm had drained from the company. Decisions took forever. Managers were finding it harder than ever to recruit and retain talent. Sam had hired me to help him crack the code. As I pulled up to Sam’s office, I knew he’d be unhappy with my recommendation–which involved a serious look in the mirror at his own leadership behaviors.

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Let's Grow Leaders

MAY 2, 2016

Today I’m delighted to share my Winning Well interview with Gigi Barnett on CBS Baltimore. Thanks for all you are doing to help spread the Winning Well word. Excited to see so many teams using it for their Spring Book groups. Would love to hear your insights and application. If you’re enjoying Winning Well, we would really appreciate your leaving an Amazon review.

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Let's Grow Leaders

MARCH 28, 2016

I was blown away by an email I received from a woman who recently read Winning Well. I was touched on so many levels… by her brave journey toward authenticity in the workplace, by her clear sense of confident humility, by her gratitude for accepting leaders and an inclusive workplace, and quite frankly by the fact that there are Winning Well CEOs out there looking for other Winning Well leaders who have the ability to value competence and confidence over all the other crap that gets i

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Let's Grow Leaders

FEBRUARY 22, 2016

Jane confided, “I feel like an enthusiastic puppy with all kinds of ideas and possibilities, but when I go to share them, there’s always someone who stomps on my tail.” John chimed in, “I know exactly what she means, everyone around here’s just so negative. I’m beginning to wonder why I bother.” Perhaps you’ve felt that way too.

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Uncertainty Motivation Learning-by-Doing Politics 286

Let's Grow Leaders

JANUARY 20, 2016

My husband looked at me in bewilderment as I explained why I couldn’t buy that “perfectly good” house in the neighborhood with the great schools, close to his work, UMD where I teach, BWI airport, our church, and our gym. “I love the house. It’s a great community. But I just can’t trust that builder. If they hire someone LIKE HER as their sales manager, I question who’s running the place.

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Let's Grow Leaders

JANUARY 4, 2016

If only you had a crystal ball. The planning, the decisions, the choices would be so much easier. But you don’t. And those decisions and tradeoffs aren’t easy. Should you stay? Should you go? Is that project realistic? What if they reorganize… again? Are you getting the whole story? What You Do Know About 2016. There’s much you can’t possible predict.

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Godin Energy Project Blog 284

Let's Grow Leaders

MARCH 7, 2016

Her call touched me deeply. She was trying so hard… to establish the right vision, to key in on the important behaviors, to scaffold and develop…and her team just wasn’t listening. Perhaps you’ve been there too. You’ve got vision. You care deeply. You teach. You repeat yourself. But no one seems to “get it”? Here are ten questions worth asking when you hit that wall– when your team is just not listening.

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Let's Grow Leaders

JUNE 1, 2016

You can’t win well if you’re not optimistic. And one of the most important parts of being a Winning Well leader is inspiring confidence that the scene and results can and will improve– and identifying the vital behaviors to make it so. Today, I share a video interview with my friend and kindred spirit on the Winning Well journey, Shawn Murphy.

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Let's Grow Leaders

JANUARY 11, 2016

When I ask managers where they regret not spending enough time, unequivocally, the number one answer is “Not spending enough time developing my people.” There never seems to be enough time, or resources, or support from above, or fill in your favorite blank here _. And yet when I ask managers to identify one thing they KNOW would improve their results, you guessed it… the same answer, “If only I had more time to develop my people.” Perhaps you’ve felt that way

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Let's Grow Leaders

JANUARY 6, 2016

If you’re like me, at this point, the holiday hoopla already feels like a distant memory; you’re invigorated by the possibilities for the year ahead; and perhaps just a bit overwhelmed by the the stretch-goals in front of you. You’re neck-deep in planning and goal setting. If you’re a people manager, you’re likely meeting with your team to establish performance agreements and developmental plans.

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Career Planning Learning-by-Doing CEO 279

Let's Grow Leaders

JUNE 29, 2016

The only problem with the concept, “The customer is always right,” is that sometimes they’re wrong. If you’ve been in any kind of customer-facing position, I know you’re with me. Sure, there are many, many circumstances where the only choice is to bite your tongue and concede, for the good of the customer experience. But some wrong is just, well…wrong.

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Let's Grow Leaders

MARCH 14, 2016

Have you ever looked at your to do list and just laughed? You think, “oh right, that’s not happening,” and then moments later, you realize that none of the tasks on your list are really an option. Perhaps that’s the point that your nervous laughter turns to tears. That’s the wall I hit this week. I’ve had a number of serious personal challenges that require an intense investment of emotion and time, some stuff I wouldn’t have chosen, and certainly not at

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Let's Grow Leaders

JANUARY 8, 2016

Leadership development is not just for grown-ups. If you’ve been with me for a while you know how passionate I am about this. Most of us take a deliberate approach to developing other skills in our kids early on: we teach them to swim, to ride a bike, to read, and read music, as early as we can. Leadership development should be no different. The earlier we can ingrain these skills, the more natural they will feel.

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Let's Grow Leaders

MARCH 18, 2016

Welcome back to the Let’s Grow Leaders Frontline Festival. This month’s festival, in keeping with the seasonal turn toward spring, is all about fresh insights for leaders. Thanks to Joy and Tom Guthrie of Vizwerx Group for the great pic and to all our contributors! Our thanks as well to the Brainy Quote site for being a great source of quotations.

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Let's Grow Leaders

APRIL 18, 2016

“It’s amazing how many times people are working…HARD.,, and when you ask them what they’re really trying to accomplish, they’re really not sure.” -Dan Rockwell, Leadership Freak, reflections on Winning Well. While out on our Winning Well Tour, David and I had an opportunity to visit with Dan Rockwell, Leadership Freak, to hear his perspective on what it means to win well.

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Let's Grow Leaders

JUNE 13, 2016

My phone rang. Colin was exasperated. “Karin, I thought I NAILED the interview. The owner seemed pleased with all my answers, and I had great stories for all his behavior-based interview questions. But I just got an email from him saying that although I was qualified, he was worried about my passion for training!!! You KNOW how passionate I am about training– it’s my life!

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Let's Grow Leaders

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

If you only care about next week’s results, bring in a User Manager. He’ll get it done. But watch out for the aftermath. You know the type– the kind of manager who works to win at all costs. The guy who’s “all business” or the woman who’s “got no time for that crap (meaning connection and understanding).” They’ve got their teams spinning, scared to under-perform.

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Let's Grow Leaders

JUNE 6, 2016

You know that asking the right questions will make you a stronger leader. But it’s hard. Not all questions have the same impact. And it’s risky, you never know what the response will be– which means you need to stay fully present to be helpful. “When you ask a question you’re giving up some of your power. It means you’re willing to sit in that discomfort for the good of another person’s growth.” -Michael Bungay Stanier.

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Let's Grow Leaders

AUGUST 31, 2016

Want to be a more powerful listener? If you’re like me, sometimes the distractions are personal. We’re afraid to hear ourselves. Great listening starts by setting aside the physical and emotional distractions that get in the way of what we most need to hear. But when we can, the impact is palpable. I encourage you to pick one person this week and really listen to what she has to say.

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Let's Grow Leaders

MAY 23, 2016

“The opposite of love is not hate– it’s indifference.” – Steven Pressfield. Megan approached me as soon as I left the stage. “Karin, I’m so with you on this not losing your soul thing… I resonated with everything you said… but for me it was the reverse. I wasn’t losing my soul at work, I was finding it.

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Let's Grow Leaders

AUGUST 4, 2016

“John,” the CEO of a fast-growing start-up, was visibly frustrated when I asked him what he needed me to work on with his team. “I love my team. And they care so much! They’re full of great ideas… ” I waited for the BUT. “BUT,” Sometimes they get stuck on an idea and can’t move on. We’re moving fast and sometimes that means failing fast and letting go of ideas that didn’t work.

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Let's Grow Leaders

JULY 20, 2016

I run into them in every company I work with. Solid managers with real contributions. They work hard, they’re incredibly loyal, and they’ve been on the succession planning list forever. Much of the time they even have an MBA…AND they’re stuck. The promotions come and go. They’ve heard the pep talk so many times they can recite it in their sleep. 5 Behaviors That Keep You From Getting Promoted.

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Let's Grow Leaders

MAY 20, 2016

Welcome back to the Let’s Grow Leaders Frontline Festival. This month’s festival gives tips about professional development for leaders. Thanks to Joy and Tom Guthrie of Vizwerx Group for the great pic and to all our contributors! Next month’s Frontline Festival is all about favorite apps and technology. What tools do you use to stay productive?

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Let's Grow Leaders

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

“Laura,” a senior exec working to build leadership throughout her team, looked up from her salad and confided. “Karin, the truth is I have so many things going on in any given day, I may not remember the exact decision I made if it was a trivial matter, and I may not even remember exactly what I said about something important. But what I DO KNOW is what I WOULD HAVE SAID in any given circumstance.

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Guidelines Resistance Follow-up Team Building 247

Let's Grow Leaders

MAY 13, 2016

My phone rang, “Karin I’ve just been told there’s going to be a restructure and significant downsizing. My team may or not be impacted. I have NO additional information, just that it will be months before all the dust settles.” Now, if you’ve been following my writing for any period of time you know I’m the poster child for transparency.

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Let's Grow Leaders

MAY 4, 2016

Moms are full of wisdom, aren’t they? Many leaders credit their moms for their influence, such as: Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is as sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love. ~ Stevie Wonder. All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother. ~ Abraham Lincoln.

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