August 2017 Leadership Development Carnival

Welcome to the August 2017 edition of the Leadership Development Carnival!

Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, said, "When you were made a leader, you weren’t given a crown; you were given the responsibility to bring out the best in others." This month, we have so many angles from which to look at ways of bringing out the best in others; we are excited to share them with you.

Let's Get Started

Anne Perschel of Germane Coaching and Consulting provided Emotionally Intelligent Leadership - Unexpected ROI at Apex Corporation. Anne writes, "Apex Corporation began the journey to emotionally intelligent leadership fifteen years ago. They achieved their goal of increased sales and were pleasantly surprised by an unexpected ROI." Find Anne on Twitter at @bizshrink.

Beth Beutler of H.O.P.E. Unlimited provided Don’t Say That! Say This. Beth asks, "Has the wrong thing ever come out of your mouth? She then gives some warnings and remedies." Find Beth on Twitter at @bethbeutler.

Bill Treasurer of Giant Leap Consulting provided My Leap into Courage. Bill recaps, "Being fearful is human nature. But, overcoming fear is what makes you more courageous. You might wonder what qualifies me to write about courage. Here's my story." Find Bill on Twitter at @btreasurer.

Chris Edmonds of the Purposeful Culture Group contributed Culture Leadership Charge: WOW Your Customers. Chris recaps, "Their best family vacation was at a ranch in Colorado. And here’s why."  Follow Chris on Twitter at @scedmonds.

Cy Wakeman of Reality-Based Leadership provided Stuck With a Bad Leader? Success is Still in Your Control. Cy writes, "We’ve been told that the number one reason people leave their jobs is because of their leader. But with a Reality-Based Leadership approach, you may discover via self-reflection that your stress, especially at work, doesn’t come from your reality, it comes from the story you make up about your reality." Find Cy on Twitter at @cywakeman.

Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership provided  Leadership at Two Levels, a guest post by Mark Miller. Dan recaps, "This guest post from Mark Miller explores two levels of leadership: leading yourself and leading your team." Find Dan on Twitter at @greatleadership.

Dana Theus of InPower Coaching contributed Is Thought Leadership the Same as Change Leadership?. Dana writes, " As the command-and-control model of leadership rapidly gives way to influential leadership styles, let’s look at two leadership models that are available to just about anyone at any level, change leadership and thought leadership. They are not the same, although together they can be powerful. Which can you adapt into your leadership style?" Find Dana on Twitter at @DanaTheus.

David Grossman of The Grossman Group shared The Courageous Communicator Quest Challenge Series. David writes, "I’ve talked to a lot of folks recently who say they don’t want to just lead – they want to be great leaders – yet they struggle with how to get there and do it effectively. This Challenge series was created to help you become one remarkable leader." Discover David on Twitter at @thoughtpartner

Jesse Lyn Stoner of Seapoint Center provided Team Alignment Is For the Birds! . Jesse summarizes, "The images we use to depict high performance teams are often geese or planes flying in formation, with everyone moving forward in unison with precise coordination and execution. These kinds of images convey the wrong message. Leaders need to stop relying on structure to control their teams. This post explains how the glue that holds high performance teams together is vision, not structure, and provides better images for us to use." Find Jesse on Twitter at @jesselynstoner.

Jill Malleck of Epiphany at Work provided Here’s How to Show Empathy. Jill writes, "Many leaders are so focused on the work, they forget about the people “behind the work”. It’s easy to get efficient, and then brisk, especially communicating remotely. Here’s a formula to help with showing empathy." Find Jill on Twitter at @epiphanyatwork.

Jim Taggart of Changing Winds provided Generation Y’s Job Plight: Top 12 Tips for Gen Y. In the post, Jim explains, "With Baby Boomers  marching steadily towards the retirement door, it’s time to take stock and reflect how we pass the torch to the next generations: Gen X and Gen Y, the latter generation having particular job market challenges." Find Jim on Twitter at @72keys.

Joel Garfinkle of the Career Advancement Blog submitted Five Ways to Change Negative Perceptions at Work. Joel shares: "Co-workers are quick to make snap judgements about you but why? It's time to determine where those negative perceptions came from and these five ways will help." Discover Joel on Twitter at @JoelGarfinkle.

John Hunter of Curious Cat submitted The Importance of Critical Thinking and Challenging Assumptions. John recaps: "Organizations will benefit if they adjust expectations to make it clear that important decisions should be supported and presented along with the evidence used to make such a decision (and they should expect to be questioned and challenged and be able to defend their position).  Initially people can be frustrated to be questioned about the evidence and reasoning behind the proposed actions they support.  But they really should be in the habit of doing this themselves before decisions so sharing that thought process will become easy once it is the expected behavior." Discover John on Twitter at @ajohnhunter.

Jon Mertz of Thin Difference submitted Return to Calmness: A Leadership Imperative. Jon shares, "Inciting and supporting continued chaos is not a sound leadership strategy or trait. A return to calmness is a new leadership imperative." Discover Jon on Twitter at @thindifference.

Jon Verbeck of  Jon Verbeck contributed The Three P’s to Efficiency and Effectiveness. In this post, Jon provides the three areas of importance to strengthen our efficiency and effectiveness. Follow Jon on Twitter at @jonverbeck1.

Julie Winkle-Giulioni of Julie Winkle-Giulioni provided Creativity: It’s What’s Missing from Career Development. Julie recaps, "Career development is as unique as each individual being developed. As a result, leaders must stop painting by numbers and infuse a little creativity into this very important process. " Find Julie on Twitter at @julie_wg.

Karin Hurt of  Let's Grow Leaders contributed Five Surprising Reasons Your Ideas Aren’t Being Heard. In this post, Karin shares why people may not be listening to your ideas, even though you want them to. Follow Karin on Twitter at @letsgrowleaders.

Ken Downer of  Rapid Start Leadership contributed Wading the Mississippi: Six Surprising Secrets of Success I Learned from Ol’ Man River. Ken summarizes, "We think of the Mississippi as a mighty, influential river, but like any major waterway, it didn’t start out that way.  A recent trip to the headwaters of the Mississippi revealed a lot about what it takes to go from a trickle to a torrent.  By imitating its six secrets of success, we might all manage to become a little bit greater ourselves." Follow Ken on Twitter at @rapidstartldr.

Laurence Pintenat of Development Dimensions International (DDI) provided Do “Self-Driving” Employees Still Need Leaders?. Lawrence writes, "In a world of automation and autonomous employees, great leaders are still needed to bring the human touch to interactions." Find Lawrence on Twitter at @ddiworld.

Linda Fisher Thornton of Leading in Context  shared 5 Sites For Globally Responsible Business Leadership. Linda recaps: "A global economy requires more than local or regional thinking. We are connected by a shared future, with one region’s success deeply connected to another’s success. What steps can we take now to adapt to major global change and become part of the solution?" Find Linda on Twitter at @leadingincontxt.

Lisa Kohn of Chatsworth Consulting submitted Don’t overthink it. Go down the chute. In this post, Lisa shares that we have to be willing to make a big splash, to dive in and get wet, and to try new things in order to stop overthinking and to be the best leader possible. Discover Lisa on Twitter at @thoughtfulldrs.

Marcella Bremer of Leadership and Change Magazine provided Positive Power Overview – Part Three. Marcella recaps, "Are you able, willing and ready to be a Positive Agent? Part Three of this series explores the personal preparation that we might need to do before we can make a positive difference. Check it out…." Find Marcella on Twitter at @marcellabremer.

Mary Ila Ward of Horizon Point Consulting provided Be Leary of the First Impression. Mary Ila recaps, "In the world of talent management, we often label people based merely on first impressions. Leaders, don’t judge a book by its cover, or its title!"" Find Mary Ila on Twitter at @maryilaward.

Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success contributed Ryan's Journal: When Is It Enough? by Ryan Pew. Miki writes, "There are dozens of takes on what's enough—what's enough to fill the need, satiate the hunger, satisfy the craving. But perhaps 'enough' is the wrong focus and, instead, the focus should be on 'what.'" Discover Miki on Twitter at @optionsanity.

Neal Burgis of Burgis Successful Solutions submitted Leaders Suffering From the Impostor Syndrome. Neal recaps, "If you feel like a fraud, then you’re suffering from Impostor Syndrome. Many executives experience this. You don’t have to feel that you are unqualified for your position, or deal with low self-confidence. There are ways to alleviate these thoughts and feelings." Find Neal on Twitter at @exec_solutions.

Paula Kiger of Big Green Pen provided Mental Health Days and Leave Policies: What Works?. Paula recaps, "A recent high-profile situation in which a business owner was commended for giving an employee time off to meet her mental health needs prompted many discussions about leave time and the role of mental health. This post explores those questions." Find Paula on Twitter at @biggreenpen.

Randy Conley of Leading With Trust shared 10 Signs You’re Suffering From Rearview Mirror Leadership. Randy writes, "Sometimes leaders get so focused on what’s happening behind or around them that they miss the opportunities in front of them. They lead by looking in the rear-view mirror instead of looking out the windshield. In this post, Randy Conley shares 10 signs of rear-view mirror leadership, that if left unaddressed, will result in leaders getting off course, wasting energy, and diminishing their effectiveness." Find Randy on Twitter at @randyconley.

Shelley Row of Shelley Row provided A Mid-Air Emergency: Five Characteristics of High Performing Teams. In the post, Shelley shares, "They didn’t set out to be a high performing team. In fact, they probably didn’t know each other. That was until there was a medical emergency on the flight." Find Shelley on Twitter at @shelleyrow.

Susan Mazza of Random Acts of Leadership provided Are You Leading While Distracted?. Susan explains, "The perils of driving while distracted are well known. Yet, there are also perils to leading while distracted. While those perils do not typically involve loss of life or limb, leading while distracted is dangerous to morale, progress, and ultimately your success." Follow Susan on Twitter at @susanmazza.

Tanveer Naseer of Tanveer Naseer provided 5 Summer Books That Will Make You A Better Leader. Tanveer summarizes, "Five leadership books worth reading over the summer break in order to learn how to become more successful at leading others." Follow Tanveer on Twitter at @tanveernaseer.

Willy Steiner of Executive Coaching Concepts provided When Was Your Last “Mental Health Day”?. In the post, Willy describes how "you can stay in touch with your needs which should be just important as the needs of the organization that you serve." Find Willy on Twitter at @coachforexecs.

Thank you to everyone who submitted articles for this month's carnival! If you would like to be on the distribution list for submission calls, please contact Ellen Snyder (ellen @ weavinginfluence (dot) com)!

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