Leadership Freak

APRIL 26, 2017

New Book Giveaway!! 20 free copies of, Conflict without Casualties. Leave a comment on this guest post by Dr. Nate Regier to become eligible to win one of TWENTY complimentary copies of Conflict without… Continue reading →

Energy 149

Energy Creativity Books 149

Leadership Freak

AUGUST 26, 2019

Choose done over working on creative solutions. Creativity is the ability to reject… Continue reading → Reject first solutions unless the barn is on fire. Fast-solution leaders: #1. Choosing the fast solution restores the status quo.

Creativity 117

Creativity Succession Leadership Development Development 117

Leadership Freak

OCTOBER 25, 2019

Time) (Winston Churchill’s) creative-depressive personality meant… Continue reading → I prefer happiness to sadness. But what if sadness is an asset? Unhappy leaders: Martin Luther King Jr. tried to commit suicide twice before he was 13.

Creativity 114

Creativity Commitment Succession Leadership Development 114

Leadership Freak

MARCH 22, 2019

Unresolved turmoil weakens the knees and squelches creativity. The companions of turmoil are frustration, helplessness, and regret. Four sources of turmoil: #1. Mandates from disconnected leadership. The people at the helm seem stupid… Continue reading →

How To 120

How To Creativity Leadership Succession 120

Leadership Freak

MARCH 17, 2018

Rejects creative solution-seeking. People who believe they have no control forfeit their power and act as if they don’t matter. Helplessness: Waits for instructions. Avoids risk. Gives up quickly. Complains when results disappoint. When you try to change things but everything stays the same, eventually you give up.

Creativity 152

Creativity Power 152

Leadership Freak

MAY 19, 2018

My director-level job involves deep-dive creativity, research, writing, deadlines, and teams. Dear Dan, I read and love your blog. Your post on procrastination hit home because I am a procrastinator. I’m good at… Continue reading →

Creativity 126

Creativity Blog Team Succession 126

Leadership Freak

JULY 30, 2014

Lousy teams represent sinkholes of energy, creativity, and resolve. Mediocre teams kill things slowly. Better to work alone than die a lingering death on a gasping team. Successful leaders move through talk to action.…

How To 236

How To Energy Creativity Goal 236

Leadership Freak

OCTOBER 11, 2017

20 free copies of It All Matters: 125 Strategies to Achieve Maximum Confidence, Clarity, Certainty, and Creativity. New Book Giveaway!! Leave a comment on this guest post by Paul Cummings to become eligible to… Continue reading →

Creativity 113

Creativity Strategy Books 113

Leadership Freak

JULY 9, 2013

Haughty leaders: Harpoon creativity with bureaucracy. Hideous leadership is hedonistic, haughty, haphazard, hypocritical, hesitant, and halfhearted. The four weaknesses of haughty leadership. Arrogance needs control. Hassel progress by hounding and meddling. Hovering leaders create hesitant cultures. Hampers initiative by speaking for others.

Bureaucracy 237

Bureaucracy How To Leadership Development Creativity 237

Leadership Freak

JULY 7, 2016

Others bring creativity and execution together. The really great leaders display contrasting, even conflicting qualities. Some are curious and decisive. Being tender and tenacious is another surprising combination. Radically improve your leadership by bringing… Continue reading →

Quality 118

Quality Creativity Execution Leadership 118

Leadership Freak

NOVEMBER 14, 2013

Jimmy Collins, retired president of Chick-fil-A and author of, Creative Followership, doesn’t wait for people to ask him about lousy bosses. I receive emails and questions after presentations like, “How can I manage up, I have a lousy boss?” He asks them. My conversation with Jimmy rocked my world.

Collins 204

Collins How To Influence Leadership Development 204

Leadership Freak

FEBRUARY 2, 2017

There’s no creativity in pointing… Continue reading → You aren’t fit to lead if your greatest strength is seeing weakness. Smart talented leaders find it easy to point out inadequacies, describe what’s wrong, and explain disagreements.

Creativity 100

Creativity Succession Leadership Development Development 100

Leadership Freak

FEBRUARY 2, 2017

There’s no creativity in pointing… Continue reading → You aren’t fit to lead if your greatest strength is seeing weakness. Smart talented leaders find it easy to point out inadequacies, describe what’s wrong, and explain disagreements.

Creativity 100

Creativity Succession Leadership Development Development 100

Leadership Freak

JANUARY 31, 2012

Conformity opens the door for your creativity. If you don’t fit in you’re a dangerous lose cannon. Fit in before standing out. Hotshots: John Spence told me he’s seen hotshots arrive on the scene with MBAs from top universities. John said, “That piece of paper doesn’t mean sh**.” Shut up: Speaking too soon destroys opportunity. [.].

CEO 184

CEO Creativity Leadership Development Development 184

Leadership Freak

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

They choke creativity, stall innovation, and paralyze people. Whoever said, “Fail often, fail fast, fail cheap,” has my respect. One challenge, however, is organizational expectations. Some within your organization have a low tolerance for failure. Mistakes cost: Decline in morale. Lost confidence. Opportunities lost. Underutilized resources.

Morale 195

Morale Creativity Resources Cost 195

Leadership Freak

JANUARY 30, 2015

Stifle creativity. Top-down control suggests people are ignorant, incompetent, and unmotivated. Fear motivates a need for control. Centralized control makes weak leaders feel powerful. Centralized controls: De-motivate people who actually do the work. Establish… Continue reading → Leading'

Motivation 100

Motivation Creativity Power 100

Leadership Freak

FEBRUARY 26, 2015

Coaching-managers expect engagement, creativity, responsibility, and ownership. Traditional managers expect compliance. People who’ve been controlled often prefer compliance over participation. Just tell me what to do,” is a cop out.

Compliance 100

Compliance How To Participative Leadership Development 100

Leadership Freak

JANUARY 31, 2012

Conformity opens the door for your creativity. If you don’t fit in you’re a dangerous lose cannon. Fit in before standing out. Hotshots: John Spence told me he’s seen hotshots arrive on the scene with MBAs from top universities. John said, “That piece of paper doesn’t mean sh**.” Shut up: Speaking too soon destroys opportunity. [.].

CEO 100

CEO Creativity Leadership Development Development 100

Leadership Freak

JANUARY 11, 2024

The line between imagination and reality is fuzzy when you’re 3-years old. Sadly, we outgrow pretend. Everything in the real world began with imagination. Imagination: Maya, our youngest granddaughter, baked cookies for us… Continue reading →

How To 232

How To Power Creativity Leadership Development 232

Leadership Freak

NOVEMBER 27, 2017

Favorite Quote: “People never think fast enough." - Daniel Burrus, global futurist, author and speaker Photo: Creative Commons Categories: Talent Management Article Tags: Leadership The end result is that the competition for qualified workers is both terrifying and intensifying.

Trends 100

Trends Open-book Blanchard Learning-by-Doing 100

Leadership Freak

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

People learn to keep their mouths shut when new ideas face a firing squad. Exploring an idea is different from agreeing with it.

Creativity 254

Creativity Organization Team Leadership Development 254

Leadership Freak

DECEMBER 26, 2022

I like soft fudge. A little softer than Play-Doh is perfect. The original maker of Play-Doh was a soap company, Kutol Products. It was used for 20 years to clean wallpaper. It’s use… Continue reading →

Productivity 186

Productivity Products Company Creativity 186

Leadership Freak

MARCH 23, 2023

Common wisdom deceives you. You’re boring because some knucklehead said: You fall behind if you continue doing the same things, even when you’re doing great today. 3 reasons variety is essential: #1. Variety… Continue reading →

Creativity 169

Creativity Succession Leadership Development Development 169

Leadership Freak

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

New Book Giveaway!! 20 copies available!! Leave a comment on this guest post by Bella Rushi to become eligible for one of 20 complimentary copies of her new book, The Innovative Executive: Leading Intelligently… Continue reading →

Innovation 184

Innovation Organization Books Execution 184

Leadership Freak

MARCH 5, 2021

I hate the monotony of doing the same thing. Strawberries are tasty. But strawberries every meal are intolerable. When strawberries look green, we buy pineapple. When pineapples aren’t ripe, we buy blueberries. Bananas… Continue reading →

Creativity 228

Creativity 228

Leadership Freak

DECEMBER 15, 2021

Will Durante summarized some of Aristotle’s thoughts when he wrote, “You are what you do repeatedly… ” You are what you repeatedly do AND what you do begins with imagination. You only do what… Continue reading →

Development 182

Development Power How To Creativity 182

Leadership Freak

MARCH 26, 2021

I was surprised to hear the co-founder of Netflix say, “Fall in love with the problem.” Marc Randolph) I’ve been teaching leaders to fall in love with solution-finding. So, I did some investigating.… … Continue reading →

Creativity 189

Creativity Innovation 189

Leadership Freak

DECEMBER 29, 2020

Problems call for response. Stress narrows your focus and makes you stupid. Disappointment invites introspection, blame, or both. Threats call you to fight, fly, or freeze. The way you define something determines your… Continue reading →

How To 185

How To Stress Creativity Innovation 185

Leadership Freak

OCTOBER 4, 2021

You might be working so hard for a breakthrough that you push it away. I’m convinced that some breakthroughs are missed because we have the wrong expectations. A breakthrough doesn’t arrive on schedule.… … Continue reading →

Resistance 153

Resistance Creativity Innovation 153

Leadership Freak

MAY 29, 2012

You can’t lead when you know too much. Education establishes barriers to thinking. Everything that comes your way is instantly judged by what you know. In some cases the less you know the more open you are. People with knowledge say things like, “We can’t do that because…” Another reason you can’t lead is too [.].

Quality 218

Quality Succession Education Creativity 218

Leadership Freak

AUGUST 7, 2012

** I took a small team into a space that needs transformation and asked them what could be done to make the space youthful and vibrant. They weren’t to consider “how” to do it, at least at first. Just imagine possibilities. Imagination ignites enthusiasm, instills engagement, and deepens commitment. About 40 minutes into the conversation, [.].

Commitment 204

Commitment Team How To Power 204

Leadership Freak

JUNE 23, 2012

Save-the-day leaders weaken others but delay is dangerous. People problems that hang-on are like dripping faucets. Delay escalates irritation. Solutions-now, however, seldom works; people need time. The challenge of delay is choosing the moment to step in.

Cost 194

Cost Creativity Influence Succession 194

Leadership Freak

MARCH 8, 2012

** “Organizations create visions of their future and spend a lot of time crafting mission statements. While employees rarely write down their personal mission statements, they do envision successful futures for themselves.” Bernard, Business at the Speed of Now. John’s illustration points to the power of vision overlap.

Mission Statement 194

Mission Statement Power Organization Succession 194

Leadership Freak

AUGUST 7, 2012

** I took a small team into a space that needs transformation and asked them what could be done to make the space youthful and vibrant. They weren’t to consider “how” to do it, at least at first. Just imagine possibilities. Imagination ignites enthusiasm, instills engagement, and deepens commitment. About 40 minutes into the conversation, [.].

Commitment 100

Commitment Team How To Power 100

Leadership Freak

MAY 29, 2012

You can’t lead when you know too much. Education establishes barriers to thinking. Everything that comes your way is instantly judged by what you know. In some cases the less you know the more open you are. People with knowledge say things like, “We can’t do that because…” Another reason you can’t lead is too [.].

Quality 102

Quality Succession Education Creativity 102

Leadership Freak

MARCH 8, 2012

** “Organizations create visions of their future and spend a lot of time crafting mission statements. While employees rarely write down their personal mission statements, they do envision successful futures for themselves.” Bernard, Business at the Speed of Now.

Mission Statement 102

Mission Statement Power Organization Succession 102