September 2016 Leadership Development Carnival

Welcome to the September 2016 edition of the Leadership Development Carnival!

At a time when our nation is gearing up for major elections, many people claim to have what it takes to lead. It can be challenging to sort out what they mean versus what they will actually do. We appreciate this set of posts; each one carries a nugget of something a leader can actually do in order to lead well.

The Lead Change Group would like to thank Coaches Training Institute (CTI) for sponsoring the Lead Change Group (including this carnival) for September 2016. Learn more about CTI here.

Let's Get Started

Anne Perschel of Germane Coaching and Consulting submitted Golden Rules for Leading Transformation. Anne summarizes, "When the CEOs of Ford Motor Company, Nokia, and Microsoft began changing their respective companies' core business and/or culture, they each established golden rules for leading transformation. Learn from them how to do the same for your company." Follow Anne on Twitter at @bizshrink.

Beth Beutler of H.O.P.E. Unlimited provided Why I've Cut Back Working at Coffee Shops. Beth recaps, "Many leaders work in locations outside of their own office from time to time. But it may not always be as productive. In this post, I share some downsides to working at coffee shops." Find Beth on Twitter at @bethbeutler.

Chris Edmonds of the Purposeful Culture Group contributed Leading a Purposeful, Positive, Productive Culture. Chris reminds us of the important part our company culture plays in getting the results we want. Follow Chris on Twitter at @scedmonds.

Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership provided 10 Ways to Kill Off Your Star Employees. Dan recaps, "Unfortunately, organizations don’t always do a good job when it comes to nurturing, developing, rewarding, and retaining their high potential employees. In fact, it often seems like they are going out of their way to sabotage their best employees. Of course, most organizations don’t intentionally try to kill their high potentials. It’s just that many managers don’t know how to manage a high potential, and end up doing well-intended things that get unintended results. Or – in some cases – they actually do set their high potential employees up for failure, as a result of feeling threatened or jealousy. So – if you want to kill your high potentials, just follow these 10 steps!" Locate Dan on Twitter at @greatleadership.

Dana Theus of InPower Coaching contributed Insight: Pride vs. PRIDE. Dana writes, "When we flash our PRIDE around – which to an unsuspecting world can feel like a right cross – we miss a great opportunity to really share our value." Find Dana on Twitter at @DanaTheus.

David Dye of Trailblaze submitted 5 Ways Pokemon Go Will Make You a Better Leader. David summarizes, "Video games are masterful at drawing out people’s natural, internal motivations. David shares how you can be more effective and influential when you get these same motivations working for you and your team." Follow David on Twitter at @davidmdye.

David Grossman of The Grossman Group shared Open Ended Questions Enhance Employee Communication. David writes, "As a leader, you know that engaging employees and helping connect them to your business goals can directly impact the bottom line.  Your internal communication plan can include two-way communication vehicles like feedback channels and listening sessions to help accomplish this." Discover David on Twitter at @thoughtpartner.

Jill Malleck of Epiphany at Work contributed Leaders Fighting Fires: What Darby Did. Jill shares, "At some point, all leaders are faced with tense situations. Learn how one leader showed a strong heart in a life-and-death situation." Find Jill on Twitter at @epiphanyatwork.

Jesse Lyn Stoner of the Seapoint Center shared A Definition of Leadership for These Pressing Times. Jesse Lyn recaps, "What’s your definition of leadership? We need a clear, unbiased definition to form a common language. In this post, Jesse Stoner takes you through her journey of digging down to the root of the word, stripping away assumptions, and creating a definition of leadership for the pressing conversations we need to have. Unexpectedly, this process revealed a different lens for understanding leadership in today's world. This post has sparked a lot of conversation, and you are invited to add your voice." Follow Jesse Lyn on Twitter at @JesseLynStoner.

Joel Garfinkle of the Career Advancement Blog submitted Why Strong Leaders Have the Courage to Show Vulnerability. Joel recaps: "Not being afraid to show your vulnerabilities shows confidence and authenticity, which encourages respect and openness in your team. This attitude creates a culture of learning from mistakes and using everyone's strengths to best move forward." Discover Joel on Twitter at @JoelGarfinkle.

John Hunter of the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog shared Applying Toyota Kata to Agile Retrospectives. John summarizes, "Creating a culture where it is expected that any improvement ideas are tested and evaluated is one of the most important changes on the path to a company that will be able to continually improve. If not, what happens is some changes are good, many are not and soon people lose faith that any effort is worth it because they see how poor the results are." Find John on Twitter at @curiouscat_com.

Jon Mertz of Thin Difference contributed Business Leaders Raising Political Voices. Jon shares, "Dangers exist for businesses standing up for certain political issues, especially with the polarization present today. However, business can be a voice for positive change, and employees and customers may now expect business leaders to raise their rational voice in an environment of stalemate and divisiveness." Follow Jon on Twitter at @thindifference.

Julie Baron of The Thought Board shared Get More Attention: Do’s & Don’ts for Working with the Media. Julie writes, "Want to increase the visibility of your business? Perhaps you seek to educate people about your service, inform them about your events, or change their opinion about your price. Maybe you want to be seen as an industry thought leader or you want to generate business leads or prospective employee interest. No matter the goal, media coverage is a great way to get more attention. These do’s and don’ts for working with the media will boost your chances of coverage success." Discover The Thought Board on Twitter at @commwrks.

Karin Hurt of Let's Grow Leaders contributed 6 Reasons Your Training Program Isn't Working. Karin recaps, "Training programs are great, but sometimes mask the deeper issues. Karin shares six reasons why your training program may not be as effective as you’d hoped.." Follow Karin on Twitter at @letsgrowleaders.

Mary Jo Asmus of Aspire Collaborative Services LLC submitted When You Need to Really Listen. Mary Jo summarizes, "Leaders can always listen more, but there are times they really need to listen at a deeper level." Follow Mary Jo on Twitter at @mjasmus.

Mary Ila Ward of Horizon Point Consulting contributed Hills in the Heat: Why You Have to do the Hard Stuff to Run and Lead Well. She recaps, "Running and leading have many overlapping lessons.  As the author sets out to train for a marathon, she reflects on how doing the hard stuff strengthens success in running and leading." Discover Mary Ila on Twitter at @maryilaward.

Mary Schaefer shared  3 Ways to Improve Employee Engagement. Mary continues, "Are you getting everything you can from your focus on employee engagement? You may make more impact by rewiring how you think about it" Find Mary on Twitter at @maryschaefer

Michael Lee Stallard of Michael Lee Stallard submitted 3 Ways to Lead Like Lincoln. Michael shares, "Abraham Lincoln had a talent for converting detractors into loyal supports. These three elements of his leadership and communication style explain how he did it." Follow Michael on Twitter at @michaelstallard.

Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success contributed Golden Oldies: Narcissism and Leadership. Miki writes, "Narcissism has always been problematic for leaders. However, it's not about having narcissistic traits; it's about how you choose to manage them." Discover Miki on Twitter at @optionsanity.

Neal Burgis of Burgis Successful Solutions submitted The Curious Leader. Neal recaps, "By adopting a curious mindset, your leadership style goes hand-in-hand with curiosity. Many curious leaders are destined for the C-Suite due to their curious nature in asking questions and exploring ideas for opportunities." Find Neal on Twitter at @exec_solutions.

Paul LaRue of The UPwards Leader contributed Why Leaders Should Build the Castle First. Paul summarizes, "A great leader showed how to create a positive culture in the midst of a negative one." Follow Paul on Twitter at @paul_larue.

Randy Conley of Leading With Trust shared Thrown Under the Bus? 8 Tips on Dealing with Unfair Criticism. Randy writes, "Sooner or later we all get thrown under the bus and criticized unfairly, and how you respond shapes the perceptions people have of you as a leader. In this enlightening post, Randy Conley shares 8 strategies for responding to unfair criticism in a healthy and productive way." Find Randy on Twitter at @randyconley.

Robyn McLeod of Thoughtful Leaders contributed Are you really a leader? An easy way to tell. Robyn shares, "we are truly leaders when what we do inspires those around us to be, do, and achieve more." Follow Robyn on Twitter at @thoughtfulldrs.

Shelley Row of Shelley Row submitted Tough Decision? Use Your Secret Weapon - Values. In this piece, Shelley reminds us that we have a built-in secret weapon we can apply when making a tough decision—our values. Discover Shelley on Twitter at @shelleyrow.

Susan Mazza of Random Acts of Leadership provided Why 'Politically Correct' Is Not A Four Letter Word. Susan explains, "The more visible your leadership, the more important it is for you to be mindful of your words and deliberate with your messages. But personal honesty and even transparency is not the ultimate antidote to the political correctness that has polarized us and degraded our trust in politics. In fact, it may even be dangerous." Follow Susan on Twitter at @susanmazza.

Tanveer Naseer of Tanveer Naseer submitted What It  Takes to Overcome Distractions in the Workplace. Tanveer continues, " A lesson from Olympic rowers reveals a powerful message for leaders on how they can help their employees to overcome workplace distractions." Discover Tanveer on Twitter at @tanveernaseer.

Tom Magness of Leader Business contributed How NOT to Micromanage. Tom summarizes, "Successful leaders stay out of the weeds by avoiding telling their team HOW to do things.  Instead, provide clarity on INTENT, essentially the WHAT and WHY, and allow the team to figure out the rest.  The results (buy-in, empowerment, innovation) are a true game-changer.” Follow Tom on Twitter at @leaderbusiness.

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership submitted Getting Fairness Right. Wally recaps, "People won’t give you their best unless they feel like you’re treating them fairly. There are many ways to get fairness wrong.  Here's what you should know to get fairness right." Find Wally on Twitter at @wallybock.

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 Paula Kiger (paula @ weavinginfluence (dot) com)!

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