Nathan Magnuson

APRIL 12, 2021

Who’s the real leader around here? It used to be that the leaders were the people in charge. As long as they did a good job, all was well. When they stumbled, the organization suffered until an adequate replacement could be found. That type of leadership doesn’t work any longer. Why? Because at its core, leadership is less about being “in charge” and more about creating positive change.

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Leadership Influence Positioning CEO 163

Nathan Magnuson

MARCH 15, 2021

4 Critical Skills for Leading People – 4 min. I’ve been wanting to share these four foundational people leadership skills for quite a while now. In over a decade of working with thousands of leaders, I estimate that 80% of all leadership challenges come down to one of these 4 skills: Assume Positive Intent Set Clear Expectations Give Quality Feedback Show Appreciation.

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Skills Leadership Quality Positioning 177

Nathan Magnuson

JANUARY 11, 2021

“Never take council of your fears.” That’s a quote attributed to many legendary leaders over the years. They knew what many of us are still discovering – that fear has the power to cower the best of us into making foolish decisions or taking irresponsible actions (or inaction). We all experience fear. The more leadership responsibility you accumulate, the more fear you’ll have to negotiate.

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Leadership Definition Learning-by-Doing Sports 238

Nathan Magnuson

OCTOBER 19, 2020

No one has gone untouched in 2020. But it hasn’t just been the COVID-19 pandemic that has impacted each person, it’s the repercussions. Work instability, financial hardship, rapid pace of change, family lifestyle adjustments, isolation and loneliness. The stress, anxiety and pressure have reached new levels for many individuals. One Johns Hopkins study noted that one in four individuals will suffer a mental health disorder in any given year… and that was before 2020.

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Team Self-aware Power Stress 334

Nathan Magnuson

OCTOBER 5, 2020

Patrick Mahomes stole my dream job. As a kid growing up in a small Kansas City suburb, I used to dream of playing quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs one day. My brother and I would practice in the backyard for hours year around. But after a championship season as a high school senior , it became apparently my career path lay in corporate leadership development rather than football.

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Leadership Sports Career Learning-by-Doing 348

Nathan Magnuson

JULY 6, 2020

What’s the quality of your conversations with your young professionals? More specifically, what questions are you asking them? In my new book Stand Out! , I share that young professionals today are the leaders of tomorrow. The reason is a matter of simple mathematics. When the Baby Boomers retire, there won’t be enough Gen X’ers to take their places.

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White Paper Learning-by-Doing Self-aware Career 205

Nathan Magnuson

APRIL 6, 2020

I had a conversation with one of my entrepreneur friends this past week. Ryan had big plans for a new software release, but needed to put the project on pause to sort out some of the final details. To bridge the time gap, he took an interim CEO role to help turnaround a small company. Then COVID-19 hit and disrupted everything. “I’m not quite sure how we’re going to make payroll next month,” Ryan told me, taking inventory of his options.

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Ryan Crisis Finance Books 320

Nathan Magnuson

JANUARY 6, 2020

Several years ago I interviewed with a large leadership development consulting firm. Things were going as expected until the office president threw me a curve ball by asking for my point-of-view on leadership. I was stumped. I had many ideas on what good leadership looked like but I didn’t have my own original model. Fortunately, I shared someone else’s POV I appreciated and was able to satisfy the president with my answer.

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Leadership White Paper Long-term Leadership Development 193

Nathan Magnuson

OCTOBER 7, 2019

My colleague Ann challenged my thinking recently. As she transitioned into a new CEO role, she reflected, “Other people have paved a way for us to succeed in ways we probably don’t realize.” I bristled at first because I wanted to believe most of my success was self-made. (This despite my being far from CEO material.) But a few days later as I stared out the window counting the Camaros in the parking lot, I came to a realization.

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Follow-up Learning-by-Doing Leadership Examples 34

Nathan Magnuson

JULY 1, 2019

In my book Ignite Your Leadership Expertise , I wrote that leaders make life easier, less complicated and more fun for those around them. When I first drafted those words several years ago, I’ll admit they felt a little cheesy. But over the years, I’ve come to realize their merit all too well. “Leaders make life easier, less complicated and more fun for those around them.” When you take just a minute to notice the state of the American corporate workforce, it won’t take long to reali

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Leadership Follow-up Commitment Books 186

Nathan Magnuson

APRIL 1, 2019

It’s been over a decade since I returned from a year-long Army deployment to Iraq. It’s been over six years since I finished my military obligations altogether. Even though I’ve all but forgotten my initial trip to the recruiter’s office, some things will stick with me for life. From time to time, I’m asked how my military experience informed my leadership.

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Leadership Open-book Books Follow-up 266

Nathan Magnuson

JANUARY 7, 2019

Recently retired Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder famously crafted 16 Goals for Success which he used with his football teams over his decades of coaching. Goal #13 stated, “Expect to win… and truly believe we will.” According to Coach Snyder, one of the root causes of success was belief itself. In my white paper Nine Ways to Be the Boss Everyone Wants to Work For , the very first best practice I share is “Belief in the cause.” As a leader, it’s not eno

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Welch Mission Statement White Paper Micromanagement 139

Nathan Magnuson

DECEMBER 17, 2018

The seventh year of the Everyday Leadership blog has come to a close in 2018. Here are the Top 10 works (not just posts this time!) from the year. (By the way, you can view all my past Top 10 posts as well.). Ignite Your Leadership Expertise. My first book Ignite Your Leadership Expertise was published earlier this year! The book shows how to grow your expertise in leadership while also growing trust with the people around you.

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White Paper Leadership Crisis Books 159

Nathan Magnuson

DECEMBER 3, 2018

What happens when you find yourself in the midst of a crisis situation? Do you freeze up? Jump into action? Sit down to create a plan? What if you’re the person in charge? It’s the leader’s job recognize when stakes are high and respond appropriately. We don’t need to look far to see harsh criticisms of leaders with underwhelming responses to crises that occurred on their watch.

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Crisis Leadership Long-term Stress 161

Nathan Magnuson

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

I’m told that one quote preachers try to live by is, “If it’s foggy in the pulpit, it’s cloudy in the pew.” In other words, as the leader and communicator, if you’re unclear about any part of your message, it’s a sure bet everyone else is as well. You don’t have to be a preacher to risk setting unclear expectations.

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Cost Morale Consensus Energy 161

Nathan Magnuson

OCTOBER 1, 2018

My new book Ignite Your Leadership Expertise is available for pre-order on Amazon.com. Both the soft cover and ebook versions will be available on October 16. Winston Churchill declared, “Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” He wasn’t the only leader who recognized the reality of failure on the journey to success.

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Productivity Products eBook Succession 174

Nathan Magnuson

SEPTEMBER 3, 2018

Have you ever received the good fortune of being promoted to the new leader of your team, only to find that life got complicated and edgy the moment you started? All of a sudden, your peers knew you as “boss” and not just their buddy. There’s a vast difference between the two. What did you do in that situation? What should you do? Many leaders of former peers struggle at first.

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How To Commitment Leadership Team 136

Nathan Magnuson

AUGUST 6, 2018

Are you a “to-do” list person? For each leader reaching for higher levels of productivity and accomplishment, a “start doing” list can be a friendly companion or a demanding task master – sometimes both at the same time. But what about a “stop doing” list? Whether you have an aggressive new initiative or are simply looking to streamline your effectiveness, a stop doing list may be the very thing you need.

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Delegation Drucker Stress eBook 120

Nathan Magnuson

JULY 2, 2018

Are you an idea person? Do you find yourself coming up with new business ideas, branding concepts or process improvements? Does careful project management sometimes stifle your creativity? Do people ever give you that look that implies you ought to focus on the task at hand instead of daydreaming? If so, you’re not alone. I’m right there with you!

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How To Leadership Creativity Execution 189

Nathan Magnuson

JUNE 4, 2018

Several years ago I had a shocking experience that permanently changed my outlook. I’m afraid the traces of that experience began in high school. As a high school football player, we had a strictly enforced protocol among the players for team photos. Forget saying, “Cheese” – everyone needed to wear a game face. Later, I joined the military and the same code of conduct applied.

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Long-term Commitment Short-term Competitive Advantage 125

Nathan Magnuson

MAY 7, 2018

A couple weeks ago I had an idea for one of my corporate leadership programs that has over 6,000 leaders enrolled. In an attempt to make the program communications more personal, I included an insightful reflection one of the participants “Mark” had shared at the bottom of the email message. I didn’t have to wait long for a response, but I was surprised who it came from.

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Blanchard Leadership Learning-by-Doing eBook 125

Nathan Magnuson

APRIL 2, 2018

We all know that competence is one of the main requirements for effectiveness. But can you become so competent that it actually becomes a detriment? The answer is yes. If you’ve developed a high level of competence in a particular area, you’re actually in a danger zone. If you don’t identify the pitfalls, it’s likely you’ll fall into one.

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Learning-by-Doing Mentor Long-term Objective 125

Nathan Magnuson

MARCH 5, 2018

I first heard the term “servant leadership” in high school. Since then, I’ve seen and heard it referenced over and over again in books, presentations and casual business conversations. One of my initial aversions to the term was that while it sounded nice, the connection to results was soft or overlooked entirely. In other words, it felt like a “nice guys finish last” strategy.

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Leadership Strategy Development Covey 120

Nathan Magnuson

FEBRUARY 5, 2018

As you continue to grow as a leader, the invariable happens. You get put in charge of more. Whether you’re promoted to a higher position or have your level of responsibilities expanded in your current role, there’s simply more to oversee. In fact, as unemployment rates fall and Baby Boomers continue to retire, there is a good chance your new leadership opportunities will come before you feel ready.

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Tips Productivity Products Delegation 120

Nathan Magnuson

JANUARY 8, 2018

If you have goal to grow as a leader, you’re on the right track. If you have a plan of how to do it, you’re doing even better. But where have you put your focus? Many leaders choose to focus their development energy on areas they think (or have been told) are their weak areas. But is that really the best strategy? If you’re going to invest the effort into becoming a stronger leader, it pays to make sure your focus is in the right place.

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Leadership eBook Energy Stress 154

Nathan Magnuson

DECEMBER 11, 2017

6 years. That’s how long this Everyday Leadership blog has been running. I hope you’ve seen your leadership awareness and effectiveness grow over this time – as have mine. Below I’ve compiled the top 10 posts of 2017. You can also view the Top 10 list from past years. If you’re not a subscriber yet, sign up to receive my free content in 2018 and I’ll send you my ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor as well!

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eBook Stress Leadership Learning-by-Doing 120

Nathan Magnuson

DECEMBER 4, 2017

One of the most distasteful activities leaders face is giving negative feedback to others. The reason? It rarely produces a positive response. No one likes engaging in activities that aren’t appreciated. Giving great feedback isn’t easy. It’s tricky, it’s not much fun and to top it off, none of us were born knowing how to give great feedback.

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Construction Bottom-up Positioning Leadership 120

Nathan Magnuson

NOVEMBER 6, 2017

What comes to mind when you think about leadership responsibility? Taking charge? Casting vision? Setting strategy? Getting results? Every time this question has been asked in a workshop setting, the list gets long very quickly. I’d like to pose a sobering question: are the people you lead better or worse off because of you? What is the experience of each person on the other end of your leadership?

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Leadership eBook Resistance Uncertainty 120

Nathan Magnuson

OCTOBER 2, 2017

I had a chance to work with a couple new vendors recently. The contrasts couldn’t be more stark. One is a time-tested and respected brand and product. Another is a semi-recent start-up with an innovative concept. But the differences didn’t end there. Right from the get-go, one required some initial planning and then essentially ran itself.

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Sample Simon Bottom-up Follow-up 120

Nathan Magnuson

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

Decisions fascinate me. Occasionally they come easily. Sometimes they are difficult. Oftentimes they’re stressful. Some have huge implications. Most have a variety of influencing factors. Some decisions turn out perfectly. Some blow up entirely. Leaders are responsible for making important decisions that by nature aren’t easy. In fact, in a certain sense the essence of one’s leadership is the sum of the decisions he or she has made over time.

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Long-term Drucker Influence Short-term 145

Nathan Magnuson

SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

Decisions fascinate me. Occasionally they come easily. Sometimes they are difficult. Oftentimes they’re stressful. Some have huge implications. Most have a variety of influencing factors. Some decisions turn out perfectly. Some blow up entirely. Leaders are responsible for making important decisions that by nature aren’t easy. In fact, in a certain sense the essence of one’s leadership is the sum of the decisions he or she has made over time.

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Long-term Influence Short-term Leadership 120

Nathan Magnuson

AUGUST 7, 2017

“How can I get my leaders to do a better job coaching their teams?” That’s a question I frequently field from the executives and HR partners I support. I hope you’ve asked that question for yourself as well, because it means developing your team is high on your radar. I’ve shared the key skills of coaching as well as my favorite coaching conversational model GROW.

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Brainstorming Learning-by-Doing eBook Leadership 122

Nathan Magnuson

JULY 10, 2017

Over a decade ago I received a DVD of a past Chick-fil-A franchisee seminar. As I watched, the late founder Truett Cathy took the stage to deliver his opening remarks. They weren’t what I expected. He opened by saying, “If any of you has something against someone in this room, I want you to make it right.” Then he promptly left the stage and approached someone in the audience for a conversation.

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Seminar Open-book Teamwork Competitive Advantage 141

Nathan Magnuson

JUNE 5, 2017

The new three-part video series Jump-Start Your Employee Engagement has now launched. Join communication expert Josh Erickson and I for three ideas in three days – all in four minutes or less. This video series will only be available for a limited time – click here to enroll. How do people learn how to be leaders? That’s the question leadership consultant and thought leader Robert J.

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Leadership Learning-by-Doing Self-aware Commitment 145

Nathan Magnuson

MAY 1, 2017

When I think about what makes a great boss, one of my first items is someone who really knows what they are doing – a true expert. And when I think about what makes a true expert, in my mind it’s always an older person; someone with sage-like wisdom who has been were I am… but a long time ago. If you’ve worked for any length of time, you know that’s just not realistic.

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Leadership eBook Team Motivation 120

Nathan Magnuson

APRIL 3, 2017

I recently conducted a needs assessment for a senior executive group and was surprised when one of the highest rated development needs was stress management. The topic came up again in training discussion when another executive group expressed a high desire to include stress management on the list. I guess I assumed in a climate where everyone was expected to delivery more with less (as is the case in most places) the topic would seem too “soft” to them.

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Stress Leadership eBook Long-term 122

Nathan Magnuson

MARCH 13, 2017

This post comes courtesy of Mark Miller, a best-selling author of 6 books, an in-demand speaker and an executive at Chick-fil-A. His latest book, Leaders Made Here , describes how to nurture leaders throughout the organization, from the front lines to the executive ranks and outlines a clear and replicable approach to creating the leadership bench every organization needs.

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Leadership Blanchard Open-book Definition 120