- Project Manager in Oil and Gas Industry
So what is the difference between leadership and management? In my mind, they are not interchangeable. Leadership is about people. Management focuses on resources and processes. But, the great leaders are adept at both. These posts focus on how leaders can become better managers. My intent is to share some of my ideas on how leaders can better manage.
Any time a new ingredient is added to a cookie recipe, the flavor of that cookie changes and can’t be changed back. I cannot undo it. The cook can add chocolate chips or pecans-Dark chocolate or milk chocolate.
The recipe is usually an intentional combination of ingredients. However, once one ingredient changes, the flavor of that recipe will be altered and can’t be reversed. If I am a new leader, then I am that ingredient that will change the flavor of the team. Continue Reading…
I spend a lot of time in the bleachers at my kids sporting events. I love it. I am a gym rat who loves to watch both practice and games. It is one of my favorite things from my childhood that I did with my dad, The Master of The Sword at West Point.
Sometimes as I sit in the bleachers, I witness something that makes my blood boil. I witness a kid dismiss a coach’s advice. They give the coach that “whatever” look or in some cases even verbalize their bad attitude.
I want to jump out of the stands and shake them. I want to say, “Who are you to question someone who played the game you’re playing and has been teaching the game to hundred’s before you!”
What arrogance! What stupidity! It’s just dumb kids though right? Unfortunately, I have seen the same attitude in adults at work, in ministry, and in other areas of life.
Over the last 4 weeks I have been sharing my experiences taking over new teams and my insights based on times when I did it well and when I did it poorly. I learned new things each time and believe what I am sharing can help anyone stepping in to lead a new team. The 5 Steps for New Leaders on New Teams are:
Steps 1-3 are all building towards what I see to be the two most important attributes of successful teams: Trust and Culture. Continue Reading…
When a new leader steps onto a new team, they have one chance to get it right. I got it right sometimes and other times I didn’t. The effort I put in up front always paid off later in better relationships and more productive teams.
Over the last two weeks I focused on what to a new leader taking over a new team needs to do in preparation for their first team meeting. I believe there are 5 Steps for New Leaders On New Teams:
Who’s in charge? I’m not. Not as a new leader stepping in to lead a new team. I must move my ego aside and realize that if I want to make things happen on my team. I must rely on influence leaders to drive for awhile.
This is the third in a series of six blogs intended to help new leaders who are about to lead new teams. I gave an overview two weeks ago of 5 Key Steps and began breaking down each step last week. The 5 Key Steps for New Leaders on New Teams are:
I learned many things during 15 years in sales leadership. I took over teams that were high functioning and low functioning. I took over teams that were full of rookies and teams that were full of tenured people. No matter the situation, I always learned more from my mistakes than I did from my successes.
Last week I began a series based on lessons I learned taking over new teams. In that post, I laid out 5 Key Steps for new leaders taking over new teams. They are:
Though I was trained to lead at West Point and led men in combat as a lieutenant in the Army, I was still a baby when it came to recognizing a problem on my team, coaching it and documenting it appropriately in the corporate world.
I hired Tory myself (name changed). He had the talent to be a top salesperson. He had the gift of gab and people were naturally drawn to him. In fact, we were a lot alike, and I enjoyed spending time with him.
The first time I noticed it, I raised an eyebrow and forgot about it. A month later, there it was again. I was thinking it through when my cell phone rang and I moved to a more urgent issue. Continue Reading…
Most corporate sponsored leadership training is ineffective. Why?
Click here to receive my blog posts
by e-mail. Sign me up!
