WE are inclined to place a lot of weight on negative thoughts—far more than our positive thoughts. Our brains are wired for it. It’s called the negativity bias. And today it seems like we are thinking more negative thoughts than positive ones. And it’s not just us. Everyone seems more negative than they used to be, if not downright cranky. It becomes a vicious circle. We infect them with negativity, and they infect us too. How do we turn this around? Life is too short to spend most of our time immersed in negativity. Former negativity addict Anthony Iannarino wrote The Negativity Fast to help ..read more

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Nido Qubein on becoming a transformational leader: “People value authenticity ahead of charisma. Charisma gets you in the door, but it takes substance to deliver results. We all must remember it’s not about us. It’s about everyone around us. They are our team; you are their coach. You have to listen to what they say and engage your mind to absorb and understand their concerns. We need to listen twice as much as we talk, and others will hear twice as m ..read more

THE GOAL of any communication is to connect. Some people are supercommunicators. That is, as they talk, they align with the person they are speaking with, constantly adjusting how they communicated in order to match their companions. In Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg explores how we communicate and connect. He explains why our communication sometimes goes awry and what we can do to make it better. “Anyone can become a supercommunicator—and, in fact, many of us already are, if we learn to unlock our instincts.” To begin, we need to understand that many discussions are actually three differ ..read more

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal on organizational politics: “Leaders need friends and allies to get things done. To sew up support, they need to build coalitions. Rationalists and romantics sometimes react with horror to this scenario. Why should you have to play political games to get something accepted if it’s the right thing to do? One of the classics of French drama, Molière’s The Misanthrope, tells the story of a protagonist whose rigid rejection of ..read more

IN THE HIGH-STAKES world of leadership, where every decision can be scrutinized and every failure magnified, the concept of vulnerability often takes on a negative connotation, especially among men, who are taught to equate emotional openness with weakness. Yet, if we delve deeper into the annals of history and the realms of effective leadership, a different narrative emerges—one where vulnerability is not a liability but a profound source of strength. My own confrontation with vulnerability’s raw power came unexpectedly during a pivotal moment in my career. Tasked with addressing the top 400 ..read more

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Robert Cooper on preparing for the unexpected: “We don’t always handle difficult situations as well as we could. Consider that the most exceptional people in many fields—athletes, teachers, and artists, for example—spend more time rehearsing than they do performing, whereas for most people, it’s just the opposite: almost no time practicing and most of their time performing. In the rush to achieve objectives, there is little attention to actually learn ..read more

HERE'S A LOOK at some of the best leadership books to be released in May 2024 curated just for you. Be sure to check out the other great titles being offered this month. High Road Leadership: Bringing People Together in a World That Divides by John C. Maxwell The world’s most influential leadership expert, John C. Maxwell, tackles the problem of our divided world in his latest book High Road Leadership. “Today it is causing people to fall—into disputes, frustration, anger, and despair. His solution is to expose the problems of taking the low and middle roads when interacting with others and t ..read more

Here is a selection of Posts from April 2024 that you will want to check out: Three Options to Help You Strengthen Your Feedback Skills by @artpetty Person Behind The Title via @LeadershipMain Be curious. Be Empathetic. Charisma vs. Character by @KevinPaulScott Transitions the Easier Way: Career & Life by @KateNasser The Law of Reversed Effort Caring a little less and coming to terms with a potential negative outcome doesn’t necessarily make us lazy or indifferent When You're on Thin Ice by @edbatista 7 Questions That Changed My Life by @SahilBloom Focus on Questions, Not Answers The Ma ..read more

CONFLICT will always be with us. We’re human. William Ury says, “We actually need more conflict, not less—if we are to learn, grow, evolve. The problem is the destructive way we handle conflict—destroying relationships, lives, and resources. Thankfully, we have a choice.” In Possible: How We Survive (and Thrive) in an Age of Conflict, Ury explains how to embrace conflict and transform it constructively to bring out the best in us—not the worst. From his own experience dealing with eminent civil war, coal strikes, boardroom battles, Cold War nuclear tensions, and his own family feuds, Ury has ..read more

HUMAN BEINGS are complex. Throw in complex organizations operating in complex markets, and you’ve really got to marvel at how it all comes together every day. In the face of all this complexity, there are four basic behaviors that leaders can adopt that will drastically improve their leadership and, by extension, the experience of those they lead. 1. Create Effective Organizations A very common mistake I see leaders make is to conflate the terms effective and efficient. Efficiency is a focus on process, maximizing outputs while minimizing resources. In business, this often looks like keeping ..read more