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Dare to Be Vulnerable: Building Trust and Inspiring Teams

“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.” – Brené Brown.

Vulnerability is a scary-sounding word. It makes you believe that you have no control over life and that there is no safe place where you can be because harm can come in your direction at any moment.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Vulnerability is a superpower that leaders can wield. By embracing vulnerability, you can actually be a strong leader.

Think about the courage and strength that it takes to acknowledge that you don’t know everything and ask for help, that you are scared of the future, or that maybe you are not as ready as you thought for your new role. All this takes courage. So, when you are vulnerable, you are courageous and strong. Someone who is not courageous and strong would not have the courage to acknowledge their vulnerability.  Read more...

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Are You Missing The Plank In Your Eye?

Every time someone subscribes to receive updates from my blog, they should receive an email asking them what the biggest struggle they’re facing today is. I recently had a subscriber respond with an issue most leaders have at some point. 

I shared my thoughts on the topic with them, and they said I should make our conversation a blog post. I hope you will enjoy this interaction made into a cohesive topic about leading others well. 

Man sitting in front of laptop. His hands are thrown up in frustration.

Photo by Headway on Unsplash

Here’s the struggle the reader was facing:

I would say my biggest struggle is mentoring new, younger employees.

At times their level of confidence far exceeds their abilities. In my opinion this contributes to an employee who over simplifies things, over relies on their own abilities to solve a problem, and takes unnecessary risks. This approach can create project delays.  Read more...

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Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Civil War

A Reel Leadership Article

My latest book, Reel Leadership, is now available on Amazon. If you love movies and leadership, you will love this book.

The previews for Civil War were exciting. The United States had been engulfed in a civil war that shook the foundation of the country to its core. The various factions were fighting hard against one another.

What would it spell out for the country?

Cailee Spaeny in Civil War. Young, dark haired woman holding a camera.

I went into Civil War expecting a film about the conflict caused by the breaking up of the country. Rather than that, A24 gave us a chilling look at the world of military-embedded photojournalists on a journey to reach the White House. They needed to do this quickly as rebels were also headed to the White House. Their mission? Something much more sinister: taking out the President of the United States of America (Nick Offerman).  Read more...

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5 Tips For Leading Effective Meetings

What do you think of when you think of a business meeting? Is it a time to be productive? Or is it a time and money waster? 

There are valid arguments for both ideas. 

Men and women sitting around a table. They are at a work meeting. Laptops are open on the table.

Photo by Mapbox on Unsplash

Meetings get people together. They can brainstorm, hash out ideas, and come together as a group. It’s powerful when you have multiple people in a room together to work through a pressing matter.

Then there’s the flip side. Meetings waste money. Think about how many people are involved in your meetings. How many are there? If there are five people in your meeting, each person gets paid an average of $30 an hour, and the meeting lasts an hour, that is $150 for the meeting. Now, the meeting recurs every week – $7,800 a year for a meeting. What if the meeting group was larger? The cost of the meeting goes up even more.  Read more...

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How To Be A Grateful And Appreciative Leader

As a team member, feeling appreciated beyond the paycheck is important. You put a lot of effort into fulfilling your job requirements, finding things to do, and making the organization money. The daily grind can be mind-numbing.

Add to that working for a leader who doesn’t show appreciation can destroy any motivation they have to continue working hard. As the leader, it falls on you to make sure your people know that you are grateful and appreciative of their hard work.

I think back to some of my roles where I had a leader who didn’t show their appreciation. It was just demands for more output. Nary a thank you, great job, or I see you were said. At times, there were even threats despite my best efforts. 

I look back on those days and think about what I longed for as an employee. I wanted to feel appreciated.  Read more...