A Little Bit of Focus

One thing I know of leaders is that they are wired to constantly be learning and to relentlessly be evaluating their lives and their leadership.  But as a leader, sometimes it’s easy to get stuck.  Sometimes you are so busy asking the questions of everyone else that you fail to ask yourself the challenging questions […]

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Change. Fear. How do you deal with them?

I came across this short video clip of Carly Fiorina talking about the dynamics of change and fear.  Every leader and every organization deals with change and the fear of change. Do you rise to the challenge or buckle underneath it? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3IbKbDhfKw] Btw – One of my favorite leadership memoirs is Carly’s book Tough Choices.

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Believe the Best

Assume the best. Give the benefit of the doubt. I had a funny thing (well kind of funny depending on your perspective) happen to me this week.  I got a very kind but concerned message from a former colleague about a status update he saw on my facebook page.  The update included an expletive that […]

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Growing as a Leader

If I know anything about leadership, it’s that it doesn’t come easy. Yes, some people have a natural gift toward leadership, however growing and developing as a leader is hard work.  It won’t just happen.  A position of authority won’t miraculously make you a good leader.  Being called a leader doesn’t make you a good […]

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They Don't Always Like Me

Another “grey leadership” example… This week I had to say some tough stuff to our leadership team.  I don’t usually “bring the hammer down” with our staff, but this week was one of those weeks when I felt like there was no better way to address my concerns than to say some tough things. I’m […]

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They Don’t Always Like Me

Another “grey leadership” example… This week I had to say some tough stuff to our leadership team.  I don’t usually “bring the hammer down” with our staff, but this week was one of those weeks when I felt like there was no better way to address my concerns than to say some tough things. I’m […]

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Create a Crisis – Part 3

In my “Create a Crisis” series I’ve talked about what a Thematic Goal is and what the process is like for creating one.  Today I thought I would reveal what our Cross Point Staff Thematic Goal is for 2009. This year our thematic goal is about securing the foundation among our staff.  As I was […]

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Believe, Encourage, Share, Trust

Believe in them Encourage them Share with them Trust them This is a John C. Maxwell acronym that I picked up somewhere along the way.  I wrote this down a couple of years ago but I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t feel like I’ve gotten much better at it.  I think I tend to […]

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Create a Crisis – Part 2

Last week I posted Part 1 of Create a Crisis where I shared how our team creates a “Thematic Goal” every year.  Today, I thought I would share more about the process we go through in creating our thematic goal. The concept for creating a thematic goal is easy to understand and get excited about, […]

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Create a Crisis – Part 1

I get a lot of questions about what we do for staff leadership and development at Cross Point, so I thought I would start sharing more of the behind-the-scenes details of how we lead and manage. A couple of years ago I read Silos, Politics & Turf Wars by Patrick Lencioni and quickly adopted his […]

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