It seems like when we fail, we quickly dive in and find out what caused the failure and how we can prevent it in the future. But when we succeed, we respond by shouting out, “Yes!” and move on. We expect success, but when it comes, do we really know how we got there? In […]
Author: maddenkurt
Am I on a hamster wheel and refusing to recognize that I’m not getting anywhere? What needs to change?
I enjoy working hard, but sometimes I get caught up in a big project that requires a lot of focused effort. So I put my head down and start working… and working… and working. I forget to look up and see if I’ve actually moved the ball down the field – or am I in […]
Am I delegating tasks or am I delegating authority?
I find it’s much easier to just delegate the task and retain the authority. But clearly that’s not the best way to delegate. Of course, it’s far better to delegate the authority or at least both the authority and the task. Unfortunately, that takes time, which I may not think I have – and a […]
When I speak to others, does my body language match my verbal language? Am I sending mixed messages?
As much as I would prefer to ignore it, studies show that how I say something and what my body says is more memorable than “what” is say. Content should be king – it’s why we spend so much time on what we are going to say. But we’ve all seen enough phony politicians who […]
When I am criticized by others, do I ignore what they are saying – or listen for truth that’s in disguise?
As a leader, we are often coached by leadership books and articles to ignore criticism. This encouragement also comes from friends and loved ones who try to spare us unnecessary pain and despair. And statistically, they are often right – in a world of internet trolls and a culture that frequently seems to value tearing-down […]
When a team fails – what is my reaction? What am I doing to help them succeed next time?
Personally, I don’t like to fail even though I realize that it is a requirement on the road to success. I’ve read the books, listened to the consultants and watched the videos – we learn from our failures. But it still doesn’t feel good. When one of our teams fail, it hard to stop myself […]
What do people most often criticize about my leadership? Is there something I should change?
Of course the first step is that I have to identify what people most often criticize. Perhaps the first step is to actually get past denial – to believe that someone somewhere is criticizing my leadership. Do they feel like I am unfair or that I play favorites or maybe that I don’t listen? Let’s […]
We talk about looking at the data and thinking about it – but do we really do that?
It’s very trendy to talk about Big Data, data-based decision making, data governance and data-based government. We read about it, talk about it, tell others they should do it – but are we really spending the time and effort to do it – or to do it well? To begin with, after looking at the […]
Was our last success just luck? Do we really know what we did to achieve it – and are we taking similar steps to repeat it?
It seems like when we fail, we quickly dive in and find out what caused the failure and how we can prevent it in the future. But when we succeed, we respond by shouting out, “Yes!” and move on. We expect success, but when it comes, do we really know how we got there? In […]
Is there enough trust in our organization for people to be able to say what they need to?
As the leader, I might say, “Of course! I love getting feedback.” However, what would others around me say – especially those that I don’t work with directly? What kind of culture have we created? Is it one where there is authentic trust and an understanding that it is important to speak out and provide […]