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Finish What You Started Reflection

This week’s tool and video build on this idea of finishing what you start. In the video, I share a bit more about the concept. Watch yourself or share it with others. The tool provides you with a decision tree you can follow to finish strong. I encourage you to use the tool for lingering…

Challenge and Encourage

Great leaders challenge team members to step up, give them opportunities to succeed, and model behaviors for them to follow. Want to be a great leader? Find ways to help people to accomplish three critical tasks.

Listening with the Grain Worksheet

Great leaders listen with the grain of a conversation. Their intent is to understand and learn from the speaker, not to merely confirm what the leader already believes or to deliver a pre-determined response. Sometimes we struggle to get it right. We make assumptions or fail to fully understand what a team member is telling…

Freudenfreude Worksheet

Freudenfreude is the opposite of Schadenfreude. It means that you find pleasure in watching someone else succeed. Arguably, the dinner party discussion about favorite tv shows and movies was a glimpse at Freudenfreude in action. People were genuinely excited at the idea of seeing others enjoying what they enjoy. This Freudenfreude concept is something I…

Putting Pre-mortems Into Practice Worksheet

Hopefully, conducting post-mortem sessions is a regular practice for you and your team. If not, I encourage you to start. Yes, post-mortems take time, but they will improve you, your team, and your future efforts. A meeting you may be less familiar with is a pre-mortem session. These occur before you start the event, project,…

ADVICE Worksheet

I once boarded a plane flight. After settling into my seat, I opened the outdoor travel magazine I had purchased in the terminal. The title of the first article I flipped to caught my attention, “How to Survive a Plane Flight!” That seemed like interesting timing. I felt compelled to read the article. It contained…

How Performance Drives Customer Experience Worksheet

The attitude and behaviors of non-customer-facing team members can indirectly impact customer experience. What we call manufacturing mistakes or missed project deadlines aren’t merely internal problems; they are ultimately customer service issues. Just because the line between the two isn’t direct, the impact is still predictable. More importantly, it made me consider how little adjustments…

6 Steps to Meet Unspoken Customer Needs

Going to the market week after week, I’ve become familiar with many of the vendors, their products, and how they display the goods they sell. It’s interesting how they adjust their approach throughout the summer. They move items around, refine what they say to customers, and create new offerings. For example, a few weeks ago,…

Planning Worksheet

Playing the lottery can teach us a helpful lesson about creating plans to accomplish our priorities. Like the lottery, where you are trying to turn little amounts into big bucks, an effective plan is also designed to turn a little into a lot. However, unlike the lottery, where you are counting on luck to achieve…

Worksheet: Leaders Communication Check

Words have meaning. Talking in shorthand is helpful, but only to the extent that both parties understand the jargon, acronyms, or phrases. This week’s tool and video will help you to explore the shorthand you use and ask you to consider if your message recipients – employees, customers, or partners – genuinely understand what you…

Worksheet: Getting Past a Veiled Response

Sometimes leaders, customers, and employees say one thing when they want to say something completely different. For example: A team member asks a leader for funding to attend a workshop. The leader says, “let me think about it.” In reality, the leader doesn’t want to deal with it and hopes you will forget about it.…

3 Types of Fun at Work on Your Team

Adventurers often talk about the 3 Types of Fun. Type 1 Fun is fun in the moment, and it’s fun when you reflect on the experience. Type 2 Fun is not fun in the moment, but it’s fun when you reflect on the experience. Type 3 Fun is not fun in the moment, and it’s not fun when…

Worksheet: Translating Values Into Behaviors

Think back to when you were a child. There was likely a time when someone told you to clean something – your bedroom at home, a locker at school, etc. Let’s say that you set out to do the task well and impress others with the quality of your work. At some point, the person…

5 Keys to Giving Feedback When People are Doing Good Work

When you are left in the dark, you make erroneous assumptions, second guess yourself, and hold back on your best efforts. Have you ever left your people in the dark when they were doing solid work? Here are five ways to shine a bit of light on great work. Be consistent. Don’t let your feedback ebb…

Weekly Leadership Development Rhythm

I frequently tell a story about how my daily physical training in the Army allowed me to run a marathon on a whim when I was in my twenties. My consistent regimen led to freedom of action. In order to become a great runner, you must have a habit of running and follow a consistent…

Name it, Capture it, & Shred it

Every once in a while on the Leadership Lab podcast, I sit down and talk to a professional athlete. I’ve spoken to people like Dansby Swanson, the shortstop of the Atlanta Braves, or former NFL player Desmond Clark. When I learn about their approach to shaking off mistakes and getting back in the game, the…

Worksheet: 2 Biggest Assets

As a leader, one of the biggest challenges you have is that there are so many things to do, opportunities to tackle, and problems to fix. It can be overwhelming. But the reality is that your success is not defined by trying to do everything. Your success often stems from tackling a few critical things.…

Worksheet: Gaining Support

Wise leaders recognize that the change management game is not won by getting every stakeholder to become a strong supporter but by moving everyone one step closer. They work to move someone who is opposed to a spot of neutrality on the issue. Or, they attempt to move a neutral party to a position of…

5 C’s of Consistency Tool

Sometimes, especially as leaders, we get frustrated and ask ourselves: Why wasn’t I more consistent in having one-on-one conversations with my people this week? Why didn’t I put more energy into checking on certain things this quarter? Why did I allow other issues and demands to distract me? I have two things to share with…

Fan the Flames Tool

Leadership isn’t merely organizing resources or delegating tasks. At its core, leadership is seeing the potential of every team member and communicating, encouraging, and supporting them to unleash that potential to achieve what they hadn’t thought possible. In short, great leaders fan the flames of success. If you want to see your people succeed in…

EMPTY Your Mind Tool

Use this video and tool to empty your mind purposely. Write things down, put them in your calendar, and find a home for them outside of your head so you can allow your brain to do what it does best. EVENTS: What meetings and appointments are on your schedule? MILESTONES: What results or outcomes must…

Reward Team Members: 5 Ways to Recognize Your People

Think about the person on your team who you turn to in order to get things done. Here are five ways for you to make an investment in them, demonstrate your appreciation, and recognize their efforts. Although the first mentions financial compensation, there are plenty of other actions you can take. To help you remember…

Worksheet: Invest in Relationships

Two things are inevitable for all of us: Crises will happen. Investing in relationships today will help us navigate through times of crisis. Based on these fundamental truths, ask yourself two questions: How are you consciously investing in relationships today to help you navigate through future crises? How are you consciously investing in relationships today…

Worksheet: Scale, Systematize, and Sustain Success

You may not be running a restaurant or a fashion house, but your successes are also subject to the same challenge. If the results are a function of one player or leader, it will be nearly impossible to scale, systematize, and sustain success. This week’s tool presents one key question and shares six ingredients for…

SEIZE The Lessons Tool

Are you too busy doing things that you never stop to take note of the lessons you’re learning along the way? I know that I can fall into this trap. I bet you can too. I encourage you to seize the lessons in work and life, and I hope to help your efforts. I enjoy…

Ideation Preparation Checklist

Ideation sessions can be the best use of your time when done well. Sadly, when it’s done poorly, it will produce little value, but it will also feed cynicism and disengagement. It’s the classic high-risk, high reward scenario. In our last ideation session, we gained a new perspective on those we serve and generated many…

Worksheet: Carry 3 Lessons Forward

We sometimes turn the page from chapter to the next in life. I encourage you to consider bringing a few lessons forward with you into the next chapter of your life. Here are three lessons from COVID I advised a group of executives to consider hanging on to: Clarification – limited resources and restrictions caused…

Unleash Your TEAM’s Untapped Potential

To help you think through these situations and better tap into the power of your team. Consider this acronym T-E-A-M and the associated questions: Talent – Who has the knowledge, skills, and abilities to tackle the initiative? Experience – Who has experience delivering on similar projects? Availability – How could we change schedules or realign…

Worksheet: Go from breakthrough to boring

I recently had a conversation with a renewable energy entrepreneur about the challenge of bringing new ideas to market. Experience taught him that when his team innovates a unique solution, the key to successful user adoption is to take the offering from breakthrough to boring as quickly as possible. His point was that if the…

Worksheet: Reform, Perform, Transform

I can tell you that having led countless priority-setting sessions with my team and with my clients, these sessions are well worth the effort when done right. The clarity derived from determining a team’s priorities generates excitement, commitment, and focus. It can be a much-needed morale boost and take a team from a laundry list…

6 Rs Flowchart – Getting Standards Right

Performance standards can drive consistency, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction. Establishing them is not enough. Leaders must routinely revisit standards to ensure that they are needed, adhered to, and being followed for the ‘right’ reasons.

Master Mantras to Overcome Obstacles Tools

A few well-articulated mantras can help us overcome obstacles and rewire how we see ourselves, others, and the world around us. Here are a few examples of obstacles you might face and a mantra to adopt: Struggle with your ego getting in the way? Remind yourself that “it isn’t about me, it’s about us.” Spend…

Step Up & Disrupt

James Patterson walks to the beat of his own drum. He’s disruptive. He trusts his gut. He has found what he loves to do in life, and he chooses every day to do it. His message was simple. We should all do the same in our lives. It got me thinking about the opportunity for…

Win in the turns

In auto racing, there’s an expression that drivers win races in the turns. When drivers hit turns, the unexpected can occur, people make mistakes, and a racer can gain an advantage or fall behind. Like race car drivers, you and your team can win in the turns. While many leaders seek stability and try to…

Choose. Don’t Just React.

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey wrote that there is a space between stimulus and response, and it’s in that space that we find our freedom. We don’t merely have to react to a stimulus. We can choose what we do. Consider situations where you have reacted in ways that you later…

Worksheet: Conduct a TIP Interview

Here’s your chance as a leader to consider how connected you are to those you lead. Ask yourself: – Do you know their stories? – Do you understand their passions? – How familiar are you with what interests them? – Can you explain what they want to do in their life? – What impact do…

Worksheet: Turn OR Choices Into AND Opportunities

We often assume that choices are limited to doing one thing or the other. Use this tool to brainstorm how a historic OR choice could become an AND opportunity.

Worksheet: 7 Sources of a Problem

When you are faced with a problem, step back and clearly state the problem. Then, brainstorm various sources of the problem. To help you do that, consider these seven common sources to problems: Is something in the external environment (e.g., customer, competitors, regulatory, etc.) causing the problem? Are your goals, initiatives, or plans leading to…

How Great Leaders Deliver Bad News

If you’re a regular reader of mine, you know I love a good acronym. With that in mind, the four actions, Clear, Authentic, Respectful, and Empathetic, spell out C-A-R-E. When you deliver bad news, show people that you’re a leader who cares for them. To help you do that, we include a tool and video.…

Dam Good Leadership Tool

This week’s video and tool are designed to help you think through the questions posed in this article. As we sprint to the end of 2021, take the time to invest in yourself. Consider your strengths and how your team and organization value those. Then, work to position yourself to make the most significant possible…

Assess Your Convictions Tool

A few days ago, I served as a judge in a business pitch competition. In all likelihood, you have seen these types of competitions before on television. One by one, the various contestants step on stage to present their business idea to the judges in hopes of receiving funding or support. After the pitch, the…

Be a Raving Fan Tool

This week’s tool is designed to help you to think about the fans in your life, those people who cheer for you, those who have your back and encourage you. Think about the fans in your life and your work and how those fans, by their actions, make you feel. Then consider how those feelings…

Level Up Your Leadership Tool

Great leaders look at people and see an unlimited potential within them and work to help to bring that potential into the world. I’ve been fortunate to have leaders like this in my life, and I hope that you have as well. If you have yet to find a leader who helps you reach your…

The Power of Routine Tool

I imagine that you have a number of routines in your life – no doubt, some serve you well, and others are less effective. I invite you to find ways to reinforce the former and improve the latter. To help your efforts, I offer three routine considerations: Routine Thinking Routine Assessment Routine Advice We designed…

Heads-up Leadership Tool

I bet you have distractions in your life that are keeping you from doing what truly matters most. We have created a tool and a video to help you to address them. I encourage you to invest 10-15 minutes in yourself by watching the video and filling out the tool.  Considering what matters most to you, identifying distractions that are…

Delivering Results Tool

This week, we’ve created a tool and video to help you learn from ‘The Tragedy of Leadership’ by examining past results to determine what proactive moves you could have taken to lessen a negative impact. Moreover, you can use the tool to consider the results you hope to achieve in the future, explore what might…

Managing Stress: The Power of the Plimsoll Line

In 1880, Samuel Plimsoll set out to fix the problem of too many freight ships sinking at sea. He recommended a bill to the UK Parliament requiring that a line be drawn around a ship’s hull. As the cargo was loaded onto a ship, the increased weight would cause the ship to become further submerged…

How to Make a Dent in the Universe: Tool

I bet I can make a few assumptions about you: You want your work to matter You want to make a difference You want those who work with you to be better because of your presence You want to get better along the way Essentially, you to make a dent in the universe (or at…

Leading Through Trauma: Tool

Whether trauma happens at the individual level – unexpected medical diagnosis – or at the collective level – a disaster strikes a community – the fallout is not only real but calls for leaders to express more than empathy. I encourage you this week to consider those in your life who may be going through…

A Double Take at Leadership: Tool

Let’s face it; even the best team members can slip into negative thoughts complaining to one another, “that won’t work here, we’ve already tried that.” When these sentiments arise, consider acting more like an optometrist. Instead of throwing the idea out or giving up on the initiative, engage your team members and ask them to…

Crisis at 800 Feet: Tool

You likely:  Work in a fast-paced, dynamic, and demanding environment. Encounter curve balls and have to deal with the unexpected. Have people looking to you for answers and direction. Must rely on your experience, knowledge, procedures, or the example of others as you respond to a crisis.  Here are six practices to employ in the…

What Are You Grateful For Tool

I am thrilled about The Five Leadership Challenge’s performance and the impact it is having. I’m also extremely grateful to: My partners at HarperCollins Leadership for publishing the book and providing guidance throughout the last several months. My teammates at Leddin Group for their hard work throughout the entire launch process and constant belief in…

What’s in a Name Tool

The importance of names extends beyond what people call us as individuals to what we call our teams, departments, and entire organizations. This week’s tool and video are intended to get you thinking about what people call your group and if the name truly represents: – Who you serve – What you do – Why…

6 Keys to Launching Something New into the World

For the past few days, I have been traveling from event to event, promoting my new book, The Five-Week Leadership Challenge. From the first day I proposed the book to Harper Collins, to writing my first draft, to now, I have learned a lot. I’d like to share 6 of those lessons with you today. Hopefully,…

Is It Time to Commit?

I recently had a conversation about commitment with retired Senior Chief and Navy SEAL Thom Shea. Thom knows a great deal about commitment. He served 23 years in the Navy, completed several combat tours, and holds the record for going through Hell Week five times en route to becoming a SEAL. I’m a fairly driven…

3 Reasons to be a Lifelong Learner

You just started at a new job. You’re excited. You want to make an impact. You hit the ground running. Over time, you build new relationships, deliver good results, and make a name for yourself. A few weeks pass. Weeks become months. Months become years. You grow comfortable…too comfortable If you see yourself or a…

4 Great Outcomes That Happen in the White Space

In the white space between the blocks on an organizational chart, learning happens. It’s in those spaces where team members step out of their comfort zones to connect, teams work across functions, and departments/divisions come together to make big things happen. Today’s tool and video are designed to help you to think about the white…

Acknowledge Your Strengths Worksheet

In our careers, too often we dwell on the things we wish we were able to do, while not acknowledging all the things at which we excel. By focusing on your weaknesses, not only do you not give yourself a chance to succeed, but you also lose track of your strengths. I challenge you today…

Trail Marker Leadership

I like to hike. I enjoy the sense of adventure, the opportunity to be outdoors, and the challenge that comes with pushing yourself. On every trail there are a series of trail markers. These can be posts, small signs, or a shape painted on a tree. All trail markers serve the same purpose: they inspire…

Highs and Lows Worksheet

This week’s tool and video are designed to help you to think about the highs and lows in your life and career. Use the space on the form to reflect on a time period in your life. You can capture a month, a year, or any timeframe you would like. Draw a line showing where…

Capitalize On Changing Customer Expectations

I imagine that, like me, your expectations have shifted since COVID-19 began. Perhaps you expect hand sanitizer at every store entrance or food to be hand-carried to your car for curbside pick-up. I also imagine that, like you and me, your customers’ expectations have changed too. It doesn’t matter if your customer is a retail…

Answering Post-COVID Work Arrangement Questions

I have created a form that you can use to answer the deeper, more important questions about returning to the office post-COVID. To do so, fill in your responses to the questions in column one. Your answers will point to the long-term outcomes you want to generate and the type of organization you want to…

Are You Leading From Confidence or Fear?

There are likely times as a leader when you feel very confident in what you are doing. You have confidence in your skills, and those around you trust you. You cast a big vision for what you want to achieve, bring out the best in everyone, and deliver results that no one thought possible. Everything…

7 Mindsets That Can Hold Leaders Back

This week’s video and tool provide you seven leadership obstacles and encourage you to think about the shift you need to make in order to address each one. Thinking through these challenges yourself and helping others complete the activity for themselves will go a long way toward improving leadership in your organization. Embracing the most…

Compliance vs Commitment

If your people are performing based on commitment, that’s amazing. This is precisely the behavior you hope for and will help the organization deal with the next crisis or challenge. That’s a recipe for long-term success. If they are performing solely out of compliance, there’s a genuine chance that the behavior they are exhibiting could…

4 Reasons Why You Should Step Up and Go All In

There have been numerous times throughout my career when I have chosen to step up and go all in. I can tell you that the experience was richer in each instance, opportunities increased, and memories remain strong.

How To Prepare For a Tough Conversation with Your Boss

Like any negotiation, successfully having tough conversations with your boss tarts long before you engage in discussion. Getting it right means that you work to truly RELATE to your boss’s needs, concerns, and interests. By RELATE, I mean that you follow my six-step process of Realize, Explore, Look, Ask, Think, and Engage Whether you welcome…

3 Ways to Use a Tool

Tools are only helpful when they fix a problem or facilitate an improvement. Only then are they valuable. It’s with this in mind that Leddin Group creates and shares a new leadership tool every week. Over the last two years, we have provided leaders with well over 100 free tools. From the feedback we receive,…

3 Steps to Aligning and Maximizing Your Roles

We often assume that the various roles we fulfill in life are naturally at odds with one another – to do well in one role, we must make a withdraw from another. That isn’t necessarily true. Look to align your roles with who you are as a person and you will achieve amazing and surprising…

Meeting Team Member Needs

We all want to be valued. Use this worksheet to determine how well you are meeting those needs for your people. Write your team members names in the left column. For each person identify if you believe they are being seen, heard, valued, and acknowledged. In the ‘how do you know’ column explain why you…

Are You Building A Team That Is Worth Building?

Are you on track to build the team you want to build? I once had a beagle named Dolly. She was the sweetest dog. Dolly never met a stranger as she quickly made friends with everyone. When she was excited, she would produce an endearing little squeak that became her trademark. Dolly was near perfect,…

The DESIGN Process

We’ve created a tool to help you to DESIGN better solutions. DESIGN stands for: Describe, Explore, Search, Implement, Gather, Nurture. Read more about the tool and watch the video here. Download a PDF version below.

What Do Your People Need From You?

Over the course of the last year, employee expectations have changed. Here’s your chance to explore and act on what your team members need from you.

Create a Fully Integrated Team (FIT)

Use this tool to reflect on each of your team members in order to create a Fully Integrated Team. Write down each team members strengths and struggles. Annotate whether you would rehire each person or not based on both their performance and alignment to the organization’s values. Consider if they are in the right role…

3 Ways to Tackle a Challenge

We tackle challenges differently, understanding this is key to be a successful leader. Watch this video and the put the tool to use with your team. Read more here.

How to Add Valuable Friction

Friction in business is often considered a bad thing. Business experts extol the virtues of removing friction from sales, manufacturing, and customer service processes. This makes sense as you don’t want to slow down a sale, reduce the number of items moving through the production facility, or cause customers to wait too long for an…

Customer Perspective Worksheet

Team Tradition Assessment

We’ve created a tool and video to help you to assess your team’s traditions. They give you the chance to consider if the tradition aligns with your organization’s values and supports your goals, or if some traditions may be unexpectedly holding you and others back from doing something better together. You can read more about why we…

Radical Idea Worksheet

Many of us have mad, crazy, even radical ideas. And by many of us, I mean you. Over time, you learn to push these ideas to the side saying that they are unrealistic or undoable. Your pragmatic self wins the day and the idea is put to bed. Yes, it may pop-up in your mind…

4 Keys to Winning If You Are an Underdog

We have all had underdog moments. These are times when the odds are stacked against us, we find ourselves ill prepared, or see a long uphill battle in front of us.

Discover Your Purpose Worksheet

Use this tool and video to explore your talents, inner voice, and passion. In doing so, you may find answers to some big questions and decide to take action. Who knows? As a result of putting the tool to use, you might choose to: Recommit to doing your very best at your current job. Start…

Places Worth Exploring Worksheet

Asking questions and listening can provide you tremendous insights about your people, customers, competition, and more. This week’s tool is designed to help you to identify a few places worth exploring. Doing so will increase your understanding of others, inform your thinking, and generate empathy. These lessons and more are critical to becoming the leader…

Four Dimensions Assessment

As a whole person, you consist of four dimensions: mind, heart, body, and spirit. Here’s your chance to assess how you are doing in each area and to put a game plan in place to improve. Do these three things: Watch the video Download a PDF of the tool (see below) Read the article to…

What Does Accuracy Mean to Your Team?

Imagine for a moment that a new coffee shop is being built in your town. It seems perfect. You love coffee; you drive by the location every day, and the new store will have is a drive-thru. Could it get any better? You watch the shop’s construction and look forward to your first cup of…

Find Your Inner Genius Tool

If you want to better understand your genius and learn more about the value that you bring to your work and to the world, watch this video and then put the tool into action.

Assess Your Path Canvas

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Tool: Allow Yourself To Riff

2020 taught many of us how to play new riffs, try new melodies, and remain on our toes. Build on these skills. You might long to fall back into some familiar tunes, but remember that you’ve come so far, learned so much, and figured out a lot about yourself and others. Keep that momentum. There…

Tool: Capture Your Wins

All too often we get so caught up in doing that we fail to reflect on all that we have already done. Don’t miss the chance to capture your wins (big or small), as the lessons learned and the energy released will help to refuel your fire. Download a PDF of the Capture Your Wins…

4 Lego Building Blocks for Your Organization.

Since inception, Lego has produced over 650 billion pieces. That’s nearly 93 blocks for every person on the planet. They’ve also manufactured 4 billion lego mini figures – one small Lego ‘person’ for every 1.75 people on earth. Ten years ago, Lego was struggling on every financial front and headed toward ruin; however, they turned…

5 Things to Look For in a Job Candidate

Imagine that you are interviewing for a leadership role. You’ve studied the position, looked into organizational challenges and opportunities, and conducted a couple of mock interviews. You settle into the chair and I enter the room and introduce myself. During the interview, I’m looking for several things to suggest that you are a good fit…

Check-in Checklist

I recently started asking guests on the Leadership Lab podcast about what leaders can do to best support their people during uncertain times. The overwhelming response: “check-in regularly with your people.” Below is a free PDF tool to help you conduct great one-on-ones. You can read more about the concept here.

3 Lies Leaders Tell Themselves

How Great Leaders Model Great Customer Service

3 Key Career Choices

Changing lanes isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it can shake things up and reenergize yourself or your team. That said, it should be a deliberate decision based not on emotion, but reflection and introspection. If you decide that the lane you’re in isn’t getting you, your team, and your organization to the right place…

How Language Drives Culture

3 Key Leadership Conversations

6 Benefits of Turning Your Team Members into Owners

5 Barriers to Teamwork

By asking every person on your team to answer these five key questions, you will help them to determine how they can make their highest contributions to the team and the organization

5 Questions You Should Work To Answer

4 Leadership Behaviors That Will Increase Employee Engagement

Smart Leaders Know When to Waterski Snorkel or Scuba

Why Paying With CASH is a Wise Investment

3 Behaviors to Consider to Lead in Tough Times

5 Leadership Do’s and Dont’s

3 Ways to Build Staying Power

Tool: 3 Leadership Behaviors that Work

I’m excited to share our latest free leadership tool. Do you want to be a more effective leader? I’d recommend that you embrace three leadership behaviors that work: Recognize people as individuals Invite people to participate in something bigger than themselves Create positive memorable experiences Here’s a PDF of 3 Leadership Behaviors that Work for…

3 Leadership Behaviors That Work

3 Keys To Seizing Your Next Opportunity

3 Conversations to Create Trust & Collaboration

TOOL: 3 People-Centric Actions of Great Leaders

Regardless of your industry, function, or any other aspect of your role, if you want to be a great leader, you must be people-centric. Here is a tool outlining three people-centric actions to help you to be more successful. Recognize people as individuals Invite people to participate Create positive experiences Download the free tool below.…

4 Leader Behaviors for Uncertain Times

In times of uncertainty, leaders can truly help their team and organization by putting four behaviors into practice. This tool is designed to help you to remember and act on these key actions. Download a PDF version of the tool using the image below.

4 Trust Building Choices

Let’s be clear. Giving people choices is a good thing. Giving people a voice in creating those choices can be a great thing. In the face of dealing with choices, great leaders make 4 great choices. Read this article to understand more about the concept. Download the PDF (below) as it is perfect for printing,…

7 Keys to Effectively Giving Your Boss Negative Feedback

Giving your boss feedback can be tough. While some leaders are open to learning and listening, others are far less receptive. If you find yourself in a situation where you feel compelled to provide your boss feedback, here are seven keys to more effectively delivering the message. Below is a PDF suitable for sharing with…

6 Behaviors of Highly Successful Mentors

Effectively mentoring someone is an honor. It can be terribly fulfilling, but it takes effort, preparation, and some well-honed skills. This tool highlights 6 behaviors of effective mentors. Use it to assess your current efforts and as a guide to help you to get better. The behaviors are: Motivator Coach Counselor Teacher / Advisor Sponsor…

5 Reasons to Craft Your Team’s Purpose

Have you taken the time to craft a purpose statement for your team? If not, perhaps these 5 reasons to do it will get you moving in the right direction. Listen to an expert on purpose, Brad White of Brighthouse a BCG Company, as he shares his thoughts on finding and putting to use your…

Create a Culture of Owners

Who washes a rental car? No one. Why? We don’t own rental cars. If you want to increase employee engagement, give your team members something to own. It can be a project, an initiative, a decision, a workspace, etc., but give it to them and let them own it. Here are six great reasons to…

5Ps Leading Teams to Top Results: Quick Team Assessment

Whether you aspire to lead people, are early on your role as a team leader, or have been leading teams for years, I strongly recommend you check out this tool. In working on the ground teams around the world, we’ve learned that the best team leaders and team members are clear on five key areas:…

5 Workplace Etiquette Behaviors to Help You to Win at Work

Joining a new workplace, at any age, can be daunting! Here are 5 quick and easy workplace etiquette tips. Although simple, and seemingly straightforward, these 5 things are often forgotten or overlooked in the rush of beginning a new role. Read more in this article. Download a PDF of the 5 workplace etiquette behaviors perfect…

Health and Fitness Checklist for the Business Traveler

Traveling for leisure or for work can complicate our healthy habits and wellness routines for a myriad of reasons – our sleep schedule is different, planes are germy, we don’t have our normal “stuff” quite as accessible, and it feels like our daily routine has gone out the window. However, if you are traveling for…

4 Ugly Truths that Great Leaders Know about Good Ideas

GREAT leaders know 4 UGLY truths about GOOD ideas. Are you aware of them? Here’s a tool to help you to learn and apply them. Download a pdf version below that is perfect for printing, posting, and sharing! Read more about these ideas here.

6 Leadership Lessons You Can Learn Over Lunch

Might I suggest you take a lunch away from the office this week. Put away the cell phone and any other distractions and just spend some time observing. Why? Well, you never know what leadership lessons you can learn from a change of venue. One afternoon, I stepped away from the office and walked to…

5 Key Programs to Create STAR Performers

Use this tool as you think about the programs you have in place to develop your people. Arguably, these 5 programs are key to create STARS in your organization. If you want more information about these programs, check out this Leddin Group article.

Create a Culture of Quitters for Your Team

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Smart Leaders Make 4 Wise Investments

Busyness can be costly. It consumes time, energy, and motivation with little concern over how these resources are expended. It also steals your ability to invest in four key areas. Download this free pdf that is perfect for posting and sharing.

Smart Leaders Seek and Listen to These 3 Voices

The higher a leader gets in an organization, the harder it is to get authentic feedback. My experience suggests that this is a very true statement and that the problem isn’t isolated to senior executives. It can appear from the very moment you take your first formal leadership role. To mitigate this challenge, I suggest that you…

10 Ways to Make Work a Winnable Game

Within each of us there seems to be a ‘game on’ switch that is hardwired in our DNA. For some of us the switch is more easily flipped than for others. When activated in the workplace, this switch can dramatically increase employee engagement. To throw the switch and drive engagement, leaders must make work a winnable game.…

How Your Next Great Idea Can Hurt You as a Leader

Sometimes a leader will start an initiative with the best of intentions, but lack the resources, focus, or energy to see it to fruition. These are projects that seemed like a good idea in the moment, but they never should have started in the first place. They are the ones where not only is the initiative…

4 Ideas to Building Real Trust on a Virtual Team

Building a high trust team is tough, especially when you work virtually. Use this tool to help you and your virtual team to move things in the right direction. If you want to learn more about how to build trust, check out my podcast interview with the author of the NYT Bestseller The Speed of…

5 Addictions that Great Leaders Avoid

Here are 5 leader addictions that can leave you and your people feeling frustrated, exhausted, and unfulfilled. Great leaders avoid them to the benefit of their people. Below is a PDF version of the tool. It’s suitable for printing, posting, and sharing!

Assessing Your Loyalty in the Face of a Gig Economy

We are seeing unprecedented changes in how people and organizations accomplish work in the gig economy. In many ways, what is old is new again as people are bucking a century old practice of taking a full-time job at a a big company and embracing new relationships. Contract part-time, and short-term agreements are the rage…

5 Groovy Leadership Ideas

This week, HGTV premiered A Very Brady Renovation. The show is built around the home that served as the facade for the Brady Bunch television series. Producers bought the home and are now working with the 6 Brady kids (50 years later) to renovate the home to reflect on the inside the set that was…

A Great IDEA to Help Create Engagement

There is a strong likelihood that your organization has a process in place for individual contributors to establish annual performance goals. My experience suggests that there is an equally strong possibility that your process falls a bit short. – Sometimes we overcomplicate things leaving employees feeling compelled to complete the process regardless of its value.…

6 Questions to Help Your Team to Determine Priorities

Your team has limited resources. Your team members have different perspectives of what’s most important. Your environment is constantly changing and with those changes come new opportunities and threats. Given these realities, it’s critical that leaders and teams work together to clearly determine their top priorities. Use these six questions as you work with your…

Why Do You Choose to Lead Worksheet

Regardless of the type of work you do and who is (or isn’t) on your team, the job of being a leader starts with you. This is why you should invest time to evaluate how well you are doing at the job of leading yourself and leading others. And, of equal importance, evaluating why you…

How is Your Negotiation Approach Working for You?

Whether you recognize it or not, you negotiate everyday. It can be in small ways: – who will work what schedule this week – what project tasks you own – where you eat dinner with friends It can be in big ways too: – how much you will pay for your next car – will…

Explore Your Organization’s Culture

This poster is designed to remind you of both the need to explore your organization’s culture and some terms to help you do that. Read about each term in this article. Below is a pdf perfect for printing, posting, and sharing.

5 Communication Choices of Great Leaders

Use this simple graphic tool to remind you of the 5 key communication choices you should make to be a more effective leader. Below is a PDF version to download, print, post, and share with others. Read more about these choices here.

5 Tips for Writing Effective Emails

In the era of remote workers and overly full calendars, many of our workplace interactions are reduced to email threads. Regardless of the recipient, keep these 5 tips in mind next time you compose an email. This tool is designed for you to print, post, and share. You can read more about these 5 tips…

4 Keys to Winning When You are an Underdog

At some point, we all find ourselves in the position of underdog with the odds stacked against us. It’s during those times that we can benefit for doing 4 key things. This tool explains each key through a series of questions designed to take you from underdog to top dog. Here’s a PDF tool that…

8 Culture-Building Questions

If you want to create a culture that fosters engagement, here are eight culture building questions to get you started. Answer these questions on your own. Ask your team members to answer them too. Then, get together and have a conversation about culture you have, the own you collectively want, and the gap you need…

Exploring the Power of a Multiplier – Podcast #3 Application Tool

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5 Highly Effective Organizational Practices that Every Leader Should Embrace

This tool provides leaders and teams 5 highly effective organizational practices. Use this tool to assess how well you are doing in each of these 5 areas as you work to build an effective culture. Here are the 5 practices: 1: Find the Organization’s Voice 2: Develop & Execute Strategy 3: Unleash & Engage People…

Questions to Avoid the Lawnmower Leader Trap

Being a lawnmower leader can hold your people back. Don’t get us wrong. A leaders job is to remove obstacles, but not every obstacle. Leaders should help their people, but not do the work for them. The difference can be subtle at times, but the impact is huge. You can read our article on not…

7 Gifts That Great Leaders Give to Their People

If you want to give your team a gift of true value, give them the gift of a great leader. No, this gift isn’t wrapped in a fancy package. There is no one moment of surprise as the ribbon is untied. This gift is parceled out in small ways, everyday. It won’t break the bank…

25 Item Mentorship Assessment

Great mentors take the time to reflect on their strengths and work to improve shortcomings. This 25 item assessment provides you a chance to reflect on your mentorship abilities and to identify opportunities to get better. Below is a PDF version that you can download, use, and share.

How to Drop a Few Nonproductive Tasks

Use this flowchart to think through your habits and consider dropping a few nonproductive practices. As you complete each of the seven steps on the chart, simply check them off as complete. Here’s a PDF version to download and use.

5 Behaviors of Win-Win Negotiators

Both Jamie and Patrick teach Negotiation classes at Vanderbilt University. We thought you might be interested in learning five key behaviors of win-win negotiations. Use these whether you are negotiating your next employment arrangement or trying to pick a restaurant with a friend for dinner. Below is a PDF version of the tool. Print it, share…

6 Behaviors of a Successful Protégé

You found yourself a mentor; here’s how to ensure you are a successful protégé. After all, it isn’t just a one-way street. It takes two to have a successful mentoring relationship. Here’s a tool to get you started. Below is a downloadable version of the tool.

Engaging the Passion and Potential of Your People

Use this tool to assess whether you are engaging the passion and potential of your people. The tool is best used in conjunction with this Leddin Group article. Below is a downloadable copy of the PDF.

4 Consistent Causes of Inconsistent Performance

Let’s face it; sometimes our team members are inconsistent in their performance. Moreover, sometimes we are inconsistent in our own performance. This tool provides 4 common causes of inconsistent performance. Use it to generate discussion and change behavior. For more information on the subject, check out this Leddin Group blog article. Below is a downloadable…

8 Behaviors of Successful Creatives

Successful creatives often apply 8 behaviors. Here’s a graphic that you can use to learn about each behavior and assess how well you are doing. We created this graphic in conjunction with Scott Miller at FranklinCovey. You can read more about the thinking behind the tool in this Leddin Group article. Below is a downloadable…

A Strategic Framework, the PIE Chart

Here is a simple visual to help you think through the main components of developing and executing strategy. Below is a downloadable PDF of the PIE chart.

6 Ways to be Invaluable at Work

How well are you doing at making yourself invaluable at work? Here are six ways to get you there.

Enhancing Your Personal Brand

Here are four items to work on in order to enhance your personal brand. Learn more about your personal brand in our podcast interview with Seth Godin.

4 Key Questions to Create Customer Centric Teams

Here are four customer centric questions that you and your team should work to answer.

5 Ps Leading Teams to Top Results

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8 Self-Reflection Questions Every Leader Should Answer

Great leaders take time for self-reflection to ask themselves and honestly answer these eight questions. Click here for an article that shares more on the subject.

Understanding Your Core Competencies

Use this tool to get to thinking about your core competencies and the unique value that you bring to your work.

A Tool to Help You Set and Accomplish Goals

Use this simple tool to help you as you set your goals, put steps in place to make them happen, find a partner to help you along the way, and ensure that you track your progress.

8 Tactical and Practical Steps to Assess and Change Your Daily Routine

Have you ever found yourself crazy busy doing stuff, but failing to accomplish things that truly matter most? You’re not alone. At times, we all get caught up in the “thick of things.” A simple way to get back on track is to look at your daily habits and commit to making small changes. After…

5 Behaviors of True Win-Win Negotiators Graphic

Odds are that on any given day, you find yourself in multiple negotiations with friends, family members, co-workers, direct reports, and even your boss. For many of us, negotiating happens so often, we fail to even notice it, think about it, or prepare for it. We just do it. And, frankly we often do it…

Money Questions

You these money questions to help you think through your current financial situation and to a chart a course to better financial independence.

A Few Ideas to Create Effective Meetings

Here are a few ideas to help you create more effective meetings. Print these out and keep them close. They might save you a ton of time, energy, and frustration! Download a printable version of the graphic on the tools page. Just scroll down to the section marked meetings, find the file, and download it.…

4 Customer-Centric Questions

If you are looking to create a customer-centric team, work with your teammates to answer 4 critical questions.

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