How did you handle it the last time you made a mistake at work? Everybody makes mistakes. It’s how we respond to them, both our own and our employees’, that shapes the culture, success, and failure of the organization. It might not feel like it in the moment, but mistakes are a gift. They giveContinue reading “Powerful Questions for Leaders, no. 29”

Loyalty or Integrity – Which is more important to the success of your team, your organization, and you as an individual? In many organizations, loyalty to the company, its shareholders, the president, or the CEO is held up as the ultimate virtue. On the surface, this seems like a solid approach, but what do youContinue reading “Powerful Questions for Leaders, no. 28”

Are you getting what you hoped for out of your OKRs? If not, what does that tell you about your organization? OKRs are a like a trust meter. If trust is thin in the organization, you won’t see aspirational statements or multi-directional “cascading,” and you certainly won’t see innovative solutions and delighted customers. Instead, yourContinue reading “Powerful Questions for Leaders, no. 27”

What are you doing on the daily to make your corner of the world a better place? On the whole, we humans seem to be facing a crisis of sorts. Whether we realize it or not, we have lived through (and are still living with) a trauma. We are emotionally drained, lonely, and more andContinue reading “Powerful Questions for Leaders, no. 26”

What is your number one priority? How does it affect those around you? Notice I didn’t ask about your “priorities” (plural), but “priority”, (singular). We are living a life of too many priorities these days. And everyone’s priorities are different, leading to lack of alignment, frustration, and unnecessary conflict. The perpetual busyness causes stress, burnout,Continue reading “Powerful Questions for Leaders, no. 25”

When was the last time you were vulnerable at work? What was the outcome? Dr. Brené Brown says, “There is no courage without vulnerability” If you’re not being vulnerable at work, chances are, you, your teams and your organization are not reaching the highest possible heights. And In today’s VUCA world, if you’re not reachingContinue reading “Powerful Questions for Leaders no. 24”

What are you doing to increase trust in your teams, organizations, and communities? It turns out that trust is, literally, a matter of life and death. “Trust in other people is so important because many aspects of fighting a pandemic require collective action. The only way to break a chain of infection is if everyoneContinue reading “Powerful Questions for Leaders, no. 22”

What do you do to ensure that the feedback you gather is meaningful, timely and honest? Feedback is a crucial tool in the workplace, especially for leaders who tend to be removed from the day-to-day work where real observations and opinions might be shared more openly. Given this situation, what can we, as leaders, doContinue reading “Powerful Questions for Leaders, no. 21”

What do you do when you need to “coach up” or otherwise inform, influence, or encourage someone above you in the org chart? I’ve really been enjoying Dr Hayley Lewis‘ sketch notes lately and this one seems especially handy. Let’s face it, we all find ourselves in these tricky, oftentimes political, situations. You know, theContinue reading “Powerful Questions for Leaders, no. 20”