LEARN A LITTLE:The Power of Workplace Harmony I like folk and gospel music, especially the simple cord progressions and rich vocal harmonies around the melody. I was listening to such a song recently (Okay…. It was the Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’”), and...

LEARN A LITTLE:On Being an Encourager Have you ever asked yourself the question, “Am I mostly an encourager or a discourager?” I inserted “mostly” into the sentence to make the point that very few of us behave the same way all the time. How you answer the above...

LEARN A LITTLE:Greatness Once again, this month’s thought to share comes from dialogue with a leader discouraged by the low level of engagement of the employees with which she works. Some are even top-level administrative staff. Our discussion led to a conversation...

LEARN A LITTLE:The Seven Bad Habits of Highly Ineffective Leaders I was talking with a friend recently who had just been appointed as the CEO of a large human service organization. He was somewhat curious about his new role and asked, “What’s the worst mistake a...

LEARN A LITTLE:Dealing with Discouragement It is perhaps an obvious fact, but leadership is not easy and can sometimes be lonely as well. Some of you will remember the old western song “Home on the Range” that began with “Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam.”...

LEARN A LITTLE:Knowing the Right Thing to Do Requires Judgment All one has to do today is look around--at the news, social media, in Boardrooms or legislative chambers--and you will see disconcerting examples of poor judgment. Such observations call to mind a story...

LEARN A LITTLE:Done, But Not Finished One of the curious behaviors of so many organizational leaders is their constant preoccupation with being finished. Personal organizers that will help such individuals become finished seem to be breeding on the web and there are...

LEARN A LITTLE:What Are Your Values? A recent conversation with a colleague stayed with me and prompted the following thoughts. We were discussing his place of employment and he remarked, “My boss only cares about one thing—the bottom line.” I asked if the company had...

LEARN A LITTLE:An Important Question How would you answer this question? “If, at the end of the day, you could have more of something than you had when you woke up, what would that be?” When asked a question similar to the one above, Charlie Munger, a billionaire,...

LEARN A LITTLE:Open and Honest Communication I realize that the title of this blog is almost a leadership cliché, but I would like to share some thoughts about the importance of the concept. Has the thought occurred to you as leaders that what we do is messy? In fact,...