There is an oft-quoted parable used to illustrate how vision translates down to the team. It centers around three stonemasons working at a job site who are asked what they are doing by a visitor. The first one, sweat pouring from his brow, grumpily replies that he is “cutting stone.” The second stonemason sighs, and says […]
Tag Archives: vision
February
07
How Much Are Style Points Worth?
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
Before you spit your morning beverage of choice out, have confidence that the answer to the title of this blog will be to your liking. I was struck by a recent post in Leadership Freak that discussed more than a few ways to be IR-relevant. It also recalled for me an item in Forbes from a […]
January
13
What Kind Of Follower Are You?
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
This blog is about the art of leadership, and as I have said on several occasions, is aimed at the leader, the aspiring leader, and those who are led. Many of the topics I have covered thus far focus in on the perspective of those first two groups. The last group, the led, are known by another […]
September
29
When You Don’t Own It
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
“Just own it”. Which is of course the opposite of “Just do it”. One requires accountability while the other requires initiative. One without the other can lead to either some pretty radical explosions, or a pet rock. From the perspective of a leader, there is no shortage of books, articles, and other assorted media devoted […]
When Change Hurts
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
If you take the King’s shilling, as the quote goes, “you do the King’s bidding”. When the King starts to run out of shillings, things start to happen. One of the likely and predictable consequences of having a lesser number of shillings is the possibility that there might need to be a smaller organization in […]
Leading Performance and Change – “Whom Do I Lead? – Part III”
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
Having identified the “tangibles” of whom is led (self and others), the next category is more of a “what” is led. Besides the clearer human targets of subordinates, peers, bosses, teammates, leaders are at the front of the crowd with respect to leading the things that happen in an organization. For the purposes of this […]
Yes…you are a Rocket Scientist – Research and Leadership Effectiveness
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
>People who lead have fascinated social scientists for over a century, which has led to more research than you can read in a single sitting. The most critical finding about leadership is that it is both a science and an art. There are clear findings about what works but equally clear findings that knowing what […]
Change Champion?
posted by Jeffrey Thomason
Chances are you may have been a change champion in your path to leadership. It’s hard to be the opposite (The Change Killer?…Darth Change?) since change is a part of any organization. My first experience with someone really distilling the organizational effects of change on the individual was Spencer Johnson’s book from 15 years ago […]
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