• Share actionable advice from top leadership luminaries
• Celebrate a range of viewpoints (inclusion is not an endorsement)
• Contextualize workplace trends through a leadership lens
• Support your personal development in life, leadership, & beyond

You can subscribe to our newsletter here. 

Want to work with us to lift your or your team’s leadership to new heights? Drop us a line or talk to Emma Anthony, our Director of Leadership Programs.

New from ConantLeadership

_{Lessons from Getting Fired}

In this new piece in our “Golden Anniversary” collection—a treasury of Doug’s thought leadership that has been updated to help you meet the current moment as we celebrate his 50 years in leadership—he shares three big lessons from when he got fired earlier in his career. Read an excerpt below or click through to read the full post.

1. Always offer to help. The very first words my outplacement counselor, Neil MacKenna, ever uttered to me were, “How can I help?” Sure, you might expect a first meeting with somebody in his position to begin that way. But those were the same words he said to me at the start of every single meeting afterwards. By beginning each interaction with a “how can I help” mentality, his earnest desire to be supportive shone brightly through our conversations.

This had a profound effect on me and led me to apply the same approach in my leadership journey. Let’s face it: people can tell when you’re not there for them. If you’re not listening, if you’re not sincere, it’s apparent. And if you don’t show up for people, why should they show up for you?

Too many leaders are so entrenched in their own work that they lose sight of the opportunity to connect with people. I discovered that the more I offered to help the people with whom I worked, and the more I gave them the energy to fight the good fight for our company, the more they did the same for me, and the more productive our relationship became. Get the full story here.

Founder’s Corner: What’s Doug Enjoying?

A snapshot of resources that our Founder & CEO, Doug Conant, has recently found insightful and/or inspiring.

1. VIDEO: Jacob Collier Improvises with Orchestra LIVE

From Doug: “Absolutely loved this. Such inspiring creativity, a real masterpiece. Of course, I have a companion thought: In addition to mastering his craft of conducting, I’m certain Collier is also a master student of the craft of creating and conducting music. He deeply understands the fundamentals and then leverages them to improvise and create something beautiful. I find too many leaders today are chasing improvisation at the expense of first understanding the fundamentals. Be a true student of the craft of leadership. The more you study the fundamentals, the greater your ability to improvise and expand your reach as a leader. I guarantee it.”

2. ARTICLE: Job Interviews by Kate Bennis

From Doug: “Thoughtful and straightforward advice on approaching the interview process from a real pro. One great insight (among many) from the piece: ‘Rather than showing off, we can strive to show ourselves.'”

What Stays the Same in the Midst of Change

“Most leadership commentary is written from a short vantage,” so it doesn’t present the full picture of the longer view, says Vibhas Ratanjee in this Forbes piece on what leadership lessons endure across decades of “crisis and renewal” cycles. In conversation with ConantLeadership founder, Doug Conant, who Ratanjee interviewed for this piece, a few themes emerge. Yes, change is occurring at an alarmingly fast rate, but this only provides an opportunity for leaders to get more deeply “anchored in what does not move.” Ratanjee nicely articulates what stays the same, no matter what happens in the world: “People still want to be part of something that serves a purpose larger than the task in front of them. They are not built to be isolated. They are searching, still, for connection and for the sense that the life they are spending at work is a life worth spending.” The leaders who build sustainable success understand that high performance requires understanding these timeless principles. They are “not the ones who run fastest,” but, “the ones who know, with precision, what they will not let speed take from them.” Get the full story here.

3 Questions That Build Resilience

In this New York Times newsletter by Jancee Dunn, she shares strategies for building resilience in the midst of crisis or hardship, adapted from Martin Seligman, the director of the Penn Positive Psychology Center. Dunn shares that Seligman “has developed a three-part framework people can use to interpret life’s challenges: permanence, pervasiveness, and agency,” and she has created a question for each concept that she uses when “feeling out of control.”

Is this problem permanent? “Knowing that your problem has an end point can help you shift from a state of emergency to tolerance,” so it’s wise to ask yourself if an issue will still irk you “in five hours, five days, or five weeks.” If it’s likely to still be bothersome in five weeks, “then you can direct energy and resources toward dealing with it.”

Is this problem pervasive? “Sometimes a misstep or a crisis can cause us to generalize, drawing sweeping conclusions from one event.” To stop yourself from spiraling, ask yourself, “Is this problem really affecting every single aspect of my life? What areas remain unaffected and positive?”

Where do I have agency with this problem? “Agency, or the ability to take actions and make decisions that affect our lives,” is the most important factor in determining your resilience. So, ask yourself what is in your control, and you’re likely to find that there is “almost always” something that is within your power to do.

Get the full story here.

Leaders, Declare Your Beliefs

After conducting hundreds of focus groups to determine what shared practices unite the best leaders, Marcus Buckingham (along with his mentor Dr. Don Clifton) identified a handful of what he calls “demands,” or “actions that the most effective leaders demanded of themselves,” which are the focus of this piece in Chief Executive. Central to these “demands,” was the importance of the advice to “share your beliefs.” Buckingham explains, “one side of this demand was internal,” meaning good leaders “disciplined themselves to find time during the year to sit with their beliefs and clarify them.” And, “the other side of this demand was external,” meaning, “these leaders seemed to understand that the job of a leader was to play to an audience, and they couldn’t expect the audience to read their mind, or their heart.”

Research shows there is not one particular way to declare your beliefs: “Some leaders write a yearly letter to their people expressing their beliefs; some hold weekly meetings in which they ask their team to share real-world examples of the leader’s beliefs in action; some create badges and buttons to celebrate teammates who have lived up to the leader’s beliefs.” The possibilities are endless. Buckingham says, “the method doesn’t matter. What matters is that you, the leader, are explicit about what you believe.” Get the full story here.

**For more on this, explore our LinkedIn Learning course on “Finding Your Leadership Vocabulary,” which gives you the tools for discovering and articulating your leadership beliefs.

The AI Backlash Is Brewing

You may have heard the rumblings of a growing backlash against AI: The Pope published a 40,000+ word encyclical warning against the “risk of creating an inhumane and more unjust world” in the age of AI; multiple commencement speakers touting the technology have been loudly booed; Gallup polling shows Americans are vehemently opposed to building data centers that power AI in their neighborhoods.

For a closer look at what’s driving negative attitudes, this coverage in the Wall Street Journal does a good job of examining why, in the words of the three journalists who collaborated on the coverage, the “fast-growing industry has a faster-growing crisis,” as, “pollsters and historians say the souring of public opinion is all but unprecedented in its speed.”

The coverage points to a growing disconnect between some business leaders’ optimism about AI and students and young professionals’ anxiety about its impact on their career, their hobbies, and their ability to think critically for themselves. The journalists also report a rapid rise in AI’s “salience as a political issue, one that is shaking up routine re-election races and scrambling partisan battle lines.” Representatives from leading AI companies point to a PR issue, saying they need a “coordinated effort to highlight the benefits” rather than letting a “fear perspective” rule the day. Get the full story here.
(The WSJ version may appear behind a paywall for some users. You can also view the reprint of the article on MSN here.)

More from ConantLeadership

What Do Great Leaders Have in Common?

Highly Inspiring Quotes on Reaching Life & Leadership Goals

We recently updated one of our most popular quote roundups of all time with fresh content and new quotes to motivate and inspire you. Click here to get over 40 smart quotes from brilliant people across professions and spheres of influence.

April’s Leadership That Works Newsletter

In last month’s newsletter: A survival guide for chaos, the case for ‘reasonableness,’ how to measure resilience, clarity beats certainty, & more.

About the Author: Amy Federman is ConantLeadership’s Director of Content and Editor in Chief, and co-author with Doug Conant of the WSJ bestseller, The Blueprint.

(Header Illustration by Tri wiranto on Unsplash)

The post 3 Questions That Build Resilience – The <em> Leadership That Works </em> Newsletter appeared first on ConantLeadership.

In my 50 years of leading world-class global companies, and in my ongoing work coaching leaders across industries and experience levels, I’ve developed a crystal clear point-of-view about the leadership behaviors that actually work.

Over the decades, I’ve also had the honor of learning from fellow leaders and visionaries: through books, personal conversations, and observations of my peers in the global marketplace. It’s been a gift to work with so many inspirational and highly effective leaders. On the other hand, I’ve been exposed to just as many who were out of their depth, or who led by the seat of their pants and lacked the capacity to get the job done in a sustainable way. In many ways, that’s a gift as well; I’ve seen firsthand what works and what doesn’t.

Great leaders are tough-minded on standards and kind-hearted with people.

I’ve found that the very best leaders approach their work in a way that is tough-minded on standards and kind-hearted with people. They are experts at doing both: skillfully marrying the ‘head’ and the ‘heart.’ Their goal is to simultaneously prioritize people and performance. And they do so in ways that are humble, courageous, and authentic to who they really are.

But what does all of that mean from a practical standpoint? What do great leaders have in common? How can you emulate them to become the most effective leader you can be? In my experience, great leaders have these eight critical things in common (although this is not an exhaustive list). Not surprisingly, you’ll find a balance of practices that are people-focused and practices that are performance-oriented.

1. Great leaders act as the ‘Chief Talent Scout.’ They know the entire effort depends on having the right people on board.

Great leaders, regardless of their official title or area of expertise, recognize the need to start with talent. First and foremost, they are focused on attracting, developing, engaging, and retaining the people necessary to help the enterprise realize its full potential.

As Jim Collins said in his seminal book on leadership, Good to Great, the best leaders approach leadership with a “First Who, Then What,” orientation, meaning you must, “get the right people on the bus and the right people in the key seats,” before you decide where the bus is headed. As business and societal unrest continues to increase, this becomes more important. Today, you need an entire culture that is aligned on the talent requirements that will enable the workplace to consistently function at a world-class level, regardless of global volatility.

Great leaders get the right people on board by:

• Cultivating talent with an eye towards character, competence, and team chemistry
• Assessing current and potential employees’ ability to align with the higher purpose of the organization
• Building relationships within and outside the enterprise and consistently maintaining a vital network of potential talent

2. Great leaders know how to inspire trust. And they prioritize building trust first.

Great leaders know that earning confidence from the talent they’ve worked so hard to cultivate is the single most important step to unlocking higher performance in their organizations and teams. In a high-trust environment, people rally around a shared vision, have each other’s backs, and are aligned properly to produce results that meet (and often exceed) expectations.

Great leaders build trust by:

• Honoring all stakeholders
• Declaring themselves and doing what they say they are going to do
• Developing and displaying character and competence
• Upholding high ethical standards
• Modeling the behavior they expect from others
• Acknowledging mistakes and swiftly correcting them
• Consistently performing to an exemplary standard themselves

To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace.

3. Great leaders articulate a higher purpose for themselves and the organization.

Today’s employees are motivated by more than just a paycheck (although that matters immensely). They also want to know that their work matters, and that their organization aligns with their own values and purpose. On that same note, effective leaders make their values and purpose known. They understand the power of crafting an aspirational call-to-action that anchors the entire effort, resonates with stakeholders, and delivers both economic and social value.

Great leaders clarify their higher purpose by:

• Reflecting on their own values and beliefs
• Articulating what their work means and why it’s important
• Finding ways to deliver societal value in addition to economic value
• Championing their call-to-action with intention, passion, persistence, and humility
• Making certain the higher purpose always governs the direction of the organization

4. Great leaders create a clear and compelling direction for people to follow. They know the way and show the way.

To achieve their higher purpose and create value for all stakeholders, great leaders must know where they are going, where they are taking others, and how they will all get there. They plan to perform. The most successful leaders have found a way to develop a competitively advantaged, and clearly communicated, direction for moving the agenda forward. Their people know where the organization is headed and what is expected of them. Not only that, but great leaders also resist the urge to lead unilaterally; to create a compelling direction that people will actually follow, they remain collaborative and genuinely open to input.

Great leaders create cohesive direction by:

• Confronting the brutal facts facing them and their organization
• Questioning assumptions and challenging paradigms
• Building an aspirational-yet-achievable plan for moving forward
• Honoring all constituents
• Dispelling ambiguity by ensuring the expectations of the plan are clear to all

5. Great leaders know how to align resources to deliver the desired results.

A cohesive direction and clear purpose are useless if resources aren’t configured properly  to follow and sustain the strategy. Stephen Covey famously said, “Every organization is perfectly aligned to get the results it gets.” It’s an evergreen statement. Competent leaders understand that if things aren’t going to plan, the alignment must be adjusted. They figure out how to develop a system that facilitates the right work being done, by the right people, in the right way.

Great leaders successfully drive alignment by:

• Carefully organizing resources (people, finances, time) to accomplish tasks and reach goals
• Being process-focused and establishing a self-sustaining system that enables everybody to work through the plan with agility
• Continuously confirming that everybody understands their unique roles and responsibilities

6. Great leaders build vitality. They are obsessed with keeping people engaged in the work.

It’s one of my most deeply held leadership beliefs that, to win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace. Research backs me up. Companies with highly engaged employees consistently outperform those with lower engagement.

It’s worth noting that a workplace teeming with vitality and high engagement does not happen by accident. Great leaders are fiercely committed to inspiring their employees. They know that leadership is all about the people, and they put a tremendous amount of thought and effort into building a highly engaged culture.

Great leaders build vitality by:

• Finding ways to give people the energy to do their absolute best work
• Motivating people to be engaged in the process of delivering top-tier results
• Celebrating achievements and acknowledging shortcomings
• Challenging all to do better through swift and constructive feedback
• Creating an environment where high performers feel unmistakably valued

Done is better than perfect.

7. Great leaders consistently execute with excellence. You can count on them to follow through and get the job done.

To translate trust, purpose, direction, and vitality into tangible execution, the most forward-thinking leaders understand that “done is better than perfect,” a quote from Anne Mollegen Smith that hits the nail on the head. A good plan well-executed beats a perfect plan poorly-executed every time.

Good intentions and inspiring words won’t amount to much if there is limited capacity to execute on the agreed upon plan.  There must be follow-through. Results must be tracked and measured. Obstacles must be overcome. This may not be the most glamorous part of leadership to discuss, but responding to inevitable pressures is what separates world-class leaders from the rest. In the real world, where the stakes are high and competitions is fierce, strong execution is mandatory.

Great leaders execute with excellence by:

• Implementing plans with extremely disciplined task and time management
• Acting decisively whenever necessary
• Measuring progress and finding ways to adapt as needed
• Harmoniously balancing discipline and flexibility to ensure goals are met.

8. Great leaders produce extraordinary results.

The sharpest leaders go above and beyond. They know that a plan can be executed to the letter and still not produce the desired outcomes. Great leaders aren’t just committed to getting the job done, they’re equally focused on the results that execution is supposed to produce. So they are steadfast in their commitment to performance, and to the promises they’ve made to their stakeholders. Every effort is carried out with the desired results in mind.

Great leaders produce extraordinary results by:

• Repeatedly delivering in high-quality ways
• Embracing and embodying a results-oriented mindset
• Operating in the three leadership ‘time zones’ simultaneously:
  • Learning from and honoring the past
  • Meeting the expectations of the present
  • Creating a clear and tangible path for the future

Leadership is both the art and science of influencing others in a particular direction. Within these eight skills that all great leaders have in common, you’ll notice some color from the science side and some from the art side. Some that are tough-minded and some that are kind-hearted. Harmoniously, they all work together, and I recommend each one.

In life, there are no guarantees, but when you put these eight competencies together, I’m certain you’ll be in a strong position to become a leader worth following, maybe even a great one.

____

Enjoyed this post? Explore the other pieces in our Golden Anniversary Collection:

• 3 Big Things I Learned When I Got Fired
• Work Hard, Be Kind
• 3 Important Reasons Why Pressure Is a Privilege
• What I’ve Learned from 50 Years in Leadership

Ready to become a great leader and excel in ‘leadership that works’? Explore our LinkedIn Learning Course on Finding Your Leadership Purpose, check out our course on Discovering Your Leadership Vocabulary, or learn more about our STEPS Leadership Course for Administrative Professionals. And be sure to join our email list to receive newsletters and leadership resources to help you win in work and life.

About the Author: Doug Conant is Founder and CEO of ConantLeadership, former Chairman and Current Board Member of CECP, former CEO of Campbell Soup Company, Former President of Nabisco, former Chairman of Avon Products, and co-author of two bestselling leadership books, TouchPoints, and The Blueprint.

The post What Do Great Leaders Have in Common? appeared first on ConantLeadership.

In the Spring of 1984, I drove to my job as the Director of Marketing for the Parker Brothers Toy & Game Company (a former subsidiary of General Mills). I can remember that drive vividly. The sea air wafting off Boston’s North Shore filled my senses. It was a beautiful day: serene and promising. Our company had recently changed ownership, and things had been a bit chaotic, but I still felt confident about my ability to meaningfully contribute.

The Vice President of Marketing greeted me when I arrived. Gravely, he asked me to step into his office. Without hesitation, he told me my position had been eliminated. I had been fired. Ten years of my career down the drain in a flash. I was heartbroken, bitter, and blindsided. Feeling dejected, and every bit the victim, I returned home to my wife, my two small children, and my one very big mortgage. My outlook was one of doom and gloom.

Luckily, the new owners connected me with an inspiring outplacement person who would dramatically change my view of life and leadership. His name was Neil MacKenna. Neil was a spirited, smart, crusty New Englander who had little tolerance for BS and “poor me” thinking. He wouldn’t let you inhabit the role of the victim, not even for a minute. With Neil’s guidance, losing my job became an important learning experience about what leadership should be.

Of the many lessons I learned under Neil’s tutelage, here are three I’ve found remarkably powerful in their simplicity. Hopefully they will inspire you, too.

Always Offer To Help

The very first words Neil ever uttered to me were, “How can I help?”

Sure, you might expect a first meeting with an outplacement counselor to begin that way. But those were the same words he said to me at the start of every single meeting afterwards. By beginning each interaction with a “how can I help” mentality, his earnest desire to be supportive shone brightly through our conversations.

In business, as in life, we can’t make it alone.

Neil listened intently. He didn’t judge. And he was wholeheartedly present throughout every conversation: He didn’t look at his watch, or the window, or the phone. This had a profound effect on me and led me to apply the same approach in my leadership journey.

Let’s face it: people can tell when you’re not there for them. If you’re not listening, if you’re not sincere, it is apparent. If you don’t show up for people, why should they show up for you?

Too many leaders are so entrenched in their own work that they lose sight of the opportunity to connect with people. I discovered that the more I offered to help the people with whom I worked, and the more I gave them the energy to fight the good fight for our company, the more they did the same for me, and the more productive our relationship became. This wasn’t transactional; it was about building mutual respect and genuine reciprocity.

Honor People With Your Time & Attention

Honor was important to Neil. Not only did he honor me with his time, attention, insight and energy, he also urged me to honor others mindfully.

In one productive exercise, Neil asked me to reflect carefully on the people who had inspired me along my life journey. How had they behaved towards me? How did I know they cared deeply about me and were invested in my success?

I realized the people who cared most about me had been both tough-minded on standards and kind-hearted with people. After I thought carefully about this, Neil challenged me to model the very behaviors I admired in those individuals. Why couldn’t I be that person to the people with whom I lived and worked?

Early in my career, I was shy and reserved.

So I set out to purposefully honor others in the same way my own mentors had honored me. I have found, since learning this lesson many years ago, that the more I honor others with conscientious attention, the more they honor me right back with their commitment, hard work, and trust. Simple. But powerful.

Give Thanks

In business, as in life, we can’t make it alone. We need help. Early in my career, I was shy and reserved. Diligent, hard-working, driven to succeed, yes—but I kept my head down and did my work quietly. I isolated myself. As a result, I was sadly disconnected from the business world when I lost my job, and lacked the skills to build a network. Suddenly, the pressure was on. Neil zoomed in on this and began equipping me with the tools to build a community.

My practice of writing over 30,000 thank you notes during my tenure as CEO of Campbell Soup Company is well documented. But this important ritual of giving thanks began way back when I was working to find a new job. Applying Neil’s advice, I got the name of every single person with whom I interacted, from the head of the company to the receptionist. The moment I left the building after a job interview, I’d walk next door to the closest coffee shop and hand-write thank you notes to every single person I met. Even after I secured my next job, I kept in touch with all the people I’d met along the way, maintaining thoughtful relationships, and vigilantly trying to be helpful in return.

Through this practice of connecting with people, honoring them, and thanking them for their contributions, I found myself surrounded by an ever-growing group of people who genuinely wanted to help me, and who knew I would do the same for them. Over the years, I’m happy to say I’ve had the opportunity to repay their kindness many times. And, I’ve developed a lifelong habit of giving thanks.

Was losing my job difficult and stressful? Yes. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But it led to my meeting Neil MacKenna, who instilled in me many of the values that remain indispensable to me to this day: offering help, honoring others, and giving thanks. In the face of adversity, be alert to the Neil MacKennas that present themselves in your own life. Learn from them, grow, and give back along the way.

__________

What leadership lessons are you learning from your mentors? To get more support for thriving in the face of adversity, explore our LinkedIn Learning Course on Finding Your Leadership Purpose, enroll in our next Blueprint Leadership Boot Camp for mid to senior level leaders, or check out our STEPS Leadership Course for Administrative Professionals. And be sure to join our email list to receive newsletters and updates about how to thrive in work and life.

About the Author: Doug Conant is Founder and CEO of ConantLeadership, former Chairman and Current Board Member of CECP, former CEO of Campbell Soup Company, Former President of Nabisco, former Chairman of Avon Products, and co-author of two bestselling leadership books, TouchPoints, and The Blueprint.

(Header Illustration by Ahmed Hossam on Unsplash)

The post 3 Big Things I Learned When I Got Fired appeared first on ConantLeadership.

• Share actionable advice from top leadership luminaries
• Celebrate a range of viewpoints (inclusion is not an endorsement)
• Contextualize workplace trends through a leadership lens
• Support your personal development in life, leadership, & beyond

You can subscribe to our newsletter here. 

Want to work with us to lift your or your team’s leadership to new heights? Drop us a line or talk to Emma Anthony, our Director of Leadership Programs.

In this edition of the Leadership That Works Newsletter: Pressure is a privilege, a survival guide for chaos, the case for ‘reasonableness,’ how to measure resilience, clarity beats certainty, & more.

New from ConantLeadership

Pressure Is a Privilege

From the Golden Anniversary Collection
In this latest piece in our “Golden Anniversary” collection—a treasury of Doug’s thought leadership that has been updated to help you meet the current moment as we celebrate his 50 years in leadership—he shares three important reasons why pressure is a privilege. Read an excerpt below or click through to read the full post.

1. Pressure makes us better. Meeting our growth edge from time to time is necessary. You may have heard the aphorism, “Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.” Pressure naturally pushes us out of that comfort zone and invites us to grow.

We may feel our throats tighten and our nerves heighten when faced with the sudden opportunity to pitch a dream client, or when a new, time-sensitive project falls into our lap. But that sensation of nervous energy can also be harnessed as excitement. What a gift that we can use our unique skills, insights, and convictions to move through a novel situation creatively.

These pressurized conditions also sharpen our skills for the next challenge and improve how we lead in the spaces between. And if we do falter, as all leaders sometimes do, we’ll still be better for it. Get the full story here.

Founder’s Corner: What’s Doug Enjoying?

A snapshot of resources that our Founder & CEO, Doug Conant, has recently found insightful and/or inspiring.

1. BOOK: What to Make of a Life by Jim Collins
From Doug: “Jim’s seminal work, Good to Great, had a profound impact on my personal development; the book challenged me to reframe my thinking about greatness and significantly heighten my own energy, enthusiasm, and curiosity. It was a game changer. In his latest book, What to Make of a Life, he once again challenges the reader to reframe their thinking, this time about life. I highly recommend it.”

2. ARTICLE: The Listener by Kate Bennis
From Doug: “Listening is one of the most important leadership skills and I enjoyed this piece from Kate Bennis on the topic. Here’s an excerpt: ‘What are the skills of Listeners? The biggest challenge is putting away expectation and our own needs, preferences, and judgements. . . . and when thoughts of ourselves, our upcoming appointments, our fixes and judgements arise, we allow them to float on by without ascribing meaning. And bring ourselves back to the other. Again.'”

3. VIDEO: How to Find Your Purpose in 3 Questions by Dan Pink
From Doug: “Enjoy these three thought-provoking questions (that harmonize nicely with our questions in The Blueprint) that help you clarify your purpose. In Dan’s words: ‘Purpose isn’t a lightning strike, it’s a pattern of clues you’ve been leaving yourself your whole life. These 3 questions will help you find them.”

A Survival Guide for Chaos

“Minimizing chaos” is “one of the healthiest goals” for any company writes Melissa Swift, CEO of an organizational consulting firm, in this MIT Sloan Management Review article. While obviously desirable, mitigating chaos is much easier said than done. In fact, says Swift, it can feel nearly impossible to leaders whose organizations are navigating “both a chaotic external world . . . and a chaotic internal landscape.” But leaders need not descend into despair. There are proven strategies, not only for surviving chaos, but for proactively preparing to “help people handle chaos before things go off the rails.” Swift shares four strategies and here are two.

Constantly talk to the teams your team works with. “You don’t have to be a big, messy matrix organization to operate in a teams-of-teams manner. Even relatively small companies feature incredible amounts of interdependency between groups. This phenomenon causes chaos by generating competing priorities.” The “healthiest leadership teams,” address this issue in an informal but effective way: by getting to “know who their teams are teaming with,” and staying “in contact with those teams’ leaders.”

Explicitly guard against the bad behavior that chaos can conceal. “Academic research explicitly links chaotic environments with every bad workplace behavior,” including but not limited to, “bullying by supervisors, conflict between employees and customers, and infighting by employees.” This begs the question: Why do we take it for granted that some bad behavior is understandable within the whirlwind of chaos and “accept is as a normal way of working in tough moments”? Swift says leaders should “make it explicit that chaos does not issue everyone a blank check to indulge their worst impulses.”  Get the full story here.

The Case for Being ‘Reasonable’

This StanfordReport coverage of a new book by Krista Lawlor, Being Reasonable: The Case for a Misunderstood Virtue, explains why it’s worth the effort to parse the meaning of a highly subjective trait. While every person might have a different definition of what constitutes “reasonable” behavior or expectations, Lawlor argues that “being reasonable is about being able to reliably see what matters in the greater scheme of things.” And this attribute is important for leaders because it “helps us to understand other points of view, communicate what we care about, and thoughtfully respond to others.” In polarizing times in particular, “reasonableness” can be the secret weapon that enables a team to function collaboratively and acts as a “much-needed tool for productive discussion.” Lawlor shares some traits that most offers some tips for strengthening your own reasonableness muscle. Here are the first two.

1. Notice and manage your emotions. “Emotions can help you see what matters to you, but they can also prevent you from seeing what matters to others.”

2. Engage with those you disagree with. “Engaging with others helps you understand what matters to you, and why. By listening to critical perspectives, you actually sharpen your reasoning and deepen your understanding of why you value what you do, not just what you reflexively believe.”

Get the full story here.

How to Measure Resilience

“Resilience—the ability to cope with adversity and adapt to challenges and change—is a critical business strategy,” writes Michele McGovern in this HR Morning piece on how to cultivate a more resilient organization. Championing and building resilience can get murky because it’s not as straightforward to define as some other traditional hard skills. Issuing a top-down mandate e.g., “be more resilient” is unlikely to yield results (and will probably cause confusion) but McGovern says there are ways to “influence how resilient” your team becomes, and it’s a worthy pursuit because, “when you help employees improve resilience, you build a resilient organization.” The first step is getting a baseline measurement of your workforce’s resilience. She recommends an assessment tool developed by Dr. Katharina Näswall, which asks employees 11 key questions on a sliding scale. Once you have a good sense of your current resilience levels, you can create a strategy to measure and assess the skill as it grows across five key resilience indicators. Here are two.

Self-efficacy. “That’s employees’ belief in their ability to perform tasks at a certain level.
Train for it: Give front-line managers the tools and time to work with employees to set stretch goals and plan development and coaching to reach them.”

Sense of coherence. “This is a belief that what happens will be manageable, comprehensible, and meaningful. Train for it: One way employers can contribute to that is with predictability: in schedules, operations, and the future. Also, be transparent, so employees know what to expect.”

Get the full story here.

‘Clarity Beats Certainty’

‘Stop running your company, start leading it,” says Wharton deputy dean and professor of management Nancy Rothbard in this Wharton@Work coverage of her advice for today’s leaders. One of Rothbard’s top tips for facing overwhelm in the face of change, is to honor the supreme value of clarity: “In uncertain times, clarity beats certainty,” and that should change the way you communicate because, “your team is not just looking for updates. They are looking for meaning. When the environment keeps shifting, people watch how you react to understand what reality is.” Rothbard says this fundamentally changes the job of senior leaders. It’s no longer about having “all the answers.” Now, the imperative is “to provide interpretation, helping the organization make sense of conditions that no one fully controls.” It all comes back to your personal agency and how you choose to show up with your team: “You can’t stabilize the environment,” but you can, “stabilize how decisions get made inside it.” Overall, Rothbard reminds leaders, “Your team does not need certainty about the future. They need certainty about how decisions will be made.” Get the full story here.

More from ConantLeadership

Your New Favorite Podcast Is Here

Announcing a new podcast, Two Admins & a Mic, brought to you by ConantLeadership.

What: Honest, practical, insider conversations about leadership, executive support, and the real work behind the administrative profession, from two smart and funny corporate veterans.

Who: Your hosts are Diana Hansen and Melinda Vail Goodnight. They’ve walked a thousand miles in your shoes. Now they’re sharing everything they know. And they’re having fun while telling it all.

When: The first episode dropped last week, Wed. 4/22, in honor of Administrative Professionals Day. Listen right here.

Why: “Our mission is to amplify the voices, experiences, and expertise of administrative professionals around the world, highlighting their critical impact on modern organizations.” Sign up to get notified when new episodes go live here.

Highly Inspiring Quotes on Reaching Life & Leadership Goals

This month we updated one of our most popular quotes roundups of all time with fresh content and new quotes to motivate and inspire you. Click here to get over 40 smart quotes from brilliant people across professions and spheres of influence.

Listen: Doug on the Bearcats Mean Business Podcast

In this conversation, Doug talks with host Marianne Lewis, Dean of University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business, all about how to win in the workplace, the importance of ‘abundant’ thinking in leadership, and much more.

2 Things Every Leader Needs to Know

We’re celebrating Doug’s Golden Anniversary! Based on his 50 years of leadership experience, Doug is committed to taking the leadership conversation to “Higher Ground” this year. To kick off the “Golden Anniversary” celebration and whet your appetite for more insights, he shared two things every leader needs to think about in the current moment in this blog post.

March’s Leadership That Works Newsletter

In last month’s newsletter: Two things every leader should know, reading the room is an essential leadership skill, why you need ‘cloud’ and ‘clock’ thinking, how to be more magnetic, stop paying the ‘speed tax,’ and more. 

About the Author: Amy Federman is ConantLeadership’s Director of Content and Editor in Chief, and co-author with Doug Conant of the WSJ bestseller, The Blueprint.

(Cover Photo is Illustration by Round Icons on Unsplash)

The post A Survival Guide for Chaos – The <em> Leadership That Works </em> Newsletter appeared first on ConantLeadership.

Leadership is a choice. And with that choice comes the need to consistently refresh your goals, mindset, and resilience. Each day, people count on you to lead with integrity and keep them on track. Yes, this work is exhilarating. But it can quickly become exhausting without a deep commitment to continuous improvement on your personal leadership journey through reflection, practice, and study.

Feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities of leadership can happen to the best of us. What will set you apart, however, is the willingness and resolve to do something about it. When you need a wake-up call or a dose of motivation, remind yourself that the choice to lead (and how to do it) is yours. One thing that’s immensely helpful for building grit and tenacity in leadership is to learn from the peers, colleagues, and leaders who came before you, across professions and spheres of influence. Let these quotes on reaching life and leadership goals be your catalyst.

1. It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach. – Benjamin E. Mays

2. The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential . . . these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. – Confucius

3. Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment. – Oprah

4. The most important thing in life is, if you have a dream, I mean a real good dream, follow it. – Evel Knievel

5. Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success. –  Pablo Picasso

“Passion alone can’t cut it. For passion to survive it needs structure.”

6. One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. – Michelle Obama

7. People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily. – Zig Ziglar

8. He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. – Muhammad Ali

9. If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it’s moving you away from your goals. – Brian Tracy

10. It is not sacrifice if you love what you’re doing. – Mia Hamm

11. To become the kind of person you want to become, you’ve got to have discipline. It’s easier to keep to your standards 100 percent of the time versus 98 percent of the time. – Clay Christensen

12. To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve. – James Allen

13. Surrounding yourself with people who are actively and enthusiastically working toward their best futures will keep you moving toward your own goals. – Leah Busque

14. I would say to you, have faith in yourself – believe in what you are doing, and, most important, be a person of integrity. It is totally up to you, and no one else, how your life evolves. – Jon Huntsman Sr. 

15. You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it. – Lionel Messi

16. Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. – John Wooden

17. Each day, you can awake and focus on small, easy goals you can accomplish in the short term—goals that, over time, will lead you to your long-term goal. – Karen Salmansohn

18. I truly believe that if you put your goals in writing, speak them out loud and work for them, they will happen. – Ciara

19. Goals are pure fantasy unless you have a specific plan to achieve them. – Stephen Covey

20. Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you. – Misty Copeland

“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.”

21. Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion. – Jack Welch

22. Set realistic goals, keep re-evaluating, and be consistent. – Venus Williams

23. The thing that I learned early on is you really need to set goals in your life, both short-term and long-term, just like you do in business. Having that long-term goal will enable you to have a plan on how to achieve it. – Denise Morrison

24. The only way to improve is to set yourself harder goals. – Joanne Whalley

25. If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable. – Seneca

26. Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be our best. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth; it’s a shield. – Brené Brown

27. A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. – General Colin Powell

28. Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground. – Theodore Roosevelt

29. Bravery is the engine of change. – Aisha Tyler

30. Our thoughts create our reality—where we put our focus is the direction we tend to go. – Peter McWilliams

31. Some goals are not going to fulfill you. Choose goals that you value and care about. – Henry Cloud

32. If the vision is there, the means will follow. – Faith Popcorn

33. You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside. – Wayne Dyer

34. Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you. You must travel it by yourself. It is not far. It is within reach. – Walt Whitman

35. Though we may have desires or bold goals, for whatever reason, most of us don’t think we can achieve something beyond what we’re qualified to achieve. Why, I ask, do we let reality interfere with our dreams? – Simon Sinek

36. The only way you survive is you continuously transform into something else. It’s this idea of continuous transformation that makes you an innovation company. – Ginni Rometty

37. Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. – Napoleon Hill

Bonus: 6 New Quotes on Reaching Life and Leadership Goals

1. Your entire life changes the day that you decide you will no longer accept mediocrity for yourself.”– Hal Elrod

2. You can’t go back and make a new start, but you can start right now and make a brand new ending. – James R. Sherman

3. It is possible to be proud of how far you have come while knowing you are still becoming. – Morgan Harper Nichols

4. Passion alone can’t cut it. For passion to survive it needs structure. A why without how has little probability of success. – Simon Sinek 

5. Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress. – James Clear

6. When you reach for the stars, you are reaching for the farthest thing out there. When you reach deep into yourself, it is the same thing, but in the opposite direction. If you reach in both directions, you will have spanned the universe. – Vera Nazarian

____

Feeling inspired? Today, commit to taking just one step to grow as a leader. Here’s what we recommend: Check our our LinkedIn Learning Course, “Finding Your Leadership Purpose with Doug Conant,” or enroll in the next Blueprint Leadership Boot Camp, or explore our STEPS Leadership Course for Administrative Professionals. And be sure to join our email list to receive newsletters and updates about how to win in work and life.

Enjoyed these quotes? Find more collections of inspiring quotes here:

• Quotes about Managing Change
• Quotes about the Power of Habits
• 52 Quotes About Trust and Leadership
• Quotes about Trust and Leadership
• 38 Quotes about Bravery and Leadership
• Quotes that Inspire Greater Commitment
• Tough-Minded Leadership Quotes for Better Performance

About the Authors:

Amy Federman is ConantLeadership’s Director of Content and Editor in Chief, and co-author with Doug Conant of the WSJ bestseller, The Blueprint.

Vanessa Bradford, a featured contributor to ConantLeadership, is a freelance content writer and copywriter.

(Header Photo via Death to the Stock Photo under this license).

The post 37 Quotes on Reaching Life and Leadership Goals appeared first on ConantLeadership.

In a previous life, before I was an entry level marketer at General Mills, before I was President of Nabisco Foods, and before I became CEO of Campbell Soup Company, Chairman of Avon Products, or Founder of ConantLeadership—I played tennis competitively. The sport was so much a part of my life that I attended college at Northwestern University on a tennis scholarship. I learned many lessons from the experience. One lesson that profoundly affected how I lead was inspired by the book, Pressure is a Privilege, written by tennis superstar Billie Jean King.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena . . . who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly. –  Teddy Roosevelt

Pressure is often viewed as a negative force in our lives. Understandably so: It can be an enormous cause of stress, forcing us outside the confines of the familiar. Yet I have found that each challenge also presents a series of urgent questions that help me to meet life and leadership with the zest they both demand. In each tough situation, I ask myself:

• Do I engage in the face of this specific pressure? What are the benefits if I do?
• Do I have the capacity to respond to the stressors involved?
• Do I have the fortitude to give it my all, knowing I might fall short?

Responding to pressure in this way is like a game of truth or dare where each round is both truth and dare. And yet, the only way through it—the only way to really win—is to take an honest self-assessment, and then, whenever possible, respond to each of these questions with a resounding ‘YES.’ And while there may be times that it’s appropriate to say ‘no,’ I find that more often than not, I’m invigorated by the prospect of a “pressure test.” Life tends to expand when we meet challenges with a can-do spirit.

If we want to win in life and leadership, we can’t skirt pressures by playing it safe.

Over the last 50 years, I have come to view the inevitable pressures of leadership as a golden opportunity to do some of my best work when it matters most.

It is in those moments where the odds are stacked against me and my colleagues, when the heat is palpable and the stakes are high, that I delight in rising to the challenge. It is here that we can lift our contribution profile, lead by example, and thrive in the face of adversity. And if we falter, we can still take pride in the fact that we gave it our all. As Teddy Roosevelt said, if we fail, at least we fail while “daring greatly,” which is a better fate than joining the ranks of “those cold and timid souls who neither know victory or defeat.”

Ultimately, you can’t win if you don’t play. And if you want to win in life and leadership, you can’t always play it safe. Pressure is a privilege. You must step into the arena and do your darndest to come out on top. Here are three reasons why.

1. Pressure makes us better.

They say, “necessity is the mother of invention.” I would also say that pressure is the mother of performance. This holds true across disciplines, whether you’re a tennis player, a Fortune 500 executive, a painter, or a parent. We can be the most exceptional contributor on a ‘normal’ day. But when things get dicey, we’re forced to apply all the knowledge and ingenuity we can muster. And, if we’ve prepared properly through training, practice, and earnest effort, we can rely on that preparation to be agile and creative in the moment, which makes us better in the long-term.

Meeting our growth edge from time to time is necessary. You may have heard the aphorism, “Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.” Pressure naturally pushes us out of that comfort zone and invites us to grow.

We may feel our throats tighten and our nerves heighten when faced with the sudden opportunity to pitch a dream client, or when a new, time-sensitive project falls into our lap. But that sensation of nervous energy can also be harnessed as excitement. What a gift that we can use our unique skills, insights, and convictions to move through a novel situation creatively. These pressurized conditions also sharpen our skills for the next challenge and improve how we lead in the spaces between. And if we do falter, as all leaders sometimes do, we’ll still be better for it.

Ultimately, you can’t win if you don’t play.

One caveat: If your work environment leaves you wondering why things always feel like an unrelenting pressure cooker, that can prove unsustainable and counterproductive over time. Ultimately, you must try to cultivate an environment where there are only intermittent periods of high pressure, not near-constant fires to put out. In this case, whether you have the power to lead the organization differently, or feel called to move into a different environment entirely, is up to you. Personally, I’ve almost always been able to mitigate the pressures of my work situation and I believe you can too.

2. Pressure challenges us to stay honest.

Pressure makes us better because it forces us to think creatively and problem-solve on demand. But here’s the catch: Cheap workarounds just won’t do. Neither will sacrificing our character or resorting to any form of deceit. Those are easy ways out, and they do little to improve our leadership.

Instead, it helps to view pressure as a real test of our ability to think on our feet, innovate, and thrive, while staying true to ourselves. Part of that test is learning to react within the ethical confines of the given ‘rules,’ whether those rules are imposed as part of your own personal code or established in a more public sense by a third party. (I highly recommend doing the inner work to excavate and articulate your own code of ethics; a process for doing so is a core premise of my latest book, The Blueprint.)

In my experience, one of the most rewarding aspects of leadership is not only being put to the test with the opportunity to come out on top, but also finding that you can prevail with your character completely intact.

Hear this loud and clear: You either win with integrity or you don’t win at all. And if you fail, you do so having stood firmly by your principles. Embrace pressure as a challenge to uphold your character. You’ll be better for it.

3. Pressure helps us engage with life more meaningfully.

We can’t experience the thrill of high achievement if we don’t embrace all aspects of our life and leadership journey: the ups and the downs. My perspective is that the ‘ups’ are significantly less sweet if the ‘downs’ don’t test us in some way.

There’s a well-known Truman Capote quote that speaks to this point: “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” To me this means that without saying ‘yes’ to the challenges thrown in our path, and persisting when things get hard, we’ll never fully appreciate the fruits of our labor.

If the climb is too easy, can we really appreciate the view from atop the summit?

If we consistently choose to take the easy route, then we deprive ourselves of the pride of having toiled and triumphed. And we also miss out on the lessons waiting for us in times of failure. Thomas Edison famously described failure as part of his learning process: “I have not failed 10,000 times . . . I’ve discovered 10,000 ways that don’t work.” This is the mindset that allows us to achieve breakthrough.

Life is short. Pressure gives us the opportunity to experience the joys and aches of life more fully, and to savor them more completely. We can’t let opportunities to test ourselves pass us by. Pressure is the privilege to try ever-harder, to win (and sometimes lose) bigger, and to experience the full range of feelings that life has to offer us for the brief time we’re here. We ought to grab onto it.

Think of this the next time you meet your growth edge: Take a deep breath, have faith in your abilities, and buckle up for a rewarding adventure toward personal transformation.

__

What will you do in the face of pressure? To learn how to win with integrity, explore our LinkedIn Learning Course on Finding Your Leadership Purpose, enroll in our next Blueprint Leadership Boot Camp for mid to senior level leaders, or check out our STEPS Leadership Course for Administrative Professionals. And be sure to join our email list to receive newsletters and updates about how to win in work and life.

About the Author: Doug Conant is Founder and CEO of ConantLeadership, former Chairman and Current Board Member of CECP, former CEO of Campbell Soup Company, Former President of Nabisco, former Chairman of Avon Products, and co-author of two bestselling leadership books, TouchPoints, and The Blueprint.

The post 3 Important Reasons Why Pressure Is a Privilege appeared first on ConantLeadership.

• Share actionable advice from top leadership luminaries
• Celebrate a range of viewpoints (inclusion is not an endorsement)
• Contextualize workplace trends through a leadership lens
• Support your personal development in life, leadership, & beyond

You can subscribe to our newsletter here. 

Want to work with us to lift your or your team’s leadership to new heights? Drop us a line or talk to Emma Anthony, our Director of Leadership Programs.

In this edition of the Leadership That Works Newsletter: Two things every leader should know, reading the room is an essential leadership skill, why you need ‘cloud’ and ‘clock’ thinking, how to be more magnetic, stop paying the ‘speed tax,’ and more.

New from ConantLeadership

2 Things Every Leader Needs to Know

It’s Doug’s Golden Anniversary! Based on his 50 years of leadership experience, Doug is committed to taking the leadership conversation to “Higher Ground” this year. To kick off the “Golden Anniversary” celebration and whet your appetite for more insights, he shared two things every leader needs to think about in the current moment in this new blog post. The first is excerpted below and you can click through to read the second.

1. People First. There’s a famous quote from the first century Rabbi Hillel the Elder: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow human. That is the entire Torah. The rest is commentary.”

In a sense, this same principle applies to everything I’ve learned about the craft of leadership. Treat people with honor and respect. Lead with listening. Understand that it is unrealistic to expect extraordinary effort and performance without first creating a culture where people are extraordinarily valued. Especially now, with the fast-paced innovations in tech and AI, it’s essential that people do not feel dehumanized. You simply cannot win in the marketplace in an enduring way without first winning in the workplace.

Leadership is practiced by people, with people, for people. Remember this as your guiding light: People first. All the rest is commentary. Get the full story here.

Founder’s Corner: What’s Doug Reading?

A snapshot of resources that our Founder & CEO, Doug Conant, has recently found insightful and/or inspiring.

1. QUOTE: “Our words reveal our thoughts; our manners mirror our self-esteem; our actions reflect our character; our habits predict the future.” – WILLIAM ARTHUR WARD

From Doug: I recently encountered this quote in the email signature of a friend and was inspired to share it with my team, and now with you. Ward’s words speak to the power of self-knowledge in becoming who you are meant to be, and in showing up for others in the best way possible, in work and life. Essentially, that’s what our Blueprint process is all about.

2. BOOK: “Live Life in Crescendo: Your Most Important Work Is Always Ahead of You,” By Stephen R. Covey and Cynthia Covey Haller

From Doug: This book helped trigger the thinking that has ultimately led to the most meaningful work of my life, the new ConantLeadership Higher Ground Leadership Success System™, which I will be sharing with the public in the coming months (sign up to get notified when the work goes ‘live’ here). This book encourages leaders and learners of all stripes to “live life in crescendo,” which means, “continually growing in learning, influence and contribution.” No matter your vocation or personal situation, the Coveys inspire you to “approach life with the belief that your most important work is always ahead of you.” A very worthy read.

Reading the Room Is an Essential Leadership Skill

In this Harvard Business Review piece, which analyzes why “roughly 70% of transformation efforts fail,” author Jenny Fernandez identifies the culprit: “It’s the human element,” meaning, “leaders who can’t detect resistance, misread silence as buy-in, or dismiss valid concerns as complaints.” In other words, leaders are falling short because they can’t read the room. Fernandez writes, “I see this pattern repeatedly: Organizations bring in leaders to drive change,” but without the EQ to accurately sense employee temperament, “even the strongest teams drift towards misalignment.” Thankfully, all hope is not lost. Organizations can pivot and, “close the gap between what leaders perceive and what people actually experience,” using four key strategies. Here are two.

1. Diagnose the Gap Without Making It Personal. “Executives promoted for technical expertise often score significantly lower on measures of interpersonal accuracy: the ability to correctly interpret others’ emotional states and motivations. The gap is structural, not personal. Organizations promote for one set of skills and then expect a completely different set to appear on demand.” Helping a leader develop in this area can start with a diagnostic reset, rather than labeling them as “tone-deaf.”

2. Build the Skill Through Repetition, Not Training. “Most companies respond to people-reading deficits by sending executives to emotional intelligence workshops. It doesn’t work. Research on skill acquisition and feedback-seeking supports this. Reading people accurately requires repeated exposure with immediate feedback loops. Leaders improve their interpersonal judgment most through structured reflection on real interactions, not classroom simulations.”

Get the full story here.

_{Why You Need Both ‘Cloud’ and ‘Clock’ Thinking}

At ConantLeadership, we define leadership as “the art and science of influencing others in a specific direction.” So we were naturally drawn to this piece in KelloggInsight, adapted from insights from Julio M. Ottino, that illuminates the “recipe” for innovation: “An alliance between art and science.” The article explains that innovation thrives in cultures that are adept at “striking a careful balance between two contrasting ways of thinking—exploratory and systematic—or ‘cloud’ and ‘clock’—thinking.” Exploratory, or “clock” thinking “deals with issues that are amorphous and unpredictable.” Whereas systematic, or “cloud,” thinking “focuses on implementation and operations.” Leaders who want to cultivate innovative, high-performing organizations “must be able to build a bridge between the artists and the engineers, the discoverers and the doers.” Ottino offers three tips for marrying the art and science for greater results, and here are two.

Develop a culture of curiosity. “Curiosity and discovery should be built into the fabric of the organization, because great ideas can come from anyone involved . . . you want ideas to emerge because it’s part of the culture of the place, not because it’s dictated.”

Break down silos. “Along with providing space and encouragement to individuals so they can pursue innovative ideas, leaders also need to bring different types of thinkers together . . . connectivity is essential.”

Get the full story here.

How to Be More Magnetic

What makes the most likeable personalities stand out “isn’t status, good looks or wit,” writes Francesca Tighinean in this BigThink piece on how to develop social magnetism. Research shows the most powerful factor in building connections, especially with new people, is “interpersonal warmth,” because “for evolutionary reasons, the brain asks, ‘Can I trust this person?’ before it ever gets to, ‘Can I respect this person?'” If you’re a leader tasked with managing a new team, your warmth may matter more than your perceived competence at first. Says Tighinean: “You could be the most accomplished person in the room, but if people don’t perceive you as warm,” they won’t want to open up to you or to trust you. Luckily, there are research-backed ways to make yourself warmer and more magnetic because, “warmth isn’t a personality type, but a set of behaviors that can be learned.” Here are two of the four tips shared in the article.

Be the welcoming one. “Don’t wait to be welcomed. Be the welcomer.” Most people are “waiting to feel included, accepted, and welcomed . . . magnetic people don’t wait for that. They are the provider of it. And by focusing on making others feel welcomed, they become the most welcome person in the room.”

Expect to be liked. “When you walk into a room assuming you won’t be liked or that you’re not enough, you begin behaving in ways that make that true. The most practical way to interrupt the cycle is to replace the fear with a more accurate reading of reality. Most people in any room are not looking for someone to reject; they’re hoping to connect.”

Get the full story here.

Stop Paying the ‘Speed Tax’

“How many decisions did you make yesterday? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? Now the harder question: How many of those decisions actually moved your business forward versus simply kept you busy? Most leaders cannot answer that question with any precision,” writes Allison Dunn in this post on why relentless speed and busyness can create a false impression of forward motion. Dunn warns that “when speed becomes the default mode of operation, the distinction between motion and progress disappears. Everything feels like forward movement because everything is moving . . . but at the end of the quarter, the strategic needle has not moved as much as all that activity would suggest it should.” This paradox, the feeling of constant activity without meaningful progress to show for it, is what Dunn calls “the speed tax,” which she deems “one of the most expensive patterns in modern leadership precisely because it disguises itself as high performance.” What’s the alternative? She says leaders can stop paying the speed tax by implementing “Decision Architecture,” which is “the practice of building systems that help you recognize which decisions deserve speed and which deserve strategic pause.”
The key is understanding the difference between “one-way” and “two-way” doors.

The one-way door. “A one-way door is a decision that is difficult or impossible to reverse once made. The consequences compound from that point forward. Choosing this door commits you to a path in ways that cannot easily be undone.”

The two-way door. “A two-way door is a decision that can be revisited, revised, or reversed if the initial choice turns out to be wrong. You can walk through, test what you find, and walk back if needed. The commitment is provisional rather than permanent.”

Dunn says the most common mistake that causes the speed tax is leaders “treating one-way doors like two-way doors.” Learning to apply the appropriate speed to “reversable decisions” while slowing down to more carefully consider decisions that are harder to undo is the first step in Decision Architecture. Get the full story in Dunn’s deep-dive here.

More from ConantLeadership

Work Hard, Be Kind

Presenting the first in our “Golden Anniversary” collection—a treasury of Doug’s thought leadership that has been updated to help YOU meet the current moment as we celebrate his 50 years in leadership. Read an excerpt below or click through to read the full post.

There’s a Conan O’Brien quote that’s stuck with me over the years: “Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.” It’s an elegant distillation of one of the core beliefs in my leadership philosophy, the concept of an ‘abundant’ approach to leading people. An abundant approach means recognizing that you must simultaneously deploy more than one crucial behavior to achieve extraordinary results. It’s a both/and orientation. You can’t just work hard. And you can’t just be kind. “Amazing things” can only happen through the magic created by two elements: the tough and the tender, working together in harmony. Get the full story here.

STEPS: A Leadership Course for Administrative Assistants

This groundbreaking leadership course teaches the same 6-step BLUEPRINT process we use to train senior executives, customized for the true engine of the C-Suite: Administrative Professionals and Executive Assistants. This is leadership training powerful enough for the boardroom, but optimized for every room you’re in. No more gatekeeping leadership skills. We’re taking elite-tier leadership training out of the corner office and into your living room, with accessible, self-paced, online programming built for real life. Learn more.

Listen: Doug on the Master Move Podcast

In this conversation, Doug talks with host Craig Gould all about how to meet the current leadership moment, the importance of an abundant “both/and” mindset, how to engage employees, and so much more. Listen here.

February’s Leadership That Works Newsletter

In last month’s newsletter: Quotes that inspire greater commitment, kindness is the highest form of intelligence, 5 core mindsets of personal growth, 100 years of Black History Month, lessons from gold medalist Alysa Liu, your leadership love language, and more.

About the Author: Amy Federman is ConantLeadership’s Director of Content and Editor in Chief, and co-author with Doug Conant of the WSJ bestseller, The Blueprint.

(Header photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash)

The post Reading the Room Is a Leadership Skill – The <em> Leadership That Works </em> Newsletter appeared first on ConantLeadership.

Fast forward 50 years and I never could have imagined the adventures the past five decades would bring. This week, as I celebrate my “Golden Anniversary” of fifty years—or 18,250 days—in leadership, I am so grateful to be able to share what I’ve learned across the ups and downs of a half-century of immersing myself in the study and practice of the craft of leading people.

As you might guess, It wasn’t always smooth sailing. My journey has been marked by painful setbacks (getting fired unexpectedly in my 30s) in addition to rewarding successes (becoming President of Nabisco Foods and then CEO of Campbell Soup Company, and going on to start ConantLeadership in 2011, to name a handful). Through it all, I’ve learned what it takes to create enduring value, no matter how chaotic the world becomes. And I know what doesn’t work, too. I’ve lived it.

Based on all my experience, I’m committed to taking the leadership conversation to “Higher Ground” this year, and I’m unveiling some new thinking—the most meaningful of my career to date—in the coming months, all designed to help YOU as you navigate the challenges of the day.

That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow human . . . the rest is commentary.

To kick off the “Golden Anniversary” celebration and whet your appetite for more insights, here are two things I think every leader should be thinking about in the current moment, and these connect directly to the work we’ll be sharing with you this year and beyond.

People First

There’s a famous quote from the first century Rabbi Hillel the Elder: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow human. That is the entire Torah. The rest is commentary.”

In a sense, this same principle applies to everything I’ve learned about the craft of leadership. Treat people with honor and respect. Lead with listening. Understand that it is unrealistic to expect extraordinary effort and performance without first creating a culture where people are extraordinarily valued. Especially now, with the fast-paced innovations in tech and AI, it’s essential that people do not feel dehumanized. You simply cannot win in the marketplace in an enduring way without first winning in the workplace.

Leadership is practiced by people, with people, for people. Remember this as your guiding light: People first. All the rest is commentary.

The only way out is by looking in.

You Must ‘Dig Deep’ to Reach High

Across five decades of practicing, studying, and teaching leadership, I’ve learned this fundamental truth: You cannot control what happens in the world around you. But you can always choose how you respond and proceed in the face of challenges. Being able to access your inner fortitude, courage, and unique voice, requires depth and self-knowledge. Self-reflection is not optional. We can’t expect an uncertain world to provide clarity. But we can create our own clarity and use that inner illumination as a beacon to light the way for the people with whom we live and work.

My message to my fellow leaders is this: If you ever find yourself lost, simply remember that the only way out is by looking in. The deeper you go, the higher you can reach, and the more you can bring people along with you.

The ‘Golden Anniversary’ Collection

To help you pursue personal growth on your journey, we’ve published the first in our “Golden Anniversary” collection—a treasury of pieces I’ve written over the years that have now been updated to help YOU meet the current moment. The first piece is called, “Work Hard, Be Kind,” and you can read it here.

All year long, expect pieces in this special collection to draw on timeless wisdom—and leverage a half-century of experience—to give you specific, practical, future-forward advice for leading people to higher ground.

Think of this collection as my way of saying, ‘I’ve walked hundreds of miles in your leadership shoes. No matter what happens, please know I’m in your corner. You are not alone. And you’ve got this.’

Let’s go!

About the Author: Doug Conant is Founder and CEO of ConantLeadership, former Chairman and Current Board Member of CECP, former CEO of Campbell Soup Company, Former President of Nabisco, former Chairman of Avon Products, and co-author of two bestselling leadership books, TouchPoints, and The Blueprint.

The post It’s My “Golden Anniversary” – What I’ve Learned from 50 Years in Leadership appeared first on ConantLeadership.

ConantLeadership Founder, Doug Conant, originally published this post in 2015. Now, over a decade later, we present this piece as the first in our “Golden Anniversary” collection—a treasury of Doug’s thought leadership that has been updated to help YOU meet the current moment as we celebrate his 50 years in leadership.

All year long, expect pieces in this special collection to draw on timeless wisdom—and leverage a half-century of experience—to give you specific,  practical, future-forward advice for leading people to higher ground. Think of this “Golden Anniversary” collection as a gift from Doug to all of you. This is his way of saying, ‘I’ve walked hundreds of miles in your leadership shoes. No matter what happens, please know I’m in your corner. You are not alone. And you’ve got this.’

Also to honor this milestone, we’ve added two new tenets of “leadership that works” to our guiding values, the first of which we’re unveiling today in harmony with this piece: Kindness. In a world that gets harsher and more unforgiving with each news cycle, and in an environment that often beckons us towards cruelty and uplifts callous models of leadership, it is more important than ever to lead with humanity. Naked self-interest may earn you short-term wins. But enduring success comes from a spirit of generosity and compassion. Now is the time to say loudly, proudly, that  ‘People First’ is the path forward.

One last thing: This collection is also a preview of something NEW coming later this year. We don’t want to spoil it, but just know we will be unveiling a system, drawn from Doug’s 50 years in leadership, built to transform YOUR ability to dig deep and reach high—no matter how chaotic the operating environment becomes. Watch this space for hints as we build to the big reveal.

Yours in Leadership, Team Conant

Work Hard, Be Kind

There’s a Conan O’Brien quote that’s stuck with me over the years: “Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.” It’s an elegant distillation of one of the core beliefs in my leadership philosophy, the concept of an ‘abundant’ approach to leading people. An abundant approach means recognizing that you must simultaneously deploy more than one crucial behavior to achieve extraordinary results. It’s a both/and orientation. You can’t just work hard. And you can’t just be kind. “Amazing things” can only happen through the magic created by two elements: the tough and the tender, working together in harmony. Here’s why you should embrace both, and expect the same of others.

Work Hard

To achieve breakthrough in our leadership (or any endeavor for that matter), we must work hard to improve. We have to practice, learn, and grow. And in the process of working hard, we must also challenge others to do better. There’s a higher ambition woven into the DNA of hard work that asks us to rise to the occasion, and to help those around us be their best, in lockstep with our own pursuit of personal growth.

We have to practice, learn, and grow.

Every single day, the challenge to improve begins with us. In each moment, we must model the behavior of doing the hard work if we expect the people we lead to do the same. Why should they be fully invested in the work if we’re not visibly invested? Why should they be wholly engaged in the daily grind of the enterprise if we aren’t equally as engaged?

We have a responsibility to be tough-minded on standards—both with ourselves and with others. With a tenacious, resolute approach, we can lift performance ever-higher. Upholding high standards denotes faith in our own and others’ contributions, shows that we trust in our combined capacity for excellence, and signals a shared commitment to follow-through.

Still, it’s important to remember that while we’re reinforcing tough standards of performance, there is never a need to be overly difficult with others. And there is never an excuse for being disrespectful. That’s where being kind comes in.

Be Kind

In leadership, as in life, there’s little we can accomplish all on our own. As we do our best to build better organizations, better communities, and a better world, we will inevitably be buoyed most by the relationships we forge and nurture. If there’s one thing my 50-year career has taught me, it’s that leadership is all about the people. The way we treat others determines our successes and our failures.

Maya Angelou famously remarked that “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” She was right. We must lead with kindness.

When we treat people with respect, truly value them, and influence them with honor, we earn the good will that enables us to move forward meaningfully in a challenging and dynamic world. Our efforts to put people first must be earnest and true—not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also because there will come a time when we need to make hard decisions. Tough calls must be made, and people may get upset. These are the inevitabilities of leadership.

“People will never forget how you made them feel.”

Being kind ensures that we accrue a high enough balance in our “emotional bank account,” to increase the likelihood that people will give us the benefit of the doubt when we have to make difficult choices. People will be more likely to trust that we’ve got their best interests at heart, and to see that our decisions, however thorny, were made with care and consideration. Why? Because we will have demonstrated genuine compassion in countless prior moments leading up to the tough decision. We simply must be consistently, authentically, and unwaveringly tender-hearted with people if we ever hope to lead effectively. It’s the only way to get things done with our integrity intact.

Kindness is not only morally preferable, it is your best path to successful outcomes. I have seen no evidence in my 50 years of leadership that an unkind approach creates enduring value for any enterprise. Yes, fear and intimidation can lead to short-term progress in driving an agenda. However, in the fullness of time, cruelty and/or disrespect creates a reservoir of ill-will in the enterprise that becomes the leader’s undoing. And that negative legacy continues when the leader is not in the room, and certainly long after they’ve left the organization, causing chaos and dysfunction that can take years to undo. It’s just not worth it.

Make Amazing Things Happen

Leadership is the art and science of influencing others in a specific direction. When you master the delicate balance between being tough-minded on standards and tender-hearted with people, you model the very conduct you expect from the people you lead.

Expect hard work. Expect kindness. And pledge to work hard and be kind yourself. It’s an abundant, virtuous circle that makes everyone better, which is why it’s your job to champion both the hard and soft edges of leadership in everything you do. So go forth: Work hard, be kind, and make amazing things happen.

_______________

If you’re committed to working hard and being kind, we commend you. To keep the momentum going, check out our  LinkedIn Learning Course designed to help you find your leadership purpose, check out our STEPS Leadership Course for Administrative Professionals, or enroll in the next BLUEPRINT Boot Camp to design your personal leadership model under Doug’s direct tutelage. And be sure to join our email list to receive newsletters and updates about how to win with kindness in work and life.

About the Author: Doug Conant is Founder and CEO of ConantLeadership, former Chairman and Current Board Member of CECP, former CEO of Campbell Soup Company, Former President of Nabisco, former Chairman of Avon Products, and co-author of two bestselling leadership books, TouchPoints, and The Blueprint.

(Header Photo Credit: Charlie Llewellin via Flickr Creative Commons under this license).

The post Work Hard, Be Kind appeared first on ConantLeadership.

Extraordinary leadership requires extraordinary commitment to its craft. There’s a pattern of learning, adaptability, and care that must occur as a precursor to our own growth—and the growth of the people we lead. Oftentimes, we make pledges and resolutions to change our behavior or work toward a goal—only for life to “get in the way.” All too often, we delay tomorrow’s progress in the face of today’s pressures.

The truth is simple. Either you do it or you don’t. In the space between our best intentions and our actions lies a vital and often overlooked element: the depth of our commitment. The greater the task or ambition, the more intense that commitment must be. If you’re up for the challenge and ready to achieve more in your leadership and life, let these quotes about commitment inspire you to move forward.

1. “There is no abiding success without commitment.”- Tony Robbins (tweet)

2. “Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”- Vince Lombardi (tweet) 

3. “You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically—to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger ‘YES’ burning inside.”- Stephen Covey (tweet)

4. “Just go out there and do what you have to do.” – Martina Navratilova (tweet)

5. “Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.” – Abraham Lincoln (tweet)

6. “Willingness is essential in any initiation or in making any dream come true.  ‘I can’t’ often means ‘I won’t.’  You can change ‘I won’t’ to ‘I will’ with will power.” – Marcia Wieder (tweet)

7. “Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.” – Samuel Johnson (tweet)

Just go out there and do what you have to do.

8. “Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal—a commitment to excellence—that will enable you to attain the success you seek.” – Mario Andretti (tweet)

9.“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.” – George Sheehan (tweet)

10. “When I write a goal down—and I truly write them down—it becomes a part of me. That’s a contract that I sign with myself to say, ‘I don’t care what happens—I’m going to stay on this path. I’m going to try and see this through; I’m going to give it my best shot, my best effort.'” – Gail Devers (tweet)

11. “A major part of successful living lies in the ability to put first things first. Indeed the reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first.”  – Robert J. McKain (tweet)

12. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'” – Muhammad Ali (tweet)

13. “Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.” – Napoleon Hill  (tweet)

14. “No one changes the world who isn’t obsessed.” – Billie Jean King (tweet)

15. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie (tweet)

16. “There are only two options regarding commitment. You’re either in or you’re out. There’s no such thing as life in-between.” – Pat Riley (tweet)

Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal.

17. “There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses—only results.” – Ken Blanchard (tweet)

18. “Just because you are CEO, don’t think you have landed. You must continually increase your learning, the way you think, and the way you approach the organization.” – Indra Nooyi (tweet)

19. “Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed.” – Wayne Dyer (tweet)

20. “You always have two choices: your commitment versus your fear.” – Sammy Davis Jr.  (tweet)

Bonus: Five New Quotes That Inspire Greater Commitment

21. “Showing up begins long before you stand at the start. Prove yourself an exception in a world where people talk more than act. Intent without follow-through is hollow. Disappoint yourself enough times and empty is how you feel. Make yourself proud. Fill yourself up. Show up.” – Gina Greenlee

22. “There’s no point in being committed to a vision if you’re not equally committed to making it a reality.” – Tim Fargo

23. “For we have in our power the ability to perform the slow but necessary work of turning visions into projects, values into practices, and strangers into neighbors. But only if we commit.” – Pete Davis

24. “That’s what commitments are—alternatives to self-obsession. Commitments free us to dedicate ourselves to something bigger than ourselves—to something beyond our shells.” – Pete Davis

25. “When the reward is the activity itself—deepening learning, delighting customers, doing one’s best—there are no shortcuts.” – Dan Pink

Feeling inspired?

Today, commit to making at least one change to help you grow as a leader.

Here’s what we recommend: Sign up for the ConantLeadership LinkedIn Learning Course, enroll in the next Blueprint Leadership Boot Camp, or check out our new STEPS Leadership Course for Administrative Professionals. And be sure to join our email list to receive newsletters and updates about how to win in work and life.

More collections of inspiring leadership quotes:

• Quotes about Managing Change
• Quotes about the Power of Habits
• Quotes about Trust and Leadership
• Quotes about Bravery and Leadership
• Quotes on Reaching Life and Leadership Goals
• Tough-Minded Leadership Quotes for Better Performance

About the Authors: Amy Federman is ConantLeadership’s Director of Content and Editor in Chief, and co-author with Doug Conant of the WSJ bestseller, The Blueprint.

Vanessa Bradford, a featured contributor to ConantLeadership, is a freelance content writer and copywriter.

(Header Photo by Live Kaiah on Unsplash)

The post Quotes That Inspire Greater Commitment appeared first on ConantLeadership.