“Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person - not just an employee - are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.” -- Anne M. Mulcahy

Businesses are kind of like families. A business where everyone takes orders from the boss and never questions him or her in any way may work, but it’s not the most successful model out there. Families like this do exist as well, but they are usually dysfunctional in some way. This kind of relationship, whether it is between an employee and his or her boss or a child and his or her parents, encourages two distinct personalities to develop. The first personality is the one that is displayed whenever the boss is around -- strictly business. The second is their true personality, which comes out around co-workers and at home. This is detrimental because when employees are afraid to show their true personality around the boss, it sets u...

“The minute you’re satisfied with where you are, you aren’t there anymore.” -- Tony Gwynn

If you’re not familiar with Tony Gwynn, he is a baseball player who was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2007, and although he is not a president or a business leader, he offers some valuable advice for anyone trying to accomplish something, be it improving at a sport, increasing your revenue, or simply working towards your next goal. I think most, if not all of us, can relate to this quote, because it really shows how competitive our world is. When you first set out to do something, you have a lot of excitement, you put in a lot of time and effort, and that keeps you going for a good bit, because you want to see where all this work will take you. And then the day comes when you finally see some progress, and you know that everything you did was worthwhile. However, a lot of times, people will be so happy with their progress that they want to bask in the glory of it and “ride it out”. Unfortu...

In the book "Playing to Win" by Larry and Hersch Wilson they define the journey of growth as playing to win. To grow requires you to challenge your core maps and redefine them to align with your values and true sense of self.

This is the epitaph they share:

"I took the risk.
I discovered who I was.
I changed.
I grew.
I learned.
I was an adventurer."

Related: How Leaders Make Decisions

To choose growth is to choose risk.

What risk are you holding back from that is in alignment with your true self?
What conversation do you need to have with yourself that you have been holding back on?
What would you do if you accepted this premise "I cannot fail, I can only learn and grow"?
Why should you choose growth which will stretch you and make you uncomfortable?
Why would you choose a path that is not comfortable or convenient?

Share your thoughts when you are ready.

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." Pablo Picasso

Risk is inherent in any endeavor. Leaders know the more time they spend not taking risk the slower they grow. Risk is simply growth, taking on new skills or opportunities you have yet to learn about. By limiting risk, you limit learning, and if you are not learning, you are not growing .... you are shrinking.

Warren Bennis noticed leaders who take risks make one or two big mistakes a year and leaders who don't take risks make one or two big mistakes a year. Leaders get mistakes will happen and remain open to learning from mistakes to improve. When we limit our growth, we stagnate and so to do others around us.

"Yes, risk taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called sure-thing-taking." Tim McMahon

If you are always focused on getting it right you are losing the opportunity to see new possibilities. It is through trial and error that growth happens.

Related: Creatin...

"A wonderful emotion to get things moving when one is stuck is anger. It was anger more than anything else that had set me off, roused me into productivity and creativity."
Mary Garden

After working with a vast diversity of leaders from around the world it is clear the most successful leaders seek out new possibilities and are extremely creative. Creative leaders understand that the conduit to creativity is through emotion. The emotion could be passion, love, anger, playful, sadness, happiness, laughter, joy, frustration, irritation, surprise, etc. but the key to creation comes through emotion.

Creativity cannot be made to happen, you have to let it come through you.

Leaders who want to inspire others and find new ways are comfortable with allowing their emotions to flow through. They take the time to notice and understand what is at the core of the emotion. In this understanding new possibilities and growth emerges ....also known as new creative options and possibilities.

"Creat...

"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live." Goethe

There is no word that creates more energy and discussion than this word. In leadership, so many passionate discussions are based around this word:

Do I trust this new hire?
Do I trust this salesperson?
Do I trust this business deal?
Do I trust my colleague?
Do I trust my new manager?
Do I trust this decision?
Do I trust the economy?
Do I trust the politicians?
Do I trust the media?
Do I trust the mail?

I am sure you could add a few.

Related: Leadership Requires Bravery

The list goes on and on... and if you listen closely and look you can see behind the questions is ....doubt. Doubt and uncertainty, are two words that have more energy than trust.

Leaders are dealing with these doubts, fears, and uncertainty of emotions every day. In a time of great unrest and change the core skills you need to be prepared with the shifting tides of doubt which erodes the trust you have built over time are as follows:

"When I’m trusting and...

"It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are." Roy Disney

Decision-making is a core leadership skill. The secret or trick is to know yourself. Good decisions will grow yourselves, your companies, your team, your family, and your community and will require you to be a bit (sometimes more than a bit) uncomfortable.

Related: Stepping Forward in Leadership

Thoughtful decision-making requires the following:

1. An understanding of yourself and your own value system (clarity here makes all decisions flow)

2. An understanding of the situation and what it means to yourself and others

3. Input from trusted peers who have different and contrary perspectives

4. The desire for personal growth as a leader

5. The willingness to hear the truth when you are in love with an idea or skeptical of it

6. The keen awareness when you decide that you are ready to "take the ride" because you will grow and change

"Do not plant your dreams in the field of indecision, where noth...

"The important thing is to strive towards a goal which is not immediately visible. That goal is not the concern of the mind, but of the spirit." ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Flight to Arras, 1942, translated from French by Lewis Galantière

The most important role any leader has is to dream and to have vision. Without this focus, all things become stagnant and uninteresting. The second most important role is to move towards it no matter how tedious and unpleasant some of the work or effort may be.

Related: Vision Planning for Leaders

"Goals are dreams with deadlines." ~Diana Scharf Hunt

Here are some general practices that keep you moving and flowing toward your vision, the dream.

If you dread doing it - make it the first thing you do in the morning and get it off your list
If you keep forgetting to do it - make a to-do list/reminder and then do it
If you second-guess yourself - go back to your first answer and get it done
If you want to leave it to later - move up to making it the fi...

"All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership."
John Kenneth Galbraith, U.S. economist, "The Age of Uncertainty"

The illusion of outstanding leadership is it looks easy. Yet behind the scenes, leaders grapple with complex scenarios, unclear situations, undefined possibilities, and regular risks. It is not an easy job....and it is a very satisfying job for those who are willing to put in the hard work, effort, and personal growth necessary to define new roads forward. Leaders who shine have the ability to step into the tension to understand a situation and let go of "what is the right way" and search for the "best way". They have a honed skill to not focus on who is "right or wrong" but to focus on what is the path forward that creates a new flow for all involved.

To do this it requires the core skills:

• Lis
...

"Some people strengthen our society just by being the kind of people they are." John W. Gardner

Perhaps the most challenging exercise of authentic leadership is the coming home to self. To remember that embracing yourself, having confidence in your way of learning, and being are enough. When a leader is in the strength of who they are and are true to their nature they thrive and are able to make significant impacts with their work just by being themselves.

The only thing that gets in the way of all of this is ego. The ability to be self aware and self manage allows leaders to constantly stretch, grow and adapt.

“The Tao Te Ching says,
When I let go of what I am,
I become what I might be.
When I let go of what I have,
I receive what I need.
Have you ever struggled to find work or love,
only to find them after you have given up?
This is the paradox of letting go.
Let go, in order to achieve. ” – M. M. Morrissey

Each day leaders have the ability to impact others in a way which they feel energ...