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When your leadership is continual learning, self-assessed failure fades on a continuum of improvement

Reframing work as a continuum of learning experiences and refinement can mitigate a self-assessed sense of failure. Andy Lopata offers teachable examples of how to stop making failure a binary, often self-assessed, judgment. Roberto Forzoni, a performance psychologist who has[...]

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How to be a more predictable leader in an uncertain world

By Randall P. White

Why predictable? I’ve studied, observed, and written much about ambiguity and uncertainty. In my book, Relax, It’s Only Uncertainty, I frame uncertainty as an opportunity for new ideas, bold action, and innovation. People who manage uncertainty with less anxiety and[...]

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Always be learning – a snippet from Randy’s interview with Noi Ha Nguyen 

“Always be closing” was the abusive boss’s admonition from David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Glengarry Glen Ross.” But to be strategic, agile, and competitive, why can’t we revise that to “always be LEARNING”? Here’s a short clip from my conversation[...]

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The adult in the room has left the building as Sandberg leans out

As a leadership advocate, I think Lean In – the book, the buzzword, and the movement – has some merit. Yet, at the same time, its critics – women who challenge its premise as not being equitable to all women[...]

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How do we develop leaders for the workplace when the workplace has disappeared?

We’ve officially moved our residence to Miami. As I look around the unpacked boxes, waiting for the decorator, I look out the windows on Biscayne Bay and the high-rise cranes around the Miami metroplex, I have two thoughts. First, I’m[...]

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Ambiguity natives – are we thinking of the best ways to tap the new leadership potential?

They know all about ambiguity and uncertainty. My colleague Dr. Jeremy Ghez wrote, “Don’t bore them with talk about VUCA. They’ve lived in a VUCA world where change is constant and fast.” Gen Z’s entire world experience has been nothing[...]

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A toxic workplace in a pandemic is even harder on marginalized employees

A toxic workplace brings down collective productivity for everyone. It typically causes lower morale, increased anxiety, depression, withdrawal, and anger. It causes a real harm to health. Long term, the loss of productivity, lack of retention of good workers, increased[...]

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Uncertainty leaders and the possibilities of “cautiously optimistic”

I predict we’ll be hearing the phrase “cautiously optimistic” a lot now. The New York Times tells us “The Economy is (Almost) Back. It Will Look Different Than It Used To.” The parenthetical “almost” sticks out as a hedge on[...]

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Letting go – the art of strategic compromise

Executive Development Group partner Dr. Sandy Shullman writes in Training Industry about the power and advantages of letting go in a debate or conflict. It’s more about emotional intelligence than weakness and helps build trust, respect and – often –[...]

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