leadership
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I’ve seen countless graphics on LinkedIn and social media about leadership, but the most popular one seems to be the boss vs. leader meme. It adequately makes the point that a boss barks orders, while a leader helps handle the load. And, if you think about the illustration, it appropriately demonstrates that the boss actually…
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You might have heard of managing up and managing down. Simply put, unless you own and run the company, you have to manage up to someone. Even most CEOs answer to a board. And, in contrast, if you have any direct reports, you have to manage down. Typically, managing down refers to how you guide,…
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Everybody wants to be the boss, to be in charge. That’s ambition, but what ambition doesn’t tell you is leading is hard work, and for some people it just doesn’t come naturally. Or maybe all they’ve been shown is bad examples. I frequently say good leadership starts with leading by example, and while that’s 100%…
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The big reveal. The unveiling. Go to Market, and specifically the launch, is probably one of the most exciting aspects of marketing. It’s a thrill. What makes the building anticipation so palpable is partly all the work that goes into the GTM process and partly the fun of watching the reactions at launch. The opposite…
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Things go wrong. If you haven’t heard, how we react to adversity is a strong reflection of character. Managers, like everyone, want success. When success isn’t achieved and we think about those previously mentioned things that went wrong, we naturally want to know why. We have questions, and by the time the investigation kicks off,…
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Here’s the five-second leadership demonstration: put your hand up against someone else’s—palm to palm. Push on their hand with yours without saying a word. Give a little, gentle push. What did they do? What did you feel? They pushed back. You felt resistance. As a manager, are you a pusher or a leader? Think about…
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Imagine, if you will, a racecar driver taking high-speed turns, side by side with his competition, with his attention fixated on the tires, head half out the window, looking for wobbles, feeling for vibrations, listening for odd noises; then focused on the engine via the gauges and any interruptions in the normal growl of the…
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How is a 3-year-old child smarter than a CEO? The 3-year-old drives towards root cause. I’ll explain. If there was ever a worthwhile obsession to have, an obsession with root cause is it. Think about that stereotypical 3-year-old and that word he or she keeps asking—why? Every answer is followed by another why? The child…
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People and peanut butter have a lot in common. Just like people, there are all sorts of peanut butter varieties. Not only is there the classic distinction of creamy versus chunky, but there are all sorts of brands. Like people, there’s plain and there’s salty, but I’m still talking about peanut butter. There’s generic and…
MATT HIGGINS 