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Links for Light Reading – April (a late March edition!) 2012

April 1, 2012 By Clare 1 Comment

If you’re interested in subscribing to receive my ‘links for light reading’ via email you can sign up here, or you can find all the previous newsletters on the blog.

This month’s ‘links for light reading’ is a little late, but better late than never, right?

Three great articles on leadership caught my eye this month….

  • Self knowledge has long been established as one of the hallmarks of great leaders. This piece from The Guardian, titled You are a leader – but how well do you know yourself?, outlines seven ideas that leaders can use to learn more about their performance. The list includes a suggestion to take a personality test – my personal favourite (and the one that I find most useful) is the VIA Survey of Character Strengths (the questionnaire and results can be accessed from Dr. Martin Seligman’s Authentic Happiness site (test is free, but registration is required)).
  • In a recent blog post ‘Good Boss, Bad Boss’ author and Stanford University professor, Bob Sutton, shares a useful method for determining if you or your boss is self-aware (and listens well).
  • And finally, this short post, Mo Cheeks and a fundamental question of leadership, (featuring a video of former Portland Trail Blazers coach, Mo Cheeks) highlights why acting as a leader demands that we embrace our own mediocrity…. “‘Am I willing to risk my personal reputation and status for the good of others?’ becomes a fundamental question any potential leader must answer.  We must balance the inferior nature of our solution and abilities against what the state of the world would be if we did not act.”

And another couple of worthwhile reads to add to your Easter holiday reading list….

  • Innovation Is About Arguing, Not Brainstorming. Here’s How To Argue Productively. This article presents five key rules of engagement that have been found to yield fruitful group innovation sessions and ultimately lead to meaningful ideas.
  • I’m fascinated about how the way we work is changing and how it’s going to continue to change into the future, including changes to the physical environment in which we work. This piece, The future of work spaces: hot desks or cold comfort?, looks at the ways that some companies are beginning to change how they use their office space.

Filed Under: Links for light reading Tagged With: leadership

Links for light reading – February 2012

February 16, 2012 By Clare 1 Comment

If you’re interested in subscribing to receive my ‘links for light reading’ via email you can sign up here, or you can find all the previous newsletters on the blog.

This month has been filled with lots of interesting reading so it hasn’t been easy to narrow the list down for this newsletter! Interestingly, two key themes/topics have stood out from my reading this month – introversion and questions…

Last month The New York Times published an opinion piece by Susan Cain (author of the recently released “QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking“) titled ‘The Rise of the New Groupthink‘. It’s a great article on why solitude is important in work/creativity and some of the problems with the push we see in many organisations toward constant teamwork and interaction. The article and the book release have spurred a number of follow up pieces on the Harvard Business Review blog, Scientific American and Fast Company. As part of the one-third to one-half of the population that are introverted, I also enjoyed this post on networking advice for introverts. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Links for light reading Tagged With: introversion, questions

Links for light reading – January 2012

January 20, 2012 By Clare 2 Comments

One of my new year resolutions is to start a ‘links for light reading’ email newsletter and send it out regularly (monthly). I kind of pinched the name from Max Design (who send out a great newsletter with links to interesting web design and development articles/tools/announcements) but instead, the newsletter that I send out will be focused on topics like leadership, management, innovation, creativity, work etc. If you’re interested in subscribing you can sign up here, or you can find the newsletters on the blog.

This is January’s newsletter….

New Year is traditionally a time of reflection and goal-setting. Many people (perhaps yourself) have made (and hopefully kept so far!) new year’s resolutions to exercise more, eat healthily, save more money, take up a new hobby. But have you also given consideration to new year’s resolutions and goals for your professional life? Here are some links that might inspire and assist your reflection and planning….

On the Harvard Business Review (HBR) blog, John Coleman and Bill George suggest young leaders are increasingly being asked to take on major leadership responsibilities in their organisations and their communities. They propose five resolutions to help aspiring leaders prepare for leadership challenges ahead.

Looking for new books and ideas to inspire, challenge and educate you in 2012? Stanford University professor and author, Bob Sutton, has compiled his list of 11 books every leader should read, and the Forbes blog has a great post on how to be more interesting in 10 simple steps.

In another recent Forbes article, Mike Myatt argues that one of the most often overlooked aspects of leadership is the need for pursuit.  What will you be pursing as a leader in 2012?

If you find that you’re struggling to stay committed to your goals, Peter Bregman suggests that your problem isn’t motivation. So how can you maximise the likelihood that you’ll stick with your resolutions and achieve your goals? Decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do. In this HBR blog post, Heidi Grant Halvorson outlines the nine things successful people do differently.

In addition to setting goals for 2012, why not try making note of your 2011 mistakes and taking action to avoid repeating them in 2012… and maybe even consider making a mistake or two on purpose.

And finally, a good reminder that leadership education and professional development doesn’t always need to come from management journals or expensive training courses… In this post, Chris Walter shares what he learned about leadership, teamwork and innovation by watching Junior Masterchef.  Perhaps you can rethink that resolution to watch less reality TV?

Filed Under: Links for light reading Tagged With: goals, links, new year, newsletter, planning

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