In 2019, Daniel Goleman wrote an article at HBR about how having focus and direct attention is the primary task for a leader. It is not only about getting distractions out of the way, but being aware of these three layers of reality (self, others, and the world), and the information we can get from …
Motivation, when lasts, is not an external stimulus. According to the “Self-determination theory”, intrinsic motivation mainly depends on 3 factors: competence, relatedness and autonomy. It is when we feel that we’re good at something, we belong, and we’re in control, that we’re driven to accomplish. Promoting engagement Control leads to obedience. When people simply follow …
When everything’s a priority, nothing is a priority. That’s why prioritization is essential, and yet many times we get caught in the trap of start working without a decision on what our priorities are. Understanding the impact The first step when we prioritize is understanding what the impact of our actions will be. Assuming that …
Everyone can win by chance. Indeed, everyone can win by chance many times. With chance, I mean that there is no correlation between the effort and the results. By winning, I mean achieving their goals. Many times, there are factors impacting the results that are out of the hands of people: timing, context, others’ skills, …
Leaders need to deal with uncertainty. To make that, they aim to a desired future chosen among all the possibilities. A destiny strongly dependent on what the organization’s purpose is. Vision, the desired future, and purpose, the why, are present in every organization. But unless actions follow the words, it’s not a real purpose but …
Have you ever been part of an extraordinary team? One of those high performing teams, not only in good times but, more important, in complex times. Leading in crisis is a challenge. Managing the pressure once it’s there is very difficult. On the contrary, building the team in times of peace to be ready for …
Being a successful leader today is, among other things, a matter of endurance. Surrounded by uncertainty, what can make the difference is to focus on the long run. A time ago, I used to go running. Running practice has interesting effects over body and mind: from the first time of suffering, completely out of shape …
Last year, Jamais Cascio published in his medium account an article called “Facing the age of chaos” in which a new framework, the BANI (for Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear and Incomprehensible context) framework, was introduced to take over the well-known VUCA framework. We have been using VUCA for decades to try to deal with changes and …
Being able to balance the short-term and long-term views is key for a leader. When chaos reigns and complexity is unmanageable, balance between a short-term stability and a long-term viability is tricky. When the business is going well, focusing on the long-term view is pretty easy. We feel we don’t need to care a lot …
There are a few truths in life. In fact, as I tell many times to my students, the answer for almost every question is: it depends, meaning there’s almost anything to be considered black or white. But the fact that we all have 24 hours a day to invest, spend or waste is one of …
