Posts Tagged "leader"
Newt Gingrich Leads in Iowa – Will He Stay There?
In case you missed it, on Monday we talked about Newt Gingrich as a student of leadership styles. The new Washington Post-ABC News poll declared Gingrich as the leader in Iowa. Will Newt be able to create wholesale change while still catering to the people’s desire for approaches less rooted in partisan rhetoric? Full results at WashingtonPost.com Kathleen Schafer is founding principal of Leadership Connection and author of Living the Leadership Choice (release December 2011). Connect with Kathleen on Twitter and read her blog at...
Read MoreUsing Conflict As a Tool for Growth: 3 Steps to Resolution
This blog is an excerpt from Kathleen’s upcoming book Living the Leadership Choice. Join the Leadership Connection community to receive updates and exclusive content. “Whenever you’re in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging the relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.” – William James One of the greatest assets in a conflict is the ability to recognize that if people are fired-up enough to be angry there must be something they care a great deal about preserving and/or fear losing. As a leader, this is an opportunity to not only move past the conflict, but also to strengthen the existing...
Read MoreWeekend Wondering – When the Party’s Over
Are you feeling a bit down today? Or are you just getting revved up for the December holidays? Whatever your reaction to the post-Thanksgiving feast and Black Friday mayhem, it is likely an indication of our cultural addiction to intensity, action, and the resultant stress. We have all become so programmed to the tsunami of incoming information that some studies suggest that people are checking for new messages (of all kinds) as much as every 30 seconds! For those addicted to the urgency, a slowdown of e-mails, news feeds, and family texts cannot be balanced by the slew of Facebook Thanksgiving posts. So, the reaction is two-fold, either we sink into a stupor not sure...
Read MoreNeed a Job? Three Steps to Take Now
The fact that millions of Americans are unemployed or underemployed is not news. Although we seem to be engaged in Einstein’s infamous trap of ‘doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.’ Policy makers are debating how to entice businesses into hiring more people and the unemployed are angry and frustrated over the lack of available positions. Nearing record-breaking unemployment rates, perhaps it is time to consider a different route to finding meaningful, satisfying, and rewarding work in people’s lives. As we’ve discussed here before, creating jobs won’t help our economy. If you are looking for a job, or know someone who...
Read MoreFooling Ourselves and Paying a High Price
While the saga around the Penn State sexual abuse scandal will, and should, continue as people come to terms with the horrifying series of events that transpired, I find myself looking for any good that can come from this disturbing series of (in)actions of those in positions of authority. What happened in Happy Valley is unfortunately a microcosm of the great myth we continue to live in our country—that is, that people in positions of power will do the “right” thing even if “we the people” won’t do the same. For far too long, the American public has wanted to believe that the choices they make in their daily lives have no impact on how our leaders conduct...
Read MoreLeadership Myth #1: As a leader, I must change other people
Share By: Kathleen Schafer, Founding Principal-Leadership Connection As I work with clients and students, I have come understand some of the things people think about leadership stand in the way of leading. From time to time, I like to discuss these false notions of leadership in order to debunk the myths that keep us from achieving our full leadership potential. In our current social and political climates we hear a lot of talk about getting people to “do the right thing.” Leadership Myth: As a leader, I must change other people Many prospective leaders believe they have a responsibility to make others do something the leader believes would contribute to...
Read MoreWhat’s Wrong with Obama?
Share By: Kathleen Schafer, Founding Principal-Leadership Connection What happened to the charismatic, inspirational and visionary “leader” who rode into Washington nearly two years ago on the river of hope and an intense public desire for things to be “different?” Has this man changed from a believer in the power of individuals to make things better into a cynic, corrupted by the world’s greatest power game? Perhaps what we see in Obama now, is the stark reality of what happens when well-intentioned leaders get elected to office and start listening more to their handlers than to their authentic selves. Yes, I’ve repeatedly heard...
Read MoreFind the Authentic Candidate and You’ll Have Found a Leader
Share By: Kathleen Schafer, Founding Principle-Leadership Connection Where have all the leaders gone? Voters ask this question frequently during an election cycle there is never a good answer. While there are many reasons for paucity of leadership coming out of Washington these days, a good one to examine during the mid-term elections is how most candidates get to Capitol Hill. Since the mid-1970’s, the professionalization of politics has become big business for the hoards of consultants that support their campaigns, and I should know, because for years I was one. Mirroring that consultant explosion has been the emergence of the parties’ campaign committees as the...
Read More