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Articles from Dave Jensen | Selfgrowth.com
- Leaders Motivate Teams with Norms - by Submitted on Jun 27, 2014 from Dave JensenHe marched down the hall towards me. He wore a black suit, white shirt, and a gray tie that matched his silver hair. Oh no, I thought to myself, it's Mr. McNulty, the executive director of this entire YMCA. Ten yards from me, he stopped and bent down to pick up a candy wrapper that had escaped ...
Views: 996 - 12 Simple Tips to Increase Leadership Trust - by Submitted on Jun 19, 2014 from Dave Jensen"I'll get back to you on that." I uttered these famous last words to a graduate student at UCLA way back when I was selling for Siemens Medical Systems. I never did get back to him. I became busy and forgot about his request. Not a big deal, right? it wasn’t as HE was the person buying the ...
Views: 941 - 5 Tips to Overcome the Leader's Bias - by Submitted on Jun 10, 2014 from Dave JensenCan you guess the name of the leader described below? A new chief executive, one of the youngest in his nation's history, is being sworn into office on a cold and cloudy day in January. He was raised a Catholic. He rose to his new position in part because of his vibrant charisma. He is ...
Views: 963 - THE Number One Leadership Best Practice - by Submitted on Jun 03, 2014 from Dave JensenIn a survey of 359 corporate officers and 6,900 managers from 77 firms, the McKinsey organization reported that only 7% of respondents agreed that their companies had enough talented managers. (1) Even more alarming was the mere 3% who agreed with this statement: "We develop people effectively." ...
Views: 848 - How Mid-level Leaders Must Manage and Coach - by Submitted on May 27, 2014 from Dave JensenIn a study of over 1,000 mid-level leaders, Professor David Antonioni concluded that the best juggle three roles -- managing, leading, and coaching. (1) Middle leaders are those one level above supervisors and at least two levels below the CEO. Do you ever feel as if you’re stuck in the middle, ...
Views: 1051 - The Top Four Motivational Tools - by Submitted on May 24, 2014 from Dave JensenMy first job after graduate school was coordinating research at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). I had the privilege of working with an extraordinary team led by luminary leader, Dr. Victor Froelicher. In the four years that the nucleus of our small, productive, and highly ...
Views: 907 - Leading by Managing Emotions - by Submitted on May 24, 2014 from Dave JensenEmotions are a feedback mechanism. The dictionary defines feedback as ‘information returned to the source.” Thus, emotions contain information for us. They are meant to help us manage our attention. If you do not manage your emotions and pay attention to the emotions of those around you, you ...
Views: 908 - Leading by Understanding Emotions - by Submitted on May 24, 2014 from Dave JensenTraffic lights are also called signals because they provide information that directs our future action. They “signal” us to stop, go, or in the case of yellow… hit the gas and race through the intersection. (Maybe I don’t have that last signal quite right.) Emotions are signals too. They contain ...
Views: 780(1 vote) - Leading by Perceiving Emotions - by Submitted on Apr 22, 2014 from Dave JensenBill is gone? I thought to myself. I shouldn't be surprised. He was great at putting a project scope together. He had the most elegant project charts in the company. He was even a good guy… once you got to know him. I later learned that Bill was fired from Siemens because he was not a "people ...
Views: 886 - The 4 Practical Values That Best Predict Leadership Success - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2014 from Dave JensenEthics is defined as the "standards governing how human beings ought to act in various situations." Would you describe yourself as an ethical leader? If so, what values drive your ethics? How do you apply those values in your everyday decision-making? Whether you think about values or not, ...
Views: 1049 - How Leaders Use Feedback to Understand Others - by Submitted on Apr 08, 2014 from Dave Jensen“There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know oneself.” Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Improved Almanac (1750) The decisions we make every day are based on our impressions of our skills, knowledge, talents, values, leadership styles, and so forth. For example, ...
Views: 833 - Seven Simple Stress-Busters for Leaders - by Submitted on Apr 01, 2014 from Dave JensenA business school professor once told me that, "the job of a leader is to remove stress from his or her employees." I disagreed by saying, "I think one of the jobs of a leader is to help his or her employees manage stress for optimal performance." How well do you help your team manage stress ...
Views: 807 - Ten Quick Tips to Help Leaders Stay Positive - by Submitted on Mar 25, 2014 from Dave JensenSeveral years ago, I was invited to present at an association meeting on the topic of "staying positive when things seem negative." Since it's a topic I've studied for decades and tried to practice almost as long, I agreed. As I reviewed the old notes recently, it occurred to me that I could ...
Views: 815 - The Paradox of Commanding AND Empowering Leadership - by Submitted on Mar 18, 2014 from Dave JensenMy Dad spent 30 years working toward retirement, and he retired with nothing. There are many reasons why his company shut down. Near the top of the list was lack of leadership. Specifically, the inability of political, company and union leaders to understand that managing the tension between ...
Views: 749 - The Top 10 Tools Leaders Use to Make Virtual Teams Successful - by Submitted on Mar 14, 2014 from Dave JensenA virtual team is one that has members in different physical locations (e.g., buildings or countries) or working at different times (e.g., shifts). One of the major trends in business is to get work done, projects accomplished, or goals achieved via virtual teams. Yet studies have shown that ...
Views: 916(1 vote) - Strategies That Keep Profitable Customers Coming Back - by Submitted on Mar 03, 2014 from Dave JensenAmid the impersonal busyness of the airport, I feel drawn to his warm oasis. My shoes don’t need shining, I think as I take a seat to have my polished shoes shined at Nacho’s shoeshine stand in Terminal 1 at the LA airport. Nacho (his real name) looks up and smiles. I rationalize my decision, ...
Views: 892 - How Leaders Predict Success - by Submitted on Feb 20, 2014 from Dave JensenThe two FBI agents stared at me from across the table. The woman’s blue eyes narrowed and her forehead wrinkled as she aimed her next question, “If you teach leadership, maybe you can tell me how important all these leadership tests the FBI makes me take really are?” Me, “Depends how they use ...
Views: 1037(1 vote) - How Leaders Can Boost Follow-up - by Submitted on Feb 13, 2014 from Dave JensenHave you or one of your team members ever attended a seminar, class, or important meeting where they picked up valuable ideas and information, but then got back to work only to become so busy or distracted that the ideas were never implemented? Of course, it happens to most of us. What can you ...
Views: 921 - How Effective Leaders Tell Compelling Stories - by Submitted on Feb 06, 2014 from Dave JensenThe CEO marched to the podium. The applause faded. The audience of 500 senior executives and middle managers listened as the CEO outlined the major change initiative. His grasp of the facts and details was amazing. Unfortunately, after 10 minutes of data, the audience drifted. The CEO lost them ...
Views: 952 - How to Lead with Questions - by Submitted on Dec 10, 2013 from Dave JensenAt the end of the dinner, the president of our association asked the board of directors if we had any questions. My first thought, don’t you have any questions for us? Over the last decade, I've listened to hundreds of senior executives speak to leaders in their organizations. These ...
Views: 934(2 votes) - How Leaders Use the Happiness Equation - by Submitted on Dec 04, 2013 from Dave Jensen"I thought there were supposed to be thousands of butterflies?" Marek's wrinkled brow confirmed his disappointment. His two brothers and sister joined in a chorus of, "I can't believe we drove six hours to see this!" The four adults acknowledged there were relatively few butterflies, yet ...
Views: 1190(2 votes) - 3 Ways to Lead Change by Managing Stability - by Submitted on Nov 21, 2013 from Dave JensenThe soapy, wet rags danced across my front windshield as I drove into the carwash. Instantly, my 90-pound German Sheppard leapt from the back to the front seat. His big brown eyes screamed at me, "Dad, what's that?" “It’s okay Comet." I stroked his head as the car darkened. Within seconds, ...
Views: 962(1 vote) - 3 Simple Tools to Help Leaders keep it in Perspective - by Submitted on Nov 12, 2013 from Dave JensenThe tires screeched, the 1965 blue Chevy fishtailed around the corner, and came straight at us. My 8th-grade best friend Ricky froze. I grabbed his arm and yelled, "RUN!" A split-second later, we heard the crash of twisting metal. We turned around and watched the Chevy roll, slow-motion-like, ...
Views: 836(1 vote) - How Leaders Choose What to Teach at Their Meetings - by Submitted on Nov 05, 2013 from Dave JensenMonica, a mid-level manager, asked me to help her improve leadership skills by speaking at her regional meeting. She also told me of her plan to ask her managers to teach each other their favorite leadership skills during breakout sessions. Our conversation went like this... Me, "What ...
Views: 854(1 vote) - How Leaders Retain Top Talent by Increasing Engagement - by Submitted on Oct 29, 2013 from Dave JensenA middle manager recently reported that she was very disappointed that her division head was giving her only a 1% raise this year, despite the fact that the middle manager exceeded all her goals. Her boss told her that she was hired at the high end of the pay scale (a few years ago) and there ...
Views: 852(1 vote) - How Leaders Predict Success - by Submitted on Oct 22, 2013 from Dave JensenThe two FBI agents stared at me from across the table. The woman’s blue eyes narrowed and her forehead wrinkled as she aimed her next question, “If you teach leadership, maybe you can tell me how important all these leadership tests the FBI makes me take really are?” Me, “Depends how they use ...
Views: 842(1 vote) - 3 Valuable Principles Leaders Use to Motivate Others - by Submitted on Oct 17, 2013 from Dave JensenDo you ever feel like a lifeguard tower at a seagull convention? Although I teach leaders how to motivate others, occasionally I have a hard time practicing what I teach; especially when I am hit by one of life's unexpected waves. How do you feel when you're smacked by a setback at work and ...
Views: 822(1 vote) - 3 Leadership Tips to Lead Your Team Effectively - by Submitted on Oct 14, 2013 from Dave JensenThe two FBI agents stared at me from across the table. The woman’s blue eyes narrowed and her forehead wrinkled as she aimed her next question, “If you teach leadership, maybe you can tell me how important all these leadership tests the FBI makes me take really are?” Me, “Depends how they use ...
Views: 842(1 vote) - How to Lead With Goals - by Submitted on Oct 03, 2013 from Dave JensenIt's 8:06 Monday morning. I'm gazing out the balcony window of my Las Vegas hotel room after a weekend of teaching. Across the courtyard, I can see the palm trees refusing to submit to the will of the desert wind and a few tumbleweeds race across the manicured grounds. My thoughts drift to ...
Views: 1104(1 vote) - Too Much of a Good Thing - by Submitted on Sep 24, 2013 from Dave JensenThe gnawing anxiety in the pit of my stomach kept me awake. I had invested all my savings in this entrepreneurial venture, borrowed money from friends, and was near the limit of my credit cards. The nightmare of losing my home also thundered in my brain. It took me a few years to crawl out of ...
Views: 1011(1 vote)