This is the tale of two perceptions. One (held by the leader) is “I don’t want to overwhelm them.” The other (held by the employee) is “I am not getting the opportunity to develop. My leader holds on to things I could do or would like to do instead. Maybe my leader does not trust me?” I was talking to the president of a small organization. He had just finished one-on-ones with many people in…

When an organization holds learning events for your leaders, are they leadership development or leadership awareness or both? My experience is that awareness is part of development; however, it is not everything. Many organizations with great intentions provide what they call leadership development, yet after attending hundreds of these, I’ve realized they’re more about introducing a subject, or leadership awareness. The real development comes when people leave the session and put what they learned into…

The past three years have brought significant changes to organizations in both leadership and the workforce. First, there is the natural retirement of many leaders in the Baby Boomer range. But also, there have been some who chose to retire earlier than planned due to the pandemic or because of their own illness, family needs, exhaustion, or other factors. All these departures mean many positions in leadership are filled with people with less experience than is…

In 1996, I left the role of senior vice president of Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago, IL, for the role of administrator/president of Baptist Hospital, Inc., in Pensacola, FL. At that time, Mark Clement, the president of Holy Cross Hospital, gave me a gift. It was a letter with suggestions to help me get off to a good start at Baptist. I have regifted this to many people who were taking a new job. While…

“Less is more” is a common term; however, it is very uncommonly practiced. It seems there is a natural tendency to feel that the more actions taken, the better the results. Then there is the difficult decision of how much “less” is too much “less.” Like many things, at times, the statement can be taken too literally. Great leaders know how to find that balance. They also know how to prioritize which actions will have…