With intent, we announce our decision prior to the decision actually being implemented. This offers an opportunity for discussion and alignment while still allowing ownership and autonomy. I’m going to tell you how you can get both organizational alignment and a sense of autonomy and ownership in the organization. Now, normally we think about these...
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Leadership Nudge® 349 – Book Review: How to Talk So Kids Will Listen
May 12, 2021by Sandy Wilmer
Small changes in language can have huge impacts on how people feel and how they act. How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk is one of the best leadership books for dealing with people (of any age) I’ve ever read. One of the things that I learned was how...
Leadership Nudge® 341 – When “Why” Becomes “Who”
February 17, 2021by Sandy Wilmer
As information and directives move through an organization, the language often changes from “why” (which sounds like “we need this by Tuesday in order to feed 10,000 more people”) to “who” (which sounds like “Bob wants this done by Tuesday”). When the “why” is maintained, people are intrinsically motivated to be more creative and thoughtful,...
Leadership Nudge® 332 – Make Your Intentions Visible
November 18, 2020by Sandy Wilmer
When giving up control, aim for level 5 on the Ladder of Leadership. This allows for robust discussions and maintains a safe environment for decisions. We’re careful to represent level five as the sweet spot on the Ladder of Leadership. But there’s this notion that well, six is greater than five. So six must be...
Leadership Nudge® 331 – Chunk Bigger for Purpose, Smaller for Progress
November 11, 2020by Sandy Wilmer
Break large and overwhelming projects into smaller chunks to keep moving forward. But, when struggling to see your work’s purpose, try bigger chunks. Chunk big for purpose. Chunk small for progress. One of the things that’s really cool about humans is that because of language, we can coordinate the activities of thousands of people to...
Leadership Nudge® 321 – Make the Invisible Visible and Guayaquil, Ecuador
August 13, 2020by Sandy Wilmer
Humans are conditioned to rely on visual cues. Leaders bring information to light by creating visual aides. Make the invisible visible. Article reference: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ecuador-city-beat-one-of-worlds-worst-outbreaks-of-covid-19-11593532974 Make the invisible visible. Humans are visual animals we have 10 times as much brain matter dedicated to processing what we see then to processing what we hear the optical nerves...
Leaders are deliberate in their word choice. Use the right words to avoid confusion and errors. Here’s a famous example from history.
Expand your vocabulary to find the precise word for what you are seeing and feeling. The greater your vocabulary, the more likely that you’ll know and be able to summon exactly the right words to describe your experience. We only see what we have words for. We only feel what we have words for. I’m...
People ask for clarity based on different motives and often they are looking to the leader to tell them what to do. A leader practicing Intent-Based Leadership® will provide information and not instruction. Beautiful days like this, I’m sorry to say, are quite rare in Scotland, so we’re making the most of it out on...
Leadership Nudge® 278 – Leaders Tune Control to Competence and Clarity
October 9, 2019by Sandy Wilmer
Well Balanced Control When giving control, measure competence and clarity to create the appropriate balance.