Group Dynamic

Alan Feirer's thoughts on leadership issues

Archive for the ‘Leadership problems’ Category

Three little words for busy leaders…

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Sometimes people feel disconnected from us because we come off as “too busy.” There are three words that can reverse this dysfunction.

A piece of equipment went missing, and I wasn’t told about it.  I found out Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Alan Feirer

December 7th, 2011 at 8:26 am

Leaders tell people “why”

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Hannah was a young person volunteering at a community dinner.  She sure seemed like she didn’t want to be there.  She was listening to her iPod and had earbuds in both ears as she served peas to the public.  She was surrounded by about twenty adult volunteers.

At one point, Harold, one of the adult volunteers, finally said something.  He scowled, and Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Alan Feirer

November 23rd, 2011 at 8:35 am

Effective Leaders Solve Intramural Feuds

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When I was young teacher, I often found myself in the middle of student disputes. My response was always something along the lines of “you need to learn how to solve your own problems.” I was thinking I was doing them a service by empowering them grow up and solve problems on their own. In reality, I was avoiding drama myself, and being selfish. Leaders of organizations need Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Alan Feirer

November 9th, 2011 at 3:18 pm

Effective leaders stay organized (part two)

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Part two of two (did you read last week’s post?)

As you can see from last week’s picture, my daily list fits into the narrow confines of the column on the left hand side of each day’s page in my planner. Sometimes, life becomes so hectic, and the to-do list gets so long, that it’s time to Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Alan Feirer

October 25th, 2011 at 8:30 pm

Effective Leaders get Everyone in the “Right Seat”

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When I read the (rightly) popular Good to Great, I found myself agreeing with nearly everything in principle, but thought that some concepts were a little too idealistic for a small- to mid-sized organization.  Massive businesses, like his examples, have more luxury to move people around, for example.

That’s why I had a touch of a problem with Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Alan Feirer

October 12th, 2011 at 12:12 pm

Prevent your own demoralization in one step…

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If you are a leader, it is your job to keep your people motivated, and stave off any demoralization.

But what if YOU lose your mojo due to some cranky folks in your organization?  It’s so easy to be derailed by Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Alan Feirer

September 28th, 2011 at 11:45 am

Effective Leaders are Specific

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“Hey, Tom, if you could get some of those account reviews done by Thursday, that’d be great.”

Sometimes, to sound “nice”, we make requests like the one above.  Casual (that’s a good thing), general (bad thing), with a deadline (good thing), but without a specific request (bad thing) or way to measure (very bad thing).

The result can descend into Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Alan Feirer

September 21st, 2011 at 10:23 am

Insecurity is Unbecoming of a Leader

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Everyone has moments, or even periods, of insecurity.

Situation One:
Once, about 15 years ago, I was struggling to Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Alan Feirer

September 14th, 2011 at 11:06 am

Least Read – Top (Bottom) Five + One

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These are my least-read posts.  Maybe they hit Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Alan Feirer

August 31st, 2011 at 7:51 am

Posted in Leadership problems

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Most Read – Top Five + One

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According to Google Analytics, these are my top five most popular posts in terms of Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Alan Feirer

August 23rd, 2011 at 7:40 pm

Most Discussed – Top Five + One

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These are the posts that have gotten the most comments over the last year.  Please Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Alan Feirer

August 17th, 2011 at 11:03 am

Customer Service Top Five + One

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This week, five posts that will help you understand the value of great customer service, everyone’s role in it, and some ideas Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Alan Feirer

August 9th, 2011 at 9:46 pm