Innovation for Introverts
What role do introverts play in innovation? Leadership coach Andy Johnson explains ways in which the Innovator’s Advantage provides clarity on how all personality types can contribute to innovation.
Conflict Management Begins with Understanding Conflict
In this short video, Executive Coach and Team Health Specialist Andy Johnson talks about how conflict management in the workplace is critical for us to function and move towards performance, outcomes, and all kinds of measures of health.
Who Makes the Best Leaders?
A Yin and Yang Look at the Eight Types of Leaders
By Andy Johnson
In an interesting 2010 study, a team of researchers led by Adam Grant of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania set out to understand a nagging question in the leadership world. Who makes the best leaders?
Adam Grant and I both identify as social introvert. A social introvert is someone who is slower-paced, inward-oriented, and stimulation-averse, who loves people in usually smaller doses, is not shy and enjoys talking long and deeply with them. Though Grant conceded that the literature is extremely biased in favor of extroversion as a prerequisite trait for leadership, he and the research team wanted to test leadership effectiveness as it relates to different kinds of followers. Read More
Empathy: the Ability to Feel the Feelings of Others
In this short video, Andy Johnson talks about how mastering this leadership skill will allow today’s leaders to operate on an entirely different level, especially with millennials.
The Necessity of Managing Oneself
Self-management is the ability to prioritize goals and decide what must be done. In this short video, Andy Johnson points out that leaders don’t typically have someone managing them, so they have to manage themselves. It’s not an optional competency.
Your Biggest Leadership Gap is Your Operating System
By Andy Johnson
What’s the biggest gap or deficit in your leadership of others? Your understanding of this question will directly connect to your attempted solutions to the problem. If you had to guess today, what do you think your biggest gap is related to? More importantly, how do you think closing your biggest leadership gap would affect your leadership effectiveness or the connected business results?
Fortunately, there has been relevant research conducted that sheds light on these questions. With a fairly large sample, researchers related to the Leadership Circle have shown that your overall level of personal/leadership development is likely your biggest gap to fill. Let me explain why that is the case. Read More
Conceptual Thinking: Thinking Outside the Box
Conceptual thinkers have an astute understanding of why something is being done. They can think at an abstract level and easily apply their insights to the situation. In this 2-minute video, faculty member Andy Johnson discusses this critical competency for leaders. As an expert on introverted leaders, Andy also shares his thoughts on introverts as natural conceptual thinkers.
The Heart of Leadership: Seeing Ourselves and Seeing Others
By Andy Johnson, hr.com, December 2017
Human beings are masters at seeing what they want to see. In every situation, we consistently extract information that confirms our existing opinions about ourselves and the world around us. We view the world in a way that is highly selective and inherently biased. Ideas that fit the script are noticed; those that don’t are ignored. In this way, we continue to reinforce our existing beliefs, making real change often merely wishful talk. Read More
Don’t Normalize Conflict
By Andy Johnson
I’ve been thinking, writing and speaking about conflict in different contexts for about twenty years. Shortly after the release of my 2014 book that focused on conflict prevention, I was asked to address a lunchtime Rotary club meeting in my home town. I had prepared what I thought was a nice talk describing the way many of us avoid the topic of conflict (like we do taxes, death, and other depressing subjects). Thus, I was surprised when the audience overwhelmingly started telling me about the goodness of conflict. They had all been convinced that conflict, which we used to fear, was now our friend in the workplace. Read More
Convergence with Andy Johnson and Courtney Feider
In this short clip, Executive Coach Andy Johnson and Creative Brand Strategist Courtney Feider talk about the program they offer called “Convergence.” Together they give more details about the program and discuss the tangible assets that you will gain by participating.