Can I Be a True Leader?

Avoiding Judgments as an Introvert Leader

By Dr. Francis Eberle

This past year three coaching clients taught me to remember that this is a complex question.  All of them were already in substantial leadership roles but were questioning whether others perceived them to be leaders, including their supervisors. For me there was no question; it was obvious that they were true leaders. For them it was a different story.

Their confidence in their ability to lead was waning and causing them stress. The company was growing and they wondered if they would fit in the new model. Each of them had a unique personality with firm ideas about their leadership, while exhibiting a more quiet, thoughtful and detailed approach to their work. Read More

Three Steps to Personal Goal Setting for Leaders

By Ron Price

Most leaders have completed their organizational plans for next year, communicated with specificity and enthusiasm to their employees, and appropriated the necessary resources to lay the groundwork for a successful year.

However, I tend to find in my work that few have applied this same discipline to creating and implementing their own individual performance plans for the year. Sometimes this is nothing more than an oversight; other times it is because the leader doesn’t feel accountable to the same disciplines imposed on others, and sometimes it is because of deeper feelings of insecurity that produce a subtle but lingering fear of failure. Read More

Restraint – The Key to Improving Emotional Intelligence

By Dave Clark,

You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing things with logic. True power is restraint. If words control you, that means everyone else can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass. – Warren Buffett.

I saw this quote scrolling through social media recently and it really caught my eye. I think the message is absolutely pertinent in today’s society where people’s tempers seem to flare at the slightest urging, from battles on social media to recurrent road rage incidents. Read More

4 Tips to Eliminate Emotional Blind Spots

By Bob Sands

It happened in an instant. My wife was on a conference call sitting next to me, and I was driving. My kids were in the back seat looking at their phones. I was in the far-left lane on Florida’s Turnpike when the semi-truck to the right of me began merging into my lane. I couldn’t speed up or slam on my brakes because there were cars both in front of me and behind me. The truck continued to merge. There was no place to go but into the VERY narrow shoulder. I took a deep breath and threaded, as it were, the needle between the semi-truck and the retaining wall. I’m relieved to say there were no accidents and no injuries. It was a miracle.

After making a few comments about the driver, I realized what had happened. He didn’t know I was there, I was in his blind spot and he never even saw me. Read More

Are You in a Leadership Rut?
5 Ways to Break Old Habits and Shake Things Up

By Whit Mitchell

Many of us have experienced times in our careers when work seemed stale and personal progress slowed. This can be particularly true for a leader, especially if you’ve been leading for a while. Leaders can find themselves sticking with a single leadership style, instead of adapting and trying new approaches. But the pace of change demands that leaders continue growing. Those who don’t will find themselves in a leadership rut.

Not only are technology and consumer needs constantly evolving, but so is the workforce, with new generations entering the workplace who demand to be managed in a different way. Leaders need to engage each of their employees and help them reach their full potential, and adaptive leadership is the way to do it. Read More

Recognizing Other Perspectives

Understanding and evaluating others is the ability to see the individuality in others and to recognize a person’s unique point of view. TCL faculty member Ron Price shares his insights on this important leadership competency.

5 Things You Need to do to be Successful at Just About Anything

By Dave Clark

Like the elusive fountain of youth, people are constantly looking for the magic recipe or the secret sauce to become successful. While there are far more successful people in the world than I am, I would like to share some things that have worked for me over the years.

I am proud to say that I’ve been able to reinvent myself several times over the years, making “hard shifts” between unrelated industries, successfully landing on my feet – and thriving – each time. There were a few consistent themes each time I made one of these drastic changes. Since they worked for me, they may work for you, as well. As far as I’m concerned, these are the 5 things you need to do to be successful at just about anything. Read More

Why Should I Care About EQ?

By Ron Price 

To some, emotional intelligence (or EQ) can sound like the modern version of standing in a circle holding hands and singing kumbaya.

Many people undervalue the significance of developing emotional intelligence as part of professional development. However, there is an abundance of research that indicates this type of thinking isn’t very intelligent.

It turns out that the single most important element in a group’s intelligence is not the average IQ, but instead the emotional intelligence of the group. A single participant who has low EQ can lower the collective IQ of the entire group. Read More

Optimize Your Leadership Potential

By Ron Price

I am in my fifth decade of working on what it means to be a leader. When I amalgamate my personal leadership experiences and those I’ve been honored to witness or even guide, I have realized that leadership isn’t relegated to the workplace. Leadership is any situation that gives to you the opportunity to lead.

Over the years I’ve made a fundamental change in my thinking. I’ve recognized that leadership comes from the inside out. The core of who you are as a leader is the result of the personal journey you take, which from time to time is reflected in the responsibilities you are given. Read More