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Feedback has been famously called “the breakfast of champions.” We all need feedback to optimize performance and make sure that we are doing our jobs correctly. Yet, ask most professionals to play the game of word association with the word “feedback” and you will often hear such negative words as fear, anxiety, and evaluation.

The concern, interestingly, does not lie exclusively with employees. Many leaders are as uncomfortable giving feedback as their direct reports are in receiving it. According to a survey conducted by Management Concepts, supervisors often feel uneasy advising their employees on how to improve their performance, even the high performers.

Why are so many leaders afraid to share their thoughts and why has the process resulted in such concern among employees?

Perhaps the problem lies mainly in the way that feedback is perceived. For many bosses, feedback is simply not a priority. When compared to the many urgencies on their list (real or imagined), they simply do not approach feedback with the same seriousness and preparedness.

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My wife and I sent our oldest child off yesterday to study for a year abroad. The day was filled with many of the emotions that filled our parents when we went off for our first study years twenty-plus years ago. We spent time at the airport reviewing protocol, getting everything checked off and enjoying a few final moments together before he went off to security. And then we waved our last in-person good-byes from behind the gated area as he meandered down the corridor to his flight gate.

But there was something different about this experience than what we and our folks experienced back in, as my wife is fond of calling them, the “olden days.” Back then, we owned no cell phones. Letters and pay phones (collect calls through an international operator, no less) were the primary ways that we communicated. And often long periods would pass between an experience and our ability to share it with loved ones back home (a particular challenge during the Gulf War). It was understood that we would communicate every so often and that it would be at a time when we could take a few minutes out of our busy days to share news and updates.

Now, the game has changed completely. No longer is there any wait time. Even yesterday, as my son’s native cell phone failed to work, we were able to communicate in real time with him and his driver via a friend’s phone and then, when his American phone was activated, WhatsApp. There was no mystery. No “You’ll never believe what happened when I got off the plane”. No, “School is great and I need more …” It was all unfolding in real time and that’s how we expect that it will continue to be, with pictures, videos and lots of texting replacing much of the calls and conversation.

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1. You need not be large to make a huge impact (moon)
2. Location and position matter more than we think (totality)
3. Danger is often imperceptible, at least at first (IV rays)
4. When unusual things happen, they needn’t last long to be noticed
5. If you want to get the most out of life’s offerings, make the proper preparations

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Summertime is in full bloom and for many of us that means lots of time spent in our vegetable gardens. If you enjoy working in the outdoors as much as I do, you likely spend an inordinate amount of time around your home doing everything from planting to weeding to positioning (think long, meandering vine plants like tomatoes and squash) and picking / harvesting.

My time outside gives me much opportunity to think and reflect. With so much of my professional energy focused on leadership, I invariably consider applications from the garden to the workplace. After all, leadership also demands tons of care and consideration to make sure that each individual, team and organization is growing in synchrony and to their fullest potential.

Here is a list of leadership lessons that I believe work in our veggie gardens can teach us.  

1. Prepare the soil – For seeds to properly germinate, they need to loose soil. This is particularly true for plants that produce underground yields such as carrots and potatoes. But between disuse and harsh weather conditions, earth becomes hard and compressed over the winter. Wise gardeners know that taking the time to properly loosen their soil will have a positive long-term impact on their crop. Preparation is also required for leaders who seek to help their people grow properly. When the workplace “soil” is cultivated through a mix of strong relationships and a “loose” environment that minimizes stress and allows for (if not celebrates) risk-taking, people can confidently spread out and produce great results.

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One of the most difficult things for leaders to achieve is proper balance between their demanding work schedule and their home life. Not only do we struggle to find the right time allocation for each, but we also need to be able to separate the two in a way that doesn’t blur the lines between our professional and personal realms.

This challenge is compounded when leaders encounter a situation that demands more than its “normal” time requirements, such as when work stresses spike or when something at home requires more of our time, energy and emotional bandwidth than usual.

This is exactly what happened to Brian Harper, CEO of Rouse Properties, a private real estate investment trust headquartered in New York City.

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The day has finally arrived. I have published my first book. This book, a guide for folks transitioning into and within leadership, is the product of three plus years of effort, including settling on a topic, identifying a target audience, doing lots and lots of writing, testing my content online through regular leadership posts, finding an editor and publisher, and working through the complex, lengthy publishing process. (Even after getting the publishing in order, there’s so much marketing required in order to get the word out. And to think that I just assumed that if I write the book it’ll be enough.)  

Without question, this is an exhilarating feeling. Not only am I proud of what I have achieved, but I am super excited to know that I can now share my ideas and experiences with so many others.

I often reflect on how I got here and how difficult it may have been had I tried to achieve this goal as a full time head of school (my previous position). Leaving aside the fact that my experiences in that position provided much of the fodder for my text (something that I likely could not have shared freely while under contract), I think that the rigors of full time employment would have made such an undertaking daunting, to say the least. Without having real control over my time and with the many demands of school leadership, how could I have possibly seen this process through? The likely answer is that I wouldn’t have. And I suspect that many leaders with great content, ideas, anecdotes, experiences and achievements feel similarly.

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Summer is the time of year when we most connect with nature and wildlife. The warm weather encourages us to get outdoors and enjoy all that the environment has to offer. For students of leadership, there is much to be learned from the great outdoors and in this post I will focus on what we can learn from animals, both in terms of what to do and what to avoid doing.

Three to emulate

1.       Lions – Lions are known as kings of the jungle and fierce predators. But lions are also extremely caring animals within their pride. For example, lions are among the more equitable species. They tend to breed cooperatively and assist each other in rearing offspring. They also are more equitable in sharing their food. Lesson: Despite their power and rank, true leaders know that caring for others within their organization is a true mark of their success.

2.       Leopard – The leopard is a highly agile animal that adjusts its efforts to suit its needs. Sometimes it relies on stealth, at other times speed, and at other times agility. For example, it can track its prey on the ground and also climb trees to hunt. It can move silently though the forest and at the same time marshal a burst of speed to close in. Lesson: Leaders and organizations that are adaptable can be assured greater opportunities to achieve success than those that rely on a more limited mindset and skillset.

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