August 2018 Leadership Development Carnival

Welcome to the August Leadership Development Carnival. We’re excited to share posts from leadership experts from around the globe on the topics of communication, creativity and inspiration, development, productivity, team building, and more.

Communication

Art Petty submitted Why You Should Obsess Over Challenging Conversations (and what to do about them). Art summarizes: "The road to career success runs through a nearly endless string of challenging conversations. Learn to survive and thrive in the most difficult of communication circumstances and watch your career grow. This article offers three big ideas to help you navigate challenging conversations and come out a winner. " Follow Art on Twitter at @artpetty.

David Grossman of The Grossman Group shared Taking a Message Forward When You Disagree. David writes: “Every company, no matter the industry, deals with difficult problems and issues each day. No industry or organization is free from the risk of a crisis. When something goes wrong, corporate leaders should follow these 4 actions to mitigate crisis, create shared meaning and move people to action.” Discover David on Twitter at @thoughtpartner.

Jon Verbeck shares The Importance of Making Your Invoices Customer-Centric.  All companies and entrepreneurs have to send invoices sometimes. Jon reminds us to use them as a way to serve our clients and customers. Find Jon on Twitter at @jonverbeck1.

Creativity/Inspiration

Jim Taggert of Changing Winds provided Leading for Success: How to Create a Culture of Innovation by Following 10 Leadership Behaviours.  Jim asks: "What do we each need to do to contribute to creating a hotbed of innovation in our organizations, whether it’s in business, government, or the non-profit sector?" This post describes 10 behaviours that are key to dealing effectively with rapidly changing markets and consumer tastes. Find Jim on Twitter at @72keys.

Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership provided A 5-Step Training Plan to Think like a Navy SEAL . Dan provides: The business world can often seem like a 'VUCA' battlefield. Guest author Mark Divine draws from his U.S. Navy SEAL experience to provide a 5-step training plan to 'think like a Navy SEAL' when addressing leadership challenges." Find Dan on Twitter at @greatleadership.

Development

Lisa Kohn of Thoughtful Leaders provided The five key lessons we all need to learn. Lisa Kohn presents five overarching lessons that seem to emerge in many, if not all, coaching engagements. Learning to lead from these lessons will help you lead more Thoughtfully. You can find Lisa on Twitter at @ThoughtfulLdrs.

David Dye and Karin Hurt of Let's Grow Leaders submitted What No One Tells You About Leadership.  "Leadership is really about bringing hope. But when you get a new job as a manager, you aren't told that." Let's Grow Leaders reminds us of why we lead. Find them on Twitter at @letsgrowleaders.

Chris Edmonds of The Purposeful Culture Group provided Culture Leadership Charge: Hire for Values, Train for Skills.  In this 3-minute episode, Chris shares his mistakes with the skills and accomplishments / attitude paths and provides a road to a more effective hire. Follow Chris on Twitter at @scedmonds.

Shelley Row provided What a Sailboat Captain Taught Me About Leading in Adversity. Shelley shares about a fascinating, and stormy, experience on a sailboat and what it taught her about adversity.  Find Shelley on Twitter at @shelleyrow.

Beth Beutler of H.O.P.E. Unlimited provided What to Do When You Feel Like You've Failed.  "Do you ever feel like you've failed at work?" Beth Beutler gives us some pointers to help us learn from our #fail experiences. Find Beth on Twitter at @bethbeutler.

Joel Garfinkle of the Career Advancement Blog submitted Optimistic People. Joel shares: "Optimists aren’t just choosing to see things differently; they’re actively creating a better reality for themselves. To improve your quality of life and achieve your work career dreams, cultivate an optimistic mindset." Follow Joel on Twitter at @JoelGarfinkle.

Productivity

Randy Conley of Leading with Trust provided 3 Steps to Overcome the Stress of Too Many Priorities. Has the immensity of your "to-do list" got you feeling lost and overwhelmed? It's common for leaders to regularly experience these feelings, but in his post "3 Steps to Overcome the Stress of Too Many Priorities," Randy Conley shares strategies for getting out from under your workload and back in control of how you direct your time and energy.  Follow Randy on Twitter at @RandyConley.

Neal Burgis, Ph. D. of Burgis Successful Solutions provided Are You Stuck in The Leadership Trap?. Neal states: "There is nothing more daunting than staring at a blank computer screen or blank page to write your Pulitzer Prize best-selling book with blank pages. Everyone gets stuck from time-to-time in doing your job, this article gives you tips to help get you unstuck instead of staying stuck longer than you need to." You can find Neal on Twitter at @exec_solutions.

Julie Winkle-Giulioni provided Persist or Pivot? 8 Questions to Determine How to Move Your Plan Forward. Julie states: "Effective leaders understand that in today's complex and changeable world, the plan itself is just a small part of the more important and ongoing planning (and re-planning) process." Connect with Julie on Twitter at @julie_wg.

Team Building

Stephanie Skryzowski of 100 Degrees Consulting provided How to add the RIGHT people to your team. In this post, Stephanie asks: "The old fashioned way to hire is no longer relevant in the ever changing landscape of today's businesses. Have your hiring practiced evolved? They should."

Sean Glaze of Great Results Team Building provided What Does YOUR Team Celebrate?.  Sean states: "The success your team will eventually enjoy is based on the things that you and your leaders choose to celebrate. Are they the things that lead to more wins?" Find Sean on Twitter at @leadyourteam.

Simon Teague of New Level Results submitted The Magic of Selecting an Unstoppable Team. Simon summarizes: "The World Cup gives us a fantastic opportunity to analyse team performance and ask questions of our own teams. How can we build a winning team? What learnings can we take and apply from the past 2 months?" Follow Simon on Twitter at @newlevelresults .

Laura Schroeder of Working Girl provided How to Find, Hire and Lead Great Talent. Laura states: "Basic leadership principles never change: Hire people who love to learn, encourage collaboration and new ideas, recognize contributions, and weed out trust-destroying behaviours." Connect with Laura on Twitter at @workgal.

And More...

Marcella Bremer of Leadership and Change Magazine provided Interaction Interventions in Corporate Culture. Marcella questions: "Does your culture need courage? You often need courage to speak up for what you value. What do you say or do when a co-worker is not valued...? Do you use interaction interventions?" Connect with Marcella on Twitter at @marcellabremer.

William Steiner of Executive Coaching Concepts provided What is Executive Presence and How Do I Get Some?.  William states: "This post defines what executive presence is all about and some steps to enhance yours." Find William on Twitter at @coachforexecs.

Jesse Stoner of Seapoint Center submitted 8 Habits of Mentally Balanced Leaders. Jesse summarizes: "It is possible to become mentally balanced, even in today's hectic and chaotic world with its intense demands, but you must change your habits. Here are 8 simple habits you can easily incorporate into your daily life." Follow Jesse on Twitter at @JesseLynStoner.

Susan Fowler of Smart Brief provided Is Motivation What You Think It Is?. In the post, Susan shares: "Motivation is the energy to act. Outdated theories of motivation are based on how much energy you have -- equating your motivation to the quantity of your energy. But, a seismic revolution in our understanding of motivation is that what matters most is the quality of your motivation." Find Susan on Twitter at @FowlerSusann.

Mary Ila Ward of Horizon Point Consulting submitted The next activity you need to do with your leaders: What needs to start, stop or stay?  In this post, Mary Ila shares: "Feedback is a critical to any successful performance management and development process. With trends in feedback moving leaders towards less formal mechanisms of feedback and away from a formal performance appraisal, we still need to be thinking about how to define the current state of someone’s behavior and performance in order to direct what we want to see." Discover Mary on Twitter at @MaryIlaWard.

Thank you to everyone who submitted articles for this month's carnival! If you would like to be on the distribution list for submission calls, please fill out this form and we'll be happy to add you to the list.