August 2020 Leadership Development Carnival

Welcome to the August 2020 Leadership Development Carnival! We’re excited to share posts from leadership experts from around the globe on the topics of communication, development, engagement, motivation, productivity, team building, and more.

Communication

Bernd Geropp provided One-on-one meetings - What matters most! Bernd shares: "How do you introduce one-on-ones to your direct reports? How does such a meeting work? How do you get started and what exactly should you say in such meetings?” Find Bernd on Twitter at @moreleadership.

Eileen McDargh contributed Keys for Creating Certainty in Uncertain Times. Eileen explains: "For anyone in a leadership position, the ability to craft solid ground in white water times becomes paramount. Learn the three keys that offer certainty and knowledge that the leader can be counted on." Connect with Eileen on Twitter at @macdarling.

Marcia Reynolds of Covisioning Transformational Leadership provided Five Conversational Stingers That Can Wound a Relationship. Marcia shares: "When stressed, we often hurl conversational stingers that can wound a relationship. Read this post for examples, and tips to regulate your reactions." Connect with Marcia on Twitter at @marciareynolds.

Diana Peterson-More shared Make It Easy for Them to Say Yes: Communication Tips to Make it Happen! Diana explains: "This blog asks the age-old question: Are you getting what you want from bosses and colleagues in the workplace? Asked another way: How do employees get others to do what they want at work without the organizational clout of hierarchical authority? There are multiple solutions to every problem or concern. The aim is to find the “right one” for the circumstances. While this blog enumerates numerous factors to consider, perhaps the most important is to accept responsibility for implementation once the a-okay is given." Find Diana on Twitter at @DianaPMAuthor.

David Grossman of The Grossman Group provided What’s Keeping You Up at Night? A Lot of Uncertainty, Survey Finds. David shares: "We recently conducted a survey of dozens of leaders and communicators, asking a frank question: “What’s keeping you up at night?” Find out what they had to say and get our top strategies to help. " Follow David on Twitter at @ThoughtPartner.

Ken Byler of Higher Ground Consulting Group contributed Introverted Leadership in a Pandemic. Ken writes: "Extroverted leaders tend to have an advantage during times of crisis. Their “out loud thinking” can drown out quieter voices. That’s not always a good thing." Connect with Ken on Twitter at @kenbyler.

Ken Downer of Rapid Start Leadership provided Non-Verbal Skills for Virtual Team Leaders. Ken shares: “When communicating with our virtual teams, of course, the words that pass through our computer's audio system are important, but what others see through the camera lens can have a big impact, too. Here are eight techniques to come across like a leader without saying a word.” Follow Ken on Twitter @RapidStartLdr.

Shelley Row of Insightful Leadership shared Staying Engaged with Virtual Teams. Shelley considers: "Your staff works better in an environment that values their humanness. That means working with people who know more about them than the due date for their next deliverable. Here are five questions you can use today to give you more insight into what makes them tick." Connect with Shelley on Twitter at @shelleyrow.

Inspiration

Bill Treasurer of Giant Leap Consulting contributed Allow Nature to Show You the Upside. Bill explains: "When the world feels overwhelming and filled with nothing but bad news, get outside. Nature is the best way I know how to adjust my attitude and return to the important work that needs to be done." Follow Bill on Twitter at @btreasurer.

Joel Garfinkle of the Career Advancement Blog shared Leadership in Turbulent Times: 9 Ways to Embrace Change. Joel summarizes: "On a daily basis, I’ve been talking through solutions with the leaders I work with so they can maintain high morale despite the extreme disruption that’s been occurring. Fortunately, many key leadership principles that apply in any crisis are incredibly valuable here. Read on for nine key ways to steer your company to success amidst the great changes in progress." Find Joel on Twitter at @JoelGarfinkle.

Development

Jim Taggart of Changing Winds shared The Essence of Leadership: You Are Not Your Position. Jim considers: "No one on this planet has any capacity to forecast what’s to come. The same applies to those who want to wear the emperor’s clothes “I am my position." Always be humble. Say “I don’t know” when you don’t know." Follow Jim on Twitter at @72keys.

Chris Edmonds of The Purposeful Culture Group provided Culture Leadership Charge: Validate Employee Contributions. In this video post, Chris shares: "How often do you receive praise or recognition at work? We’ve had bosses that expressed gratitude well and bosses that never did it. To understand the impact of expressed gratitude, let’s look at three common types: praise, recognition, and validation." Follow Chris on Twitter at @scedmonds.

Paul LaRue of The Upwards Leader contributed How To Reinvent Your Leadership. Paul writes: “It’s common to be stuck in a rut of leadership and not making much of a positive impact. Here are some tips to reinvent your leadership approach.” Connect with Paul on Twitter at @paul_larue.

Jon Verbeck provided The Value of Mentoring. Jon writes: “It’s our responsibility as leaders and experts to provide a trusting, enthusiastic, and continually developing work environment to the new generation. I’ve enjoyed passing along my experience and ideas to them, hoping to help them avoid mistakes and make decisions with wisdom and trustworthy information.” Follow Jon on Twitter at @jonverbeck1.

Mary Ila Ward of Horizon Point Consulting shared Stop Selling When Interviewing Candidates. Mary writes: "When do you turn on your selling style and turn it off at work? If you want to hire people who will perform well, get along well, and share the values your organization espouses, stop selling, and be authentic. " Find Mary on Twitter at @maryilaward.

Lisa Kohn of Chatsworth Consulting Group provided How to have more impact. Lisa shares: "In the post, How to have more impact, Lisa shares that our impact can be great when we lead and manage others. And our path can become clearer – and perhaps truer – when we think about the impact we want to have and live our lives so as to make that happen." Connect with Lisa on Twitter at @ThoughtfulLdrs.

Paula Kiger of Big Green Pen shared What is it going to take to get unstuck from racist practices at work? Paula writes: "Organizations have to start somewhere when addressing racist practices in the workplace. Learn some short-term actions and some longer-term initiatives you can take toward the sustained, hard work our organizations and people deserve." Connect with Paula on Twitter @biggreenpen.

Karin Hurt and David Dye of Let's Grow Leaders provided 7 Steps to a Courageous Culture. Karin and David share: "What does it mean to have a courageous culture? It’s that invisible force of mutual understanding and awareness that drives behavior. A courageous, innovative culture is a place where “people like us” speak up. We share ideas. We solve problems. The default is to contribute." Follow them on Twitter at @letsgrowleaders.

Ann Howell of Science of Working contributed Fix the Empathy Gap. Ann writes: "The empathy gap exists between the benefits of empathy and the ability of leaders to deliver it. Organizations can take simple actions to close the gap." Follow Ann on Twitter at @drannhowell.

Team Building

Jon Lokhorst of Lokhorst Consulting shared 5 Tools for Mastering Remote Leadership. Jon explains: “Effectively leading remote workers is an essential leadership competency in this new normal. This article highlights the challenges of leading in this environment and offers five tools for greater leadership effectiveness with remote work teams.” Find Jon on Twitter at @jonlokhorst.

Sean Glaze of Great Results Team Building shared Two Ways To Improve Culture And Overcome The Challenge Of Conformity. Sean writes: “Culture is repeated behaviors, and your individual team members will either set a new example and standard of behavior based upon their commitment to success, or they will adjust their behavior to match the prevailing norms of the group.” Find Sean on Twitter at @leadyourteam.

Productivity

Stephanie Skryzowski of 100 Degrees Consulting provided Three simple steps to your monthly routine. Stephanie shares: "This post lays out three simple steps to create a productive monthly routine for finances. " Connect with Stephanie here.

Jesse Stoner of Seapoint Center shared 4 Tips for Leaders Who Switch to Remote Work Teams. Jesse writes: "In this guest post, Kevin Eikenberry explains that by focusing on outcomes instead of activity and by clarifying expectations, leaders can easily help their team switch too remote." Follow Jesse on Twitter at @JesseLynStoner.

Neal Burgis of Successful Solutions contributed Being Great at What You Do. Neal explains: "There are many people who are great at what you do and either don’t recognize it for yourself or may not get recognized at all. Then you have those who are great at creating breakthrough results just by being who you are with the skills and talent you possess to get things done." Follow Neal on Twitter at @exec_solutions.

And More...

Randy Conley of Leading with Trust shared 6 Ways Leaders Build Trust During Change. Randy shares: "The one must-have ingredient of successful change efforts is trust. If the people in an organization don’t trust their leaders, they won’t buy-in to the change. In this post, Randy Conley shares six specific strategies leaders can use to build and sustain trust during organizational change." Connect with Randy on Twitter at @RandyConley.

Marcella Bremer of Positive Culture contributed Future Reflection: What Humans Want. Marcella considers: "Based on Yuval Noah Harari’s work about the future: let's take a look at what humans want. We want to be creators like the Gods, happy, and healthy. What are the implications for leadership, culture, organizations, professionals?" Follow Marcella on Twitter at @MarcellaBremer.

Jon Mertz of Thin Difference shared Entrepreneurial Mentoring is Mutual Learning. Jon considers: "A key to productive entrepreneurial mentoring is a mindset of mutual learning. A good entrepreneur-mentor relationship is one in which both learn and grow through a give-and-give relationship. With a mutual learning mindset, the relationship is strengthened – enhancing business, leadership, and life skills, as well as insights." Connect with Jon on Twitter at @thindifference.

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership provided Leadership Lessons from Parenting. Wally explains: "Parenting and leadership both give you an opportunity to change the world." Connect with Wally on Twitter at @WallyBock

John Stoker of DialogueWORKS contributed Are You Taking Advantage of Teamwork during the Pandemic? John writes: "The challenge of working remotely may impact the interactions of team members. However, taking the time to meet together regularly online, checking in with one another, offering assistance and support to each other, and expressing appreciation to one another will go a long way toward improving your team’s performance and the quality of their work. Strengthening teams will equal greater results than you could ever achieve working alone." Connect with John on Twitter at @JohnRStoker.

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