3. leadership & team development

We avoid tough conversations, including giving honest, productive feedback. Some leaders attributed this to a lack of courage, others to a lack of skills, and, shockingly, more than half talked about a cultural norm of “nice and polite” that’s leveraged as an excuse to avoid tough conversations. Whatever the reason, there was saturation across the

Brené Brown • Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.

I want to tackle this comprehensively, and immediately.

If you want to make everyone happy, don’t be a leader, sell ice cream.

“As a leader, you want to be seen—you need to be seen—as decisive, and willing to make tough choices. The outcome may be uncertain, but you have enough understanding and information to make a decision,” I said.

Jocko Willink , Leif Babin • Extreme Ownership

When your team asks what to do, leaders should flip the question and ask: "What do you think we should do?"

Study on Toxic Team Members:

At an Australian university, Professor Phelps ran an experiment that’s still eye-opening today.

For a month, he divided students into teams of four and gave them 45 minutes to solve management problems. The best team would win a $100 prize.

What the students didn’t know was that some groups had “plants” — actors

Beware the charismatic low-performers who interview well.

You really have to pay attention to who you hire. Too often we hire the ones who interview well. Then we let the probationary period pass. Then we feel stuck with a charismatic low performer. Attract, then nurture the the high performers, get rid of the low performers. It’s that simple

Pareto Principle (the 80/20 rule): In many situations, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

Parkinson’s Law: Tasks expand to fill available time. Tight deadlines = peak efficiency.

I have a bias for action. As Franklin D. Roosevelt once said: "Do something. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn't, do something else."