Lacking confidence in your leadership?  Are you an insecure leader?  Sometimes the things we are tempted to do to compensate for insecurity are the worst options, as Lieutenant Wilkes, United States Navy, found out the hard way in 1838.  Here’s what happened, how you can avoid these seven deadly habits, and build the confidence you […]

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Leadership is challenging enough when you know what you are doing.  But when your teammates happen to have more knowledge or experience than you do, it can get a little tricky, especially in the early days. It’s OK, though – it turns out that there are lots of ways to address this situation quickly and […]

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They say knowledge is power. But if that’s true, how can you be in charge when you don’t know as much as the others on your team? Lots of times you might find yourself put in charge of something you know very little about, or that your teammates know much more about than you do. […]

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Rewarding people is a great tool for your leader’s tool kit, but there are three things you should keep in mind if you want the reward you give to have the greatest impact. Transcript: You know, not too long ago, I was on a trail run through the forest, and as I was going along, […]

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How can referent power make me a better leader? Did you know that Nike pays Michael Jordan $50-60 million a year to sell shoes?  Wanna know why?  Two words:  Referent Power.  Take a likeable, successful person, have them endorse a product, and suddenly sales go up.  Why?  Because people identify with that person, maybe want […]

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Ever known someone pulled over for speeding?  Chances are they knew what the speed limit was, but thought they wouldn’t be caught.  The benefit of having traffic laws is to promote safety on the highways.  But there is a cost to enforcing the laws, just as there is always a cost when using any force.  […]

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In one of the Austin Powers movies, Dr. Evil devises one nefarious plot after another, only to have his side-kick tell him that his plans won’t work because he lacked some critical piece of information.  In frustration, he laments, “OK, people, you have to tell me these things, all right? …Throw me a bone here.  […]

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As a leader, chances are that there are people on your team who know a lot more than you about what your group does.  They have Expert power, yet you are supposed to be in charge.  Want to know how to work with these people?  Here are five things you need to know about expert […]

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Legitimate Power is the first and most commonly recognized source of power that people think of when they think about where a leader’s power comes from.  But if your leadership is based solely on the fact that you wear a special patch or there’s a certain job title on your office door, you will quickly […]

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One of the keys to effective leadership is understanding where your power to lead comes from.  Merely occupying a position with “leader” in the title doesn’t make people want to follow you.  But if you know what does get people’s attention, you will have a much better chance of leading your team to success.  By […]

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