High-Impact Leadership

How often have you been told that you’re a good listener? Do you think you’re a good listener? What is a good listener? The concept of a good listener is undervalued or at worst completely ignored in organizations.

The executive in this article’s title is me. Former executive I should say. I spent 20 years in charge of various departments, programs, work teams and budgets. For most of that time, I believed that part of being an effective leader meant being thick-skinned.

If you were in charge of recruiting Uber’s next CEO to replace embattled Travis Kalanick, what qualifications would be at the top of your list? Given the recent publicity around Uber’s abusive workplace, one can only hope the company’s next leader knows how to create a positive and safe work environment, especially for women.

Twenty years ago who would have predicted an ever-deepening relationship between the meditation and business worlds? Not me, and I suspect I’m in good company.

It seems a day hasn’t gone by lately without another prominent male getting added to the list of high-profile sexual harassers, many of whom have engaged in this abusive behavior against women for decades in the workplace with little or no accountability.

Recently, I was in a lunch discussion with a former work colleague about the qualities of an exceptional manager. I was curious about his thoughts because in my mind, he’s always been an exceptional leader, particularly in managing people. As we shared our thoughts on the topic, he had a simple reflection. He said that the problem with many managers is that they “don’t know the basics.”

The next time you head into a meeting where an important issue is about to be discussed, pay attention to the number and kinds of questions asked in the meeting. This is one good way to assess the quality, depth and effectiveness of the discussions you are having in your organization.

Recently, I was listening to a client reminisce about one of her previous companies and what a great place it was to work. For her, it boiled down to the daily trust, closeness and support she felt from her co-workers.

Overloaded: It is the “normal” state of things. Overbooked calendars. Dashing from one meeting to the next. More work than one person can handle. Leaders operate under an expectation that they should be able to handle whatever comes their way, no matter how much comes their way.

While watching all the big changes in Washington D.C. recently, I’ve been thinking quite bit about the concept of ego—what it means to have one of the healthy or unhealthy variety.