The best boss I ever had gave me excellent advice on how to be a successful leader. She said, "Jot down everything your worst boss ever did to tick you off, now do the exact opposite. I bet it does not cost any money to do, and it falls under a leader's job description." When I conduct focus group discussions on an effective leader's qualities, I often think about that boss. Below is a summary of my most recent virtual focus group discussion on the four worst types of bosse

Last week, I presented to a professional association in North Dakota. I had previously presented to this group, so the president of the association was familiar with me and my realistic speaking style. During my introduction, he told the group to prepare themselves for a bunch of uncommon common-sense ideas. He then handed me the microphone and said, "Folks, you wait till John talks about the 'the Yellow Pad.' It's worth the price of admission alone." Over the years, many pe

Not too long ago, a student approached me after an on-site leadership session and asked me what I thought were the most important characteristics of becoming an effective leader. I thanked her for the question, then reeled off several attributes in a row, such as persistence, hard work, intelligence, analytic ability, tough-mindedness, courage, patience, anticipation, and goodwill. The last characteristic seemed to surprise her. She asked me to elaborate, so I said that, in m

Earlier this year, I was enjoying dinner at a local fast-food restaurant. As it was peak time, the lines quickly grew long, and people...

From an early age, everyone develops a need to know how we are doing. It begins with looking to our parents for approval, continues into...

At some point, most parents will hear their kids say, usually to a sibling, "You are not the boss of me!" For a split second, you might...

Being a leader means many things, but it does not mean that you must always be the smartest person in every room you walk into. For example, many years ago, in one of my early leadership positions, I started a team meeting by asking, “What am I missing on why we have been receiving customer complaints?” Some team members responded helpfully by volunteering some concerns. The majority of the team, however, remained silent, until a team member, whom we'll call "Pete," piped u

An effective leader cares as much about the people doing the job as they do about getting the job done right. Where does that come from?...