The Subordinate Partner Speaks Out on Partnership

This belongs to the general series on the incredible power of partnership — of “paired leadership.”  And this is the last for now in the mini-series on “leading a subordinate to partnership.” The first 4 are all available at danmulhern.com/category/reading-for-leading.  I have been writing about helping lead a subordinate to become a partner. And last … Continued

Why We’re Scared to Lead

I think she almost laughed at me. Kind of blurted an involuntary guffaw. But then my Teaching Assistant followed up her involuntary non-verbal display with sincere verbal reassurance. We were recapping the last 3 classes, all of which were led by students themselves. We were in strong agreement that the classes had gone well (as … Continued

My Son, My Fear, My Friend

  Friends, Almost every leader’s biggest challenge is unleashing initiative.  If it’s not getting people to initiate and generate, then it’s getting people to initiate work with others.  Parents, bosses, presidents, principals? They’re all trying to light fires and increase people’s capacity to work together and work out problems. What’s THE biggest obstacle to people … Continued

What They Forgot to Tell Bosses but Bosses Need to Know

I led a workshop last week in San Francisco for the Institute for Management Studies, and I was reminded again about how bosses can make their people miserable. This is about how not to do that! Among the 40 or so participants there were about six ghosts, managers the participants had left behind at their workplaces, … Continued

How You COULD Make This Week Easy

This semester has been a hard one.  Challenging client work.  Digging the foundation for a book – and that idea-earth feels like hard clay for my mental shovel. Three classes – and one especially challenging.  Sometimes the coach needs a coach, so I’ve been working with a guy named Mark, and we were discussing how hard … Continued

What to do if They don’t listen to you

Yesterday, I went for a run with Hannah, a former student and TA of mine. She’s now doing amazing work at an excellent organization. She shared some reflections on how she felt the organization could improve. I shared with her that I thought her reflections made a lot of sense, told her how darned smart … Continued

How Parents and Bosses Need the Same Lesson.

On Sunday, Jennifer and I watched the last of our three children cross the high school stage. Being a parent is the quintessential form of hierachical leadership. No new employee comes to work, no student enters a classroom,  as full of promise and as completely dependent as a baby enters a family. In a world that … Continued

Not You

Here’s a simple thought — maybe for the week. Maybe for the day.  Maybe for just now: What if you forget about everything YOU have to do this week? Forget about your top 3 goals (What, you don’t write your top 3 goals every week?). Forget about the change you want to effect. Forget about … Continued

How to Grow Your Leadership Mindset

Carol Dweck a long-time Stanford psychologist burst onto the scene with Mindset: The New Psychology of Success at the end of 2007.  It’s been around for a long while, it will be around for a much longer while, and I finally got around to reading it. I think it is THE simplest yet possibly THE … Continued

Two Things to Make Your Goals Work For You

Last week, I suggested that you take YOUR route to annual goal-setting. Maybe your verb is to “hope,” or “intend” or a “commit” to those goals.  Robert Fritz, whose work I greatly admire,* balked at my offering of verbs. He argued that I missed the most important verb, to CHOOSE your goals.  And he offered … Continued

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