Feb. 4th Discussion Recap on Leadership & Leadership Effectiveness

Dear Business Discussion Group Attendees,

Thank you again for participating in our quarterly Business Discussion Group meeting. I enjoyed being the moderator of this interesting and diverse group!


The discussion was lively and interesting as each of you shared your experience with leadership and where you've witness leaders "who got where they are, but haven't gone any further".

Several of you cited stories of business owners who were very successful in developing their business, but their success was a stumbling block for them reaching further success due to a leadership blind side, such as, "telling the world how smart we are" or "withholding information" or "not listening" or even "an excessive need to be “me”".  These blind spots are not uncommon in successful business owners or for any of us for that matter.

So, what do we do?

Marshall Goldsmith, the author of What Got You Here Won't Get You There, talks about the "beauty of knowing what to stop".  How?  We discussed the need for self-awareness. Self-awareness about our blind spots.  We can get this self-awareness by asking for feedback from trusted partners -- our spouse, family members or colleagues.

As we get this feedback and gain awareness of our blind spots, we need to determine what to do about them.  We discussed how we need to select 1 or 2 blind spots (or habits), determine a plan and solicit help in making the needed behavioral changes.  The author further recommends finding a partner who also wants to change a habit.  Each of you make a list of 6 - 12 questions related to the habit you want to change that can be answered with a simple yes or no.  Each day you call each other, go through your list of questions and support each other through the needed changes.  Behavioral changes happen best when we need to answer and be accountable to someone else regarding the day to day footwork required.  Good luck resolving your blind spots!

In closing, the author recommends to "spend time creating the future"!  I'm excited about the future you'll be creating!!!

I look forward to seeing you all at next quarter's meeting on Thursday, April 29th and to the friend you'll be bringing!