by Michael Holland - As a leader, how will you know if you are losing your influence? How will you know if you've "jumped the shark"? From the Urban Dictionary, the phrase "jumped the shark" is defined as: “the moment when something that was once great has reached a point where it will now decline [...]
By Michael Holland - “Hi I’m Mike, and I’m a recovering bad leader.” There was a time – or rather a season – in my life in which I led in ways that caused some collateral damage. I drove hard for objectives using sheer will to drive teams forward. While “I” may have perceived we [...]
by Michael Holland - Do you have legitimate authority? What a great question. Malcolm Gladwell in his intriguing book David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, brings us perspective that we should know—or may already know—but that we often overlook. This perspective is contained in a principle of legitimacy and helps us [...]
By Michael Holland - As a leader, how do you analyze recent events, interactions, situations, encounters? Do you have a critical eye seeking intelligence regarding how you have behaved and how your behavior impacted others? Looking closely at what we haven't completed or improved or how we behaved or could've behaved is a good habit. Deciding where [...]
By Michael Holland - Adolf Hitler has a legacy. He left a rippling wake from his leadership. As soon as you saw that name you had an immediate reaction to the legacy he has left and understandably a very negative reaction. Now consider Abraham Lincoln who also has a legacy. He left a rippling wake [...]
By Michael Holland - A seasoned Senior Vice President appears to have it all together. He glides through the office with ease, almost strutting with an aura of success and accomplishment. He drives projects to conclusion, he musters employees and whole departments to give more and more work effort. He leaves late in the evening, [...]
by Michael Holland - Leaders should know that Human Resources professionals are there to help them. Though it might not look that way at all times, HR knows that the relative strength of their leaders corresponds directly to the number of people problems they will or won’t have. One of the primary functions of HR [...]
By Michael Holland - Looking back over the last three months, you can point to four specific times when you team was fully engaged, catching the perfect wave of energized synergy. The team was so productive during those times that the whole quarter was successful because of those highly effective windows. These are bright spots. [...]
by Michael Holland - What happens when you read Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, a book about President Lincoln’s leadership of his purposefully diverse cabinet, followed by C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, a transcription of radio shows communicating the common and basics beliefs of Christianity? Collisions in the mind that stretch the [...]
By Michael Holland - Having worked with hundreds and hundreds of leaders, I find so many lack focus on working to become effective at leading well. The key is micro-behaviors. Those little things that we do that have longer term ripple impacts. The gap for most leaders comes from not intentionally creating habits that enable healthy micro-behaviors [...]
