Career Development – Dan Greer

Five Tips To Be An Authentic Leader

Dan Greer — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 20:39:29 +0000

Great leaders always lead from the inside-out. They value their character more than competency. As a matter of fact, they realize that their inner values and passion directly impact the outward results they can accomplish.

When I enlisted an accountability mentor everything changed for me. I now had someone who was willing at all times to tell me what I needed to hear not what I wanted to know. This post by Anne Phey is an excellent resource for personal improvement:

“Here are five things I have learned about becoming an authentic leader through observing leaders and, most of all, through my own journey from being a boss from hell to being a boss from heaven, as a teammate described it.”

Anyone Can Be A Better Leader

Dan Greer — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 15:18:40 +0000

The greatest leaders realize that they will have to continue to improve their leadership abilities throughout their entire life. The priority for improving your self-leadership through character development should always be at the top of the list.

However, as these uncertain times have shown, unless you continue to develop your competency skill set you will be setting yourself and your team up for failure moving forward. This HBR post is excellent:

“When you’re an individual contributor, your ability to use your technical expertise to deliver results is paramount. Once you’ve advanced into a leadership role, however, the toolkit that you relied on to deliver individual results rarely equips you to succeed through others. Beware of falling into the logical trap of “if I can do this work well, I should be able to lead a team of people who do this work.”

To Be A Great Leader, You Need The Right Mindset

Dan Greer — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 21:38:56 +0000

Experienced leaders have mastered many great skills over the years. However, all that experience can create locked in mindsets that become the lens through which we see everything. Situational leadership demands that the leader have the competency to shift their mindset based on that unique challenge or they will miss the best solution. This HBR post is a must read:

“Organizations worldwide spend roughly $356 billion on leadership development efforts. Yet, the BrandonHall Group, a human capital research and analyst firm that surveyed 329 organizations in 2013, found that 75% of the organizations rated their leadership development programs as not very effective. Why aren’t companies getting more bang for their leadership development buck? Our latest research suggests it’s likely because most leadership development efforts overlook a specific attribute that is foundational to how leaders think, learn, and behave: their mindsets.”

4 Tips For Being A Better Leader

Dan Greer — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 15:14:58 +0000

We have come to that time of the year when the culture reminds us that we need to make new commitments to change. Personal leadership development is the only way we get better, so that we can help others reach their potential. This Forbes Council post is excellent:

“As we head into 2020, I’m sure you’re all excited and optimistic about improving the results of your team and organization. However, to achieve these things, there is often one thing getting in the way: ourselves. To be a leader who drives improved performance, we have to start by reflecting on our own habits and ability to harness the necessary energy to be a good leader — one who inspires the hearts and minds of others to be their best.

A leader must consider their physical and mental health first in order to inspire all the people in their lives. So, here are my top four tips to ensure a great start to your year.”

Why Likable Leaders Seem More Effective

Dan Greer — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 18:31:17 +0000

I have valued situational leadership for at least the last 30 years. In the old days you were put into either a high results or high relationship box and your job would align with that one criteria. Situational leadership means that you need to shift styles based on the person or situation. This HBR posts brings some new research to this extremely important subject:

“In late 2007, one of us, Charn, found himself in Camp Buehring, Kuwait, preparing to fly a Kiowa Warrior helicopter over the Iraqi border. Kuwait is a stopover where U.S. soldiers finish all required training just prior to deploying into combat. The only treacherous part of Kuwait is the sand — it is deep and very fine so walking is slow and cumbersome. One morning, as he waded through the sand on the way to the airfield, he saw a sign proclaiming, “We Need Leadership, Not Likership.”

Leading With Character

Dan Greer — Sat, 19 Oct 2019 17:15:50 +0000

There are three very important C words that are at the core of great leadership today. They are character, competency and chemistry. Competency is your ability to do your job well and chemistry is your ability to work well with others. Character drives everything, because your ability to lead yourself is at the core of your effectiveness. This Forbes post is excellent:

“To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, “If you want to reveal a person’s character, give them power.” Authenticity and character require a lifelong courageous commitment to self-discovery, self-observation, and self-authorship. Because the word authenticity comes from the same Greek root as the word “author,” I’m sure no one would be surprised that authoring your authentic character is a manuscript that is never finished.”

5 Basic Principles Of Highly Effective Leadership

Dan Greer — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 19:50:53 +0000

Leadership can become incredibly complicated in the context of global disruption. However, there are some fundamental best practices that we must come back to over and over again. This Forbes Coaches Council post is an excellent reminder:

“Leadership is not easy. There are a lot of moving parts and a great deal of responsibility. Great leaders don’t just “manage,” they clarify the future for their team and customers.

To help ensure success, here are some principles all great leaders should know.

Create A Shared Vision

A leader must be clear on their vision. They need to define and clarify the direction in which they want the team to go and the process in which they will follow to achieve their vision. It is the job of the leader to communicate this vision to the team clearly and directly to make sure all parties both understand and are committed to that vision.”

Executive Presence Simplified

Dan Greer — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 20:30:20 +0000

Most leaders with a great reputation have learned to lead down very well. They inspire their teams, satisfy their customers and hit the numbers. However, their ability to lead up can become the lid on their leadership potential. When you are being considered for a major promotion, having executive presence is vital. This post by Forbes Coaches Council is awesome:

“You’re a strategic thinker with flawless execution. You exceed your targets, have a proven track record and a strong base of followers. Powerful sponsors are on your side. All the boxes are checked except “executive presence,” which is the final step between you and getting the big job or promotion.

The trouble is, executive presence is like the cryptocurrency of leadership development. We all “get it” at the high level, but when we’re asked to break it down, the wheels fall off the bus.”

Hire Leaders For What They Can Do, Not What They Have Done

Dan Greer — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 19:56:14 +0000

The most important thing in hiring a new leader is to be able to see their potential to grow and develop for the future. What they have already done is important, but in this new normal of disruption, their ability to continue to get better is far more critical. This HBR post was a major help:

“Fifty years have passed since the publication of The Peter Principle, but its rule still applies today. “In time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties,” noted Laurence J. Peter, the educator behind this famous work. His theory postulates that most competent people are promoted until they reach a position that is above their skill level, at which point they cease to grow.”

4 Levels Of Self-Development

Dan Greer — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 20:32:46 +0000

The reasons great leaders continue the process of self-development is not to put themselves into another box but to understand their internal perspectives. How you are wired personally will determine how you evaluate everything from personnel to strategic innovation. The journey to get better must never end. This post by Forbes was excellent:

“We all want to be better in everything we do, more successful, a better friend, partner, spouse, we want to win the employee of the year award, have a great work-life balance and enjoy life to the fullest. And I forgot of course that we also want to be super fit, eat a healthy diet and have this loft that overlooks the entire city. That’s about it, right?”