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Help us celebrate women leaders by tagging a favorite mentor or leader who helped light your path. We'll compile their names in a future women's leadership tribute article!

Resharing this post by HBR from a few years ago since it still resonates for leadership development across all levels of leaders today. We especially relate to the last of the 6 skills listed by the authors, Ron Ashkenas and Brook Manville: "Lead yourself - know yourself - improve yourself and manage the appropriate balance in your own life." Self-awareness, self-management and personal accountability are key to every leader's success. At Bold Font, we have the tools to help your team master these leadership essentials. Find out more at www.boldfontcc.com. #leadershipatalllevels #selfmanagement #balance #personalaccountability #harvardbusinessreview

We can't overstate how much TRUST matters for thriving relationships, whether in your work or personal life. You can't demand or expect it, you must earn it, and it's not just big moments that make or break it. Little things have a hefty impact too. Our trust model decodes trust into six critical components, so you can pinpoint where to focus your efforts. Let Bold Font help you and your leadership team take an inventory of TRUST in your organization and identify how to strengthen it in any relationship. Get in touch for more info!

The Authority Gap is real for women leaders at every level. We look forward to kicking off Women's History Month next Monday by tuning in to this LinkedIn talk, given by author & journalist Mary Ann Sieghart, and hosted by Women of Influence+. #theauthoritygap #womenleaders #leadershipisforeveryone https://lnkd.in/eyG83HyG

A lot needs to happen between problem and solution, including exploration and investigation. Our larger culture often trains us to jump in immediately and begin fixing. All too often, what we focus on isn’t what needs repair, or the patch fails because we don’t have enough information. So, how do you define the problem correctly? Three simple steps: 1. Ask Questions 2. Stay Curious 3. Ask others about their questions. If you think examining a problem this way takes too much time, think of the time you’ll save when you understand the real obstacles before you start. What problem in your life calls for some curiosity and questions?

In honor of Black History Month, we ask people to reflect on the value and truth of black experiences with respect, acknowledgment, and appreciation. Listen humbly to a black-centered story. We only paint a complete, accurate picture of our shared history with multiple perspectives. Inclusion creates a better future full of real possibilities for all. For storytelling from one of our favorites, the amazing, 103-year-old Betty Reid Soskin, visit https://lnkd.in/gahaHNxs

If we spend time and energy looking at the root causes of a problem instead of just reacting to the symptoms, that builds ?? upstream focus. As leaders, we often get caught up just keeping our head above the rising water of the river of issues coming our way ?? But if we can turn and look farther upstream to see where it came from, we will often find more effective and longer-lasting ways to stem that flow. In practice, this might look like helping employees address their mindset or shift out of a stuck perspective to begin tackling the issues themselves. We might also need to self-manage and control our instinct to dive right in, trusting and empowering others to find solutions, even if it isn’t how we would do it. Taking steps like these also strengthens a culture of personal accountability and builds employee resilience. Plus, it can give you a chance to catch your breath and identify what might be a more significant, systemic issue. So let’s ask again: How strong is your upstream focus?

Repair is the process of restoring connection in a relationship after conflict or disruption. So, what makes for a successful repair? Personal accountability, or accepting responsibility for the results of your actions and behavior, comes high on the must-have list. And we don’t mean taking the easy way out and just thinking ?? about your accountability. For effective repair, you have to say it out loud ??? to the others involved, and then follow up with a behavior change. Another necessary skill is quality communication – the kind that doesn’t do more damage than good. The best place to start working on communication happens before you open your mouth, when you make sure your intent is listening to understand the other person’s experience, not to respond, argue, or have your say. How do you typically handle repair?

Acknowledgement means to notice actions or qualities of another person, and to let them know you recognize their feelings and contributions. So, when’s the best time to use acknowledgement? Truthfully, there isn't a bad time to acknowledge someone because doing it builds and sustains trust in our relationships with others (and don't forget our relationship with ourselves)! But when it's time to repair a misstep, mistake, or unintended impact of our behavior, it must be the first step in the apology process. It lets the other person know we believe them, value them, and are sincere and genuine in our efforts to get back on track. While there's much more to an authentic apology, the relationship recovery might only be as stable as a house of cards if we don't get this piece right ????????????Now is the perfect time to practice – Who will you acknowledge today?

Dishonest harmony is when a relationship appears peaceful on the surface, but underneath, it has unresolved tension ?? Avoiding conflict doesn’t improve your relationships. Full stop. When we keep the peace instead of addressing issues, we most often build resentment and damage the connection. That sets up bigger battles with higher stakes down the line. Honest conflict means engaging in dialogue about what caused the friction. But when you do, don’t let emotions take the lead. Being respectful and self-managing is the only way to go. Otherwise, it creates more problems to deal with. Where do you need to bring dishonest harmony to light?