Leadership Caffeine

• CEO Coach Todd Ordal offers: Congratulations, You're a Purple Buffalo. Now, Let's Have a Real Conversation. Todd makes his usual great point with a punch: "If you're a leader and haven't had someone assertively and deeply question you recently, you're on the road to isolation and failure."?
• This is fun and helpful! What Romantic Comedies Can Teach Us About Communication, by Eli J. Finkel via Kellogg Insight. OK, confession time. My wife and I rewatch Sweet Home Alabama a couple of times per year. It's our go-to winter or rainy night at-home date movie!??
• From former USAF A-10 pilot Kim "KC" Campbell: a fabulous, quick read on planning for and thinking through potentially difficult situations?via LinkedIn.?This advice is golden for all of us, even if we're not at risk of having to eject from our plane over enemy territory. Haven't met Kim yet? Check out my interview with her at the launch of her excellent book. Flying in the Face of Fear.?
• From strategy expert Stephen Lynch: Deal with the Monkey First.?One of my favorite quotes this week: "The monkey is the bottleneck. The monkey is the hard problem. Nothing else matters until you solve the monkey problem." Now, where is that darned monkey??
• My favorite 49-second video with a great tip for succeeding in stressful situations is:?Clarity is Strategic—Slow Down to See Clearly?from Tanya Anne Chavez (excerpted from her video interview with Vanessa De Jesus Guzman.?Check out the full interview and additional tips here.?

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Most Read in the Last Issue: How to Tame the Mismanaged Mind (series) by Marlene Chism.?

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New?from Art: Making the Career Move to Manager (or not). Managing gets a bad rap in many environments...often deservedly so. Yet, in the right environment, this is a potentially great career move with many long-term dividends.?

ICYMI:?Five Big Strategy Misfires of Management Teams—How to Avoid Them. I see these mistakes all too often. They're costly and they're preventable. Tips to help.??

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Book I'm Reading: Smart Brevity—The Power of Saying More with Less.

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