Weekly Round-Up: Woman Leader’s Secret Weapon, Leaders’ Unique Energy Source, Everyone Fails, Productive Employee Formula, & Skills for the Future

Welcome to my weekly round-up of recent top leadership and communication blog posts. As many of you know, each week I read and tweet several great articles and on Fridays, I pull some of my favorites together here on my blog.

This week you’ll read articles on how emotional intelligence is a woman leader’s secret weapon, tapping into a leader’s unique energy source, what you need to know if you tried and failed, why employees at Apple and Google are more productive, and skills for the future—surprise yourself.

These articles will provide you with tips, strategies and thought-starters from many of the smart folks in my network. So whether you’re a new leader or an industry veteran there’ll be something here for you.

• How Emotional Intelligence Is A Woman Leader’s Secret Weapon by LaRae Quy (@LaRaeQuy)

“FBI counterintelligence agents like myself rely heavily upon emotional intelligence. It helps us to be successful in identifying foreign spies so we can recruit them to work for the U.S. government. Emotional intelligence is your ability to 1) identify and manage your own emotions; 2) pick up on the emotions of others and manage them; and 3) in so doing, build trust and grow influence…”

• Leaders: Tap into Your Unique Energy Source by Mary Ellen Sailer (@LeaderChat), Blanchard LeaderChat

“Leaders work with coaches to take purposeful action in the advancement of their goals and in the interest of their organizations. But how does this really occur? Certainly not with the coach standing there, bullhorn in hand, yelling at the leader to stay on task. Instead, the coach listens carefully to what really matters to the leader and helps the leader connect the meaning to the activity…”

• Failure Hurts. What You Need to Know if You Tried and Failed by Alli Polin (@AlliPolin), Break the Frame 

“I sat down to write about getting unstuck, but there’s one thing that doesn’t get enough attention…What happens when you get unstuck, do that thing, and fail? Failure hurts no matter how strong you are. How are you changed? There are some people who think of it like skydiving (like it’s a good thing) and love it. They’re energized by going for it and addicted to trying again and again. Each loss is a stepping stone…”

• Why Employees At Apple And Google Are More Productive by Stephanie Vozza (@StephanieVozza via @FastCompany), Fast Company 

“Companies like Apple, Netflix, Google, and Dell are 40% more productive than the average company, according to research from the leadership consulting firm Bain & Company. You might think that it’s because these companies attract top-tier employees–high performers who are naturally gifted at productivity–but that’s not the case, says Bain & Company partner Michael Mankins...”

• Skills for the Future: Break Patterns and Surprise Yourself, says Harvard’s Michael Puett by Hanneke Siebelink (@Europewatcher via @LeadershipWatch), LeadershipWatch 

“The best thing about listening to someone who challenges your day-to-day assumptions is that you learn something about yourself. Michael Puett, Harvard’s tall and boyish-looking expert on ancient China, certainly made me think when he explained how we are ruled by patterns, and how we can live better lives if we learn to break those patterns…”

What were some of the top leadership articles you read this week?

—David Grossman