Remember, all humans are wired with these tendencies; yes, that includes you and me! You need to rise above these tendencies and LEAD!

In evaluating you as the leader of your organization, one of the aspects your boss should be looking for is whether you are coming up with fresh ideas that solve problems and/or take advantage of opportunities. But often times when you push new ideas, you get the feeling you are making your boss very uncomfortable. In fact it may feel like you are risking your reputation and making a dumb career move.

Consensus is very destructive when you are trying to drive change or innovate. Why? Change and innovation require that things be done differently. If all parties that are impacted must agree, then you get a Ford Fusion without the goodies that the competitors have. Change and innovation will cause some discomfort to the protectors of the status quo. Strong leaders realize that is OK; in fact it comes with the territory!

Suppose you are in a manager’s job for a while and getting comfortable with the routine. There are natural human instincts that lead you to be protective of your role. Typically the last thing on your priority list is to train your successor to the point of being fully capable of taking your job. In [...]

Too many HR organizations simply put their energy into executing the existing, weak performance appraisal and compensation procedures, hiring hordes of generalists that work primarily at the lower levels, running the existing benefits programs, and that’s about it. They don’t confront and convince the top management to own and drive the development and deployment of outstanding talent.

Courageous leaders staff key positions with top talent. But selecting top talent is difficult.

Don’t miss my guest column, “Gutsy Leaders Know: Top Talent is Key,” to be posted on the The ThoughtLeaders Blog this Wednesday (3/9) at 1:30 pm (EST).

In the 1990’s when I was at Microsoft working for Bill Gates, I was totally impressed with how he made sure people had no hesitancy facing and tackling reality. In every business review with Bill, your first PowerPoint slide had to list the Lowlights: not the Highlights, the Lowlights.