Author Archives: Daniel

Leadership in Action Series: Part 11

Dealing with Aggressive Leaders -- One Dirty Look at a Time By Daniel Robin “If you aren’t going to finish the project, just tell me so I can find someone who will!” The edge in Tony’s voice has a chilling effect on the room. Paula indicates that the project is coming along just fine – under the circumstances – and gives Tony a look that suggests that a staff meeting is not the Continue Reading ...

Leadership in Action Series: Part 10

Four Steps to Handling Aggressive Impulses By Daniel Robin This article series outlines a process for dealing with hostile or aggressive impulses in yourself and others while staying true to the good intentions they rode in on. See the prior two articles on this topic, the broader series Action in Leadership or our coursework at ABetterWorkplace.com/leadership. Some leaders get heavy-handed Continue Reading ...

Leadership in Action Series: Part 9

Speaking Up About Put-Downs By Daniel Robin This article series outlines several tools for dealing with patterns of aggressiveness. Assertive leaders are clear about what they want, listen actively, make requests, set clean boundaries, and handle differences through skillful negotiation. Of course, depending on the “personality” involved, it might be best to ask for help or get out of their Continue Reading ...

Leadership in Action Series: Part 8

Healthy Assertiveness – Pushy or Passionate? By Daniel Robin Leadership that’s born of passion – blending skill and intensity with well-orchestrated flurries of activity – can be inspiring to others as a sign of commitment and strength. But when that leadership is tinged with hostility, becomes passive-aggressive, or relies on heavy-handedness … there’s a price. What was a positive Continue Reading ...

Leadership in Action Series: Part 7

Do You Take Your Humor Seriously? By Daniel Robin Part 1: Measuring Mirth Business people are obsessed with measurement. Measurement creates the illusion of control. Control, as we all know, is a popular substitute for power. Power, as any fool could tell you, is where all the fun is. (With power you get to do stuff nobody else can.) Therefore, if you want to have fun, measure things. In Continue Reading ...

Leadership in Action Series: Part 6

Knowing When to Get Out of the Way By Daniel Robin The prior article points to the advantages of servant leadership, and the downsides of heroics (see Leadership in Action: Part 5). There will be times when serving others means backing off. Gone is the expectation that people cannot function without a being told what to do. No longer do smart leaders stand on the sidelines encouraging performance, Continue Reading ...

Leadership in Action Series: Part 5

The Nerve to Serve By Daniel Robin This article calls into question some of the basic assumptions of conventional leadership: the myths that the hero leader is compatible with the modern workplace, that leaders should motivate and empower others, and that leaders are born, not made. These assumptions are simply mistakes – not in the sense that they are inconsistent with “truth” or reality Continue Reading ...

Leadership in Action Series: Part 4

Fix Systems, Not People By Daniel Robin When problems arise, how you respond makes a world of difference. If I automatically see a breakdown as somebody’s fault (even if is) this frame or way of thinking may make for a bumpy road to resolution. Even though it’s much more fun to blame people, pin them down, and make them admit their mistakes, that approach isn’t likely to lead to a fast Continue Reading ...

Leadership in Action Series: Part 3

False Responsibility and Its Remedies By Daniel Robin This installment looks at the pattern of "false responsibility" – when we take charge of things that don’t belong to us, such as other people’s feelings, mistaken assumptions about who is responsible for shared outcomes, or when circumstances change but we don’t. Most adults have a natural ability to decide what’s in and what’s Continue Reading ...

Leadership in Action Series: Part 2

The Quest for Making High-Quality Mistakes By Daniel Robin A friend recently reminded me that it isn’t our mistakes that define our character, pilule it’s what we do in response to them that matters. A so-called "high-quality" mistake is one that leads to new awareness, ampoule an important discovery, or increased resolve to do better from this moment forward. Take no prisoners on island "oops, Continue Reading ...

Leadership in Action Series: Part 1

Fail Often to Succeed Sooner By Daniel Robin "The Mistakes are all there, waiting to be made." - S. A. Tartakower, Russian Chess Master, before a game This is the first installment of a multi-part series on dynamic leadership at work – each article brings you powerful strategies for leading change, reaching toward peak performance, building a better workplace. Join me now as we spy on Bob, the Continue Reading ...

Closing the Gap between Management and Worker through Coaching

By Daniel Robin There is an age-old gap between management and those managed. Employees often suspect management’s motives and resent having authority imposed on them. Simultaneously, managers are … only human. Some try to delegate responsibility without authority (let go into structure and it works better). Others resist change or get side-tracked by office politics and unintentionally take Continue Reading ...