In recent years, career development has become a
fairly narrow niche as a major reading target. Thus, there are endless books on leadership,
collaboration, power and influence, thinking and selling. Half
of them are rather ho-hum. But once in a while I read a blog posting that comes up with a unique, highly relevant idea. An obvious need, I’ve decided to remedy this
problem by occasionally pointing to a few. Here are five intriguing posts.
Louise Altman in the Intentional Workplace, on Curiosity. As Altman writes, curiosity has become a highly valued core strength. Science is discovering that curiosity turns on the brain and leads to creativity and innovation. The brain likes curiosity. It likes stimulation, variety and the new. What the elders of my childhood didn’t know was just how much brains love to learn.
Tom Fox in the Washington Post on Why Presidents need to be exploiters. An unusual approach to leadership, there are plenty of business situations in which the model works. It reminds me of Rahm Emanuel's comment to never let a good crisis go to waste.
Andreas Dudàs in TalentZoo on How to become a successful leader. Although the recommendations are fairly generic, there's a useful statistical reminder of where the current workforce finds itself. Dudas argues for authenticity, but I wish he'd spell out the negatives to that competency. The naivete on the subject needs some work. Authenticity is very useful, but it's also a way to wreack havoc on your career.
Charalambos Vlachoutsicos in Harvard Business Review Blogs on The high cost of suspicion. A thoughtful comment on working outside the comfort zone, the blogger illustrates his point by sharing an experience that reflects a common dynamic among managers operating outside their comfort zone. In an effort to reduce their perceived risk they make decisions that they are not really competent to make. . . .
Dan Erwin in my own site on a Not-so-obvious-listening skill: the minimal encourager. I remain in a state of shock on the power of this blog post, still running with more than 25,000 hits. It's one way of dissecting listening, but it focuses on the use of active nonverbals. If you can explain why this is so popular, I'd love to hear your response.
Flickr photo: Presidio grad school