Influence Across Hierarchies

In detailing the importance of mentoring for influence rather than control, I used the term hierarchy a few times. Although I barely graduated high school, I’ve read a ton of books written by people far smarter than me. Comprehending and digesting many of those required me to research the meaning of...

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Mentor to Influence, Never Control

As we looked at how pursuing mentorship could help maximize the return on investment in relationships and how paying that forward by developing others serves as our own path to leadership, I stressed how powerful being mentored is and the true difference we can make by identifying those around us th...

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Earning Trust (and Influence) with Humility

With the limits of a title fresh in mind, let’s look at why it’s crucial that we EARN trust - and thereby, influence - so we have a legitimate shot at achieving all we need to as leaders. Spoiler alert: the humility we looked at previously is key! Before we do, though, it’s important that we each re...

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The Myth of the Self-Made Leader and the Power of Humility

We started down this path with an emphasis on the reality that there is no such thing as a self-made leader. For someone like me with a highly DRIVEN behavioral style, it would be nearly impossible to get much value from anything resembling a candid conversation with someone who believes they’ve bec...

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Follow the Leader...?

Having just worked through the importance of responsiveness, especially when it comes to showing we value the teams we lead and maintain the influence we’ve worked to earn with the folks on those teams, I want to challenge you to really think into this question: Why is it important to lead by exampl...

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