Can business leaders learn anything useful from a successful person's list of success tips? I certainly don't think that trying to apply such tips will enable a leader to achieve the same level of success. That's because a successful person has skills that society values. And you may simply lack that same level of talent. But it's possible that following some of their tips could make your life better

It used to be that technical proficiency was the main quality that was desired when it came to leadership. And while technical proficiency is important, it is now considered an entry level skill that is necessary to get your foot in the door. Besides, many jobs are now so complex that we need to rely on a team of competent people.

Managers are really having a moment. Between the Great Resignation, a lingering pandemic, employees demanding flexibility, skyrocketing mental health challenges, a looming recession, and general uncertainty, more and more employees are turning to their direct supervisors for direction and support. Unfortunately, managers aren’t always prepared to meet their moment because they’re woefully under-trained and overworked while tasked with leading their teams during heightened turbulence. To retain your managers — and the employees who report to them — you need to invest in their development.

Inspiration. Collaboration. Authenticity. Engagement and empowerment. It's easy to name some of the qualities of a great leader. Still: Since most great leaders are made, not born, it's a lot harder to possess those qualities when you have little or no leadership experience.

A client of Ron’s, “Kelsey,” a division general manager of a large food manufacturer, recently told him, “Everyone on my team seems tired…all the time. I ask them how they’re doing, and they tell me ‘fine.’ If someone asks for time off, I say yes. They get the work done, but it seems like they’re in a fog. I don’t know what to do.”

We spend a lot of energy looking for shortcuts to save time, and sure, those shortcuts add up. But when I look back, my biggest time regrets aren’t spending too much time on social media or mismanaging my daily tasks. Those are bad habits, but there are bigger, more systematic time wasters that have really gotten in the way. Fixing these will free up a massive amount of time and energy.

Winston says there ought to be a similar protection for students–and I might add, that protection should be provided for entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners, too. Namely, that no one should go through life without being armed with the ability to properly communicate.

The research is clear: Employee recognition—when done well—has huge payoffs. According to the data we collect on leaders across industries, every measure of morale, productivity, performance, customer satisfaction, and employee retention soars when managers regularly provide recognition

Having to work with frustrating people is simply part of life. You can’t escape them. But you also don’t have to grin and bear the stress as if you have no choice. While researching for my new book, “Getting Along,” I identified eight types of difficult people.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is often regarded as the distinguishing factor in leading to success. This is true across different domains including all types of business, leadership, politics, education, science, and even family and social life.

If you’re seeking to become a better version of yourself, there are plenty of people and organizations willing to offer (or sell) a helping hand. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that there are helpers. We need their lived experiences and expertise to help guide and direct us and their frameworks help make sense of our complex lives.

According to research, when people adopt a self-distanced perspective while discussing a difficult event, they make better sense of their reactions, experience less emotional distress, and display fewer physiological signs of stress. In the long term, they also experience reduced reactivity when remembering the same problematic event weeks or months later, and they are less vulnerable to recurring thoughts (or rumination).

You’re guaranteed to make a few mistakes in your work life. Some of those mistakes are going to be big ones. You may do something that loses a client, puts a project behind schedule, angers a colleague, or costs your company money.

In Lead to Win, Carla Harris delivers a guidebook for modern leaders to be influential in any environment, especially this one. She’s widely known as a public speaker hired by companies like Amazon to motivate their organizations. During our interview she was a force of nature, leaning in to every question with a level of authenticity that was palpable.

It’s clear that workplace fatigue has been exacerbated by rising living costs and the ongoing energy crisis. On top of this, we’re now witnessing “quiet quitting,” a new viral trend in which employees “quietly” refuse to go above and beyond at work. Looking beyond The Great Resignation, we’re entering an era of “The Great Exhaustion” — with many British companies currently struggling to recruit and retain talent as a result.

It is gratifying to witness practical new research on a topic that has been around for centuries. Feedback is a topic one can constantly research, analyze, and implement new practices. Some of these new insights on feedback run contrary to prevailing beliefs. Others challenge bedrock assumptions that have grown up with the modern conceptions of organizations.

I recently moved to a new apartment, an occasion that calls for celebration—preferably outdoors in my brand-new backyard. But I didn’t expect how much being in a different space would disrupt my sense of safety. So I worried—about my cat escaping out the front door, how to protect my family from COVID, raccoon-transmitted diseases, and more.

One of the most telling signs that the U.S. is experiencing a burnout crisis may be the fact that Google searches for “burnout symptoms” hit an all-time high in May 2022, as we weathered the third year of the pandemic while facing the prospect of a faltering economy.

Strategy should be a creative exercise but companies frequently end up with plans that look very much like their previous ones. Strategy expert Graham Kenny describes a three step process for avoiding this trap: 1) open your mind to ideas from external stakeholders, 2) take a cold, hard look at where your performance is failing, and 3) study companies in other industries that have solved these problems.

We’ve all wished for more willpower sometimes. If only we had more self-control, grit, or the ability to delay gratification, we would be more persistent in pursuing our goals.

But there’s a problem with this scenario: Willpower doesn’t usually work. Willpower alone can’t ensure that you’ll delay gratification or resist temptation to achieve your long-term goals. It will fail, and probably just when you need it most.