Final Blog Post - The Five Most Important Beliefs for #Management and #Leadership

This will be the last blog post I do for the foreseeable future. I will not bore you here with the “why," but if you are interested I have included a bit more about my reasons at the bottom of this post.

I have distilled the essence of great leadership and management into five beliefs. Take on and act based on these beliefs and you will lead well. I promise! I have been observing and learning from the best leaders for 30 years, have held leadership positions for nearly 25 years and have written about management and leadership for 15 years. I have seen great leaders transform organizations and I have seen terrible leaders suck the life out of workplaces. I know you want to be transformative!

These five beliefs reside deep inside the very best leaders I have had the pleasure to work with over the years.

Five Beliefs at the Core of Great Leadership

1. We are highly talented and highly flawed. This belief should lead to two actions – greatness and tolerance. 1) You are amazing – so go BE amazing. Your organization needs that and you need it (don't be a Greyhound who never runs). 2) Chill out and be tolerant. You drive half the people around you a little nutty and others will irk you on occasion. Never let personality or style get in the way of working well with others. I am not suggesting you put up with abuse – but most of what irks us is just a clash in style.

2. Management is a social act – it occurs in conversation. Being able to cultivate and catalyze productive and progressive conversations is your currency for getting things done. If you are lacking progress, get people talking.

3. There is big power in small actions. Generating breakthroughs starts with tiny actions that reverberate, build, and then go BAM!! Almost every great outcome started with a tiny act. Take small actions every day in the service of your goals. You will make things happen. For more on this, see my post about the Butterfly Effect here.

4. Calm and persistent is the way to go. No one wants to follow a leader who runs around like his/her hair is on fire. No one wants to follow someone who does not follow through. Be strong, but don’t generate negative drama. Be like a redwood tree – strong, flexible, and a positive force.

5. Leading people is a privilege. You affect people’s lives every day – positively or negatively. Your actions can help people do their best work or send them to drink due to stress and boredom. Leading people is an awesome opportunity – act like you have won the job lottery every day (you have). Go forth and conquer with confidence and grace.

These five beliefs will help you with all the opportunities and challenges you face as a leader. These beliefs are the most important for us to take on and model, in my humble opinion. It all starts here.

Thank you for being a part of the Management Craft community. It is because of you, my dear readers, that being the voice of Management Craft has been a great experience.

If you would like to refer back to the very best posts from the blog, or share them with others, please consider picking up a copy of my “best of” book called, Never Ending New Beginnings. You can find it here and I really appreciate your support. This book brings together my best business writing.

Cheers and happy new year! Go 2013 and beyond!

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Why I am retiring the blog:

If you have been reading this blog for some time, you know I have incurable medullary thyroid cancer. Since my diagnosis and initial surgery, I have changed many things about the way I live and how I spend time. Top on my priority list was to stop the road warrior life of a global consultant and to focus more on health and balance. I loved the work but hated the stressful travel and the loss of leisure time.

I have returned to an internal organization development role for a large organization here in Houston. I get to do interesting work and do not have to travel. It’s just what I need. I will still do the occasional conference speech but will not be consulting any longer. And because I have a “real job” now, I am much more choosy about how I spend my nights and weekends.

Blogging about management is just not making it to the top of my list. I have not been giving this blog the attention any blog deserves.

I feel fine and am living an active life, but I have this “stuff” inside of me that could make things real crummy in the future. Hopefully not too soon, but there is no way of knowing and so in the mean time I am going to live like my life depends on it – diet, exercise, relaxation and enjoying the present. I get scanned at MD Anderson every few months to monitor what's going on with the cancer. Talk about test anxiety! :-)

Let’s stay in touch through email and Facebook, OK? I don’t want to say goodbye to you all, I just don’t want to feel obligated to keep up this blog.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your interest in my work through the years.

Comments

[Christina Lattimer]

I haven't followed your blog for long, but I liked your posts enough to include them in my RSS feed. Only a select few get through! I am sorry but I don't know your story, but reading through your reasons for discontinuing your blog prompted me to comment.

I just wanted to wish you well for the future, I think it's a definitive moment when you really get your priorities right, and like most of us, it's often in the face of great adversity that we do so.

I always feel helpless for others when life throws tragic and unexpected spears. At the risk of being idealistic, I would urge you to bring all of your knowledge of leadership and keep open to all possibilities, no matter how hard that may sound.

My very best prayers and wishes to you.

Best

Christina

[David Zinger]

Lisa:
Thank you for so very much. I love that you live your values and priorities and have loved all your contributions. I really like this last post. Thank you David

[Gerald Verno]

I was fortunate enough to chat with you, have you work with me on a project, and review one of your books. You are an amazing person!! I wish you all the best and you know you have nothing but great karma coming your way!!

[lisa haneberg]

Thanks for the support and kind words - it means a lot! I have always felt that it is a privilege to earn a spot in anyone's regular reading list. Time is so precious and it is a gift when people read my work. Thanks so much.

[Rich Stone]

Lisa - thanks for sharing in this way for so very long. I have been repeatedly blessed by your insight. I wish you only good things and the freedom to continue to be yourself wherever you land.

Rich

[lisa haneberg]

Thanks, Rich, you have been a part of this blog for many years, thanks so much.

[Jemma Taylor]

I really like this article; straight to the point and the truth staring right at your face!

[Jemma Taylor]

I really like this article; straight to the point and the truth staring right at your face!

[Julie Robert]

I find your blog recently and like your post very much. I have always learned new thing from your experience and knowledge which you show in your posts but now I will miss this.
Anyways wish you all the best in your life.

[Rosa Say]

Lisa, you have continuously inspired me over the years, with your writing, your management mana'o, and with your personal choices most of all. Mahalo nui loa for giving us such a strong, and clear example. I am thrilled to know about this 2013 choice of yours - malama pono.

Only you could have condensed all the wisdoms of Management Craft into such a succinct posting! This is my favorite point of the 5:

2. Management is a social act – it occurs in conversation.

Yes!

[Mary Jo Asmus]

Lisa,

I have admired your work from afar for quite some time now.

While I am sorry to see your blog not make the top priority cut in your life, I understand why it didn't and applaud your setting of boundaries that make sense for you. Thank you for all you've done to advance the art and science of management.

I wish you the best in your future journey.

[Kimone@equifaxscorepower]

I am sorry to hear of your illness. When you said you were making the last blog post I thought you probably had a busier schedule or something like that.

I know that while I and others visit, we will be enriched by what we find here. I hope that the knowledge you have shared will edify people in leadership at all levels- whether they are young or old.

All the best for the future.

[lisa haneberg]

Rosa, wow we go back in the blogging world, eh? Thanks so much for your kind words and for friendship through the years.

[lisa haneberg]

Mary Jo - Thanks for your thoughts and I have enjoyed reading your work!

[lisa haneberg]

Kimone and Julie - thanks for reading and for your kind thoughts!