In the May 25 issue of The Catholic Leader, we noted that if leaders are focusing primarily on expanding their influence, they are focusing on the wrong thing. Not that there’s anything wrong with wanting to be an influential leader. Indeed, Jesus wanted us to lead with influence. But the w...

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In the May 18 edition of The Catholic Leader, we discussed the importance of leaders being able to delegate – but also noted that not all tasks can or should be delegated. The story included a link to a matrix by Julie Winkle Giulioni outlining which tasks leaders should and should not delegat...

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My dad came home from work one day with a story that clearly amazed him. He told us about it at the dinner table. Dad was a pharmaceutical salesman, and on that day he had paid a visit to a physician at a residential facility for seriously mentally ill patients. At the reception desk he was clear...

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  In yet another irony of organizational behavior, as the use of job performance reviews increases, so does the research that questions their effectiveness. I’ve always been something of a skeptic. That is to say, I’ve seen well-designed processes implemented by wise and sensi...

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Many people who want to lead – that is, to influence others – want to influence as many people as possible. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, when it comes to leading like Jesus, he wanted us to influence everyone in the world. But if your focus is on expanding your i...

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  In many places – including both work environments and families -- leaders act like questions are a problem. I have one friend who grew up in a home where the children were told – seriously – to speak only when spoken to. Is it any wonder he had to work hard to be outgo...

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For 30 years I worked as head of an office for a Catholic Diocese. Many of my co-workers marveled that I had such good access and got along so well with the bishops who employed me. One of the reasons is that I really liked all three of the ones I worked for, despite the major differences in thei...

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Don’t get me wrong: I’m a big believer in delegation. Even if at first I didn’t understand the virtue of it, I quickly came to understand its necessity. My first management experience was as head of a moribund chain of community newspapers. Our company bought it with great expec...

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  At our Encounters, we like to explore the fact that people are more effective if their view of the world corresponds to reality. And the reality is that the world is not only very interactive, it is also incredibly interdependent. Thus we -- the people who inhabit this world -- are inte...

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  When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on...

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