Taarradhin

My favorite short reads from July:

The Argument Against 5-Year-Plans: You Can’t Stay Adaptable Without Room to Change

I recently went through an exercise where I was to take a moment and picture my future in 6 month, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years and 10 years. The first two were easy; I know what my goals are and picturing my future self achieving those isn’t much of a stretch. However, the last two really challenged me, I have no idea where I even want to be in 5 years much less 10 and aside from following the logical progressions from the first three, I had nothing. After reading this, I decided to look at it a different way and imagine what crossroads might I face and what choices may I have to make – nothing concrete but simply pondering some of the possibilities and using those as my ‘plan’.

Assessment: What’s Your Leadership Style

I love these assessments from Harvard Business Review, they are also quick to do and have very succinct answers. An awesome mid morning brain break. This one is a self assessment, you pick which two categories fit you best and you get some tips on how you’ll work best and what challenges you might face.

Stop Worrying About How Much You Matter

How common is this struggle? At least once a week I have a conversation with a coworker that’s related to how they felt devalued or are having an issue staying relevant and I have to admit I’ve been there more than a few times myself. One thing I realized a few years back is that I am of no value at all if I’m stressed out so I’ve chosen to do my best for my customers and team and not worry about the perception within the company of my worth. This one will give you some good reason why.

The Counterintuitive Art of Leading by Letting Go

One caveat to this one… Not everyone you lead appreciates being empowered. The best thing I found in this article was the leadership ladder, it’s helped me frame questions for my team and helped me gage where they are. As much as I don’t like stress, I really don’t like stressing other people out.