Leadership Development Archives - Courage Growth Partners

Dissatisfaction with “what is” & boundless optimism: PowerUP innovation leadership

One famous Shimon Peres quote - that didn't make it into his autobiography - declared that nagging dissatisfaction is Israel's greatest natural resource. People would chuckle when Shimon made this declaration, speaking about innovation leadership at an international conferences like BioMed. Anyone who's lived in Israel knows that we're a country of chronic critics. We're always looking for a better way, a better deal, [...]

By Louise Yochee Klein|2017-11-14T19:28:21-05:00November 14th, 2017|Coaching, Defensive Thinking Traps, Leadership Development|

Courage to take the high road and create value

Wow, John McCain. As expert advisors who show leaders how diverse strong interests can debate and generate the best solutions to complex challenges and drive value-creation, we’re impressed. You called out the “win/lose victory-at-all-costs” defensive thinking trap and appealed to your colleagues to use diverse perspectives and creative tension and come up with something better. You knew that some zealots [...]

By Louise Yochee Klein|2017-07-28T20:08:15-04:00July 28th, 2017|Company Culture, Defensive Thinking Traps, Leadership Development|

The fun factor: How courage boosts value-creation for innovation investors

According to a recent Financial Post report, “The most common reason people quit their US$200,000 tech jobs” isn’t because they were offered more money or better perks elsewhere. It’s because the job they are leaving isn’t fun - or because it’s unpleasant to see coworkers pushed hard, ridiculed or treated unfairly when difficulties or complications arise, as they inevitably do [...]

By Merom Klein|2017-07-17T17:25:19-04:00May 20th, 2017|Leadership Development|

Feel -> Think -> Act: Replace defensive thinking with generative dialogue

Ouch! You've probably felt the sting - when someone talks over you, dismisses your best recommendations or mutters a sarcastic quip about your accent, profession, age, professional experience or gender. Double ouch - if your antagonist has the authority to scuttle a deal you are putting together or red-line your career. At Ouch! or Double-Ouch! moments of truth, it's tempting [...]

By Merom Klein|2017-07-17T17:26:45-04:00May 2nd, 2017|Defensive Thinking Traps, Leadership Development|

Courage: Secret CEO or CSO superpower? Not like you might think

With all of the volatile complex ambiguities facing anyone in business today, no wonder it takes resilience - grit - tenacity - optimism - courage to turn adversity into opportunity and thrive. But what happens when a leader’s Courage is so overpowering that it stifles the initiative - confidence - enthusiasm of coworkers or subordinates? And inhibits rather than vitalizes innovation? According to [...]

By Merom Klein|2017-07-17T18:04:03-04:00March 25th, 2017|Company Culture, Leadership Development|

Injecting Courage into Strategy – Lift your innovation leaders above defensive traps

If you're an innovation leader who's been asked to build a strategy that can take a product, technology, alliance or service to a new level of value-creation - or transform a line of business to stay competitive in a volatile uncertain complex aggressive (VUCA) market - don't be surprised when your Courage is tested along with your intellect, creativity and [...]

By Merom Klein|2017-07-17T17:43:43-04:00March 6th, 2017|Defensive Thinking Traps, Leadership Development|

Innovation culture – are you shaping it or letting it shape you?

If you're "only" VP or Director (in American, not British, management levels) - it's tempting to look up the chain of command and ask, "Are our C-level leaders doing all they can to create an innovation culture?" And the answer, most of the time, is "No." So - what can you do if you're handed an assignment that asks you [...]

By Merom Klein|2017-07-17T17:58:40-04:00July 7th, 2016|Company Culture, Leadership Development|

PowerUP – stay out of the Theranos trap

Groupthink. Maybe we should call it "the Theranos trap" - when a high-power hard-charging visioning true-believer CEO refuses to listen to risk assessments - and assumes her best hopes are validated because high-status marquis-value celebrities who know little about the business are WOW'd by the vision. Check out this post - and the article from the Washington Post about "the [...]

By Merom Klein|2017-07-17T18:26:52-04:00June 20th, 2016|Company Culture, Defensive Thinking Traps, Leadership Development|

PowerUP performance management

How do you deliver the message, so your Next Year Performance Discussion (and Last Year Retrospective) is an ennobling, uplifting motivating call to action? The 5 PowerUP Steps give you a formula that will keep the dialogue positive even if there are though messages to take to heart. Here's how: 1. AIM high. Define success in the coming year. Show your [...]

By Merom Klein|2017-07-18T19:08:46-04:00November 8th, 2015|Company Culture, Leadership Development|

PowerUP your pitch

Are investors wow'd by your value proposition and unfair competitive advantage? "In fewer than 20 words," we ask presenters, "what's the ONE key message you want investors to remember about your pitch - that will call them to action?" Try it. See if you're clear - and if the take-away is enough of a WOW! to compete for share of [...]

By Merom Klein|2017-07-18T20:10:54-04:00May 30th, 2014|Coaching, Leadership Development|