Year in Review: Top Posts of 2020

With the new year in full swing, it’s time to look back at the top posts of 2020. From the Eisenhower Matrix to Enneagram of Personality to being a leader in times of uncertainty, this past year offered a wide range of topics and content. So, before we completely close the books on 2020, check out your top 10 most-read articles of last year!

The Eisenhower Matrix: Important vs. Urgent

“Effective time allocation is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. However, when delegating tasks, it can be difficult to determine how much time is needed, as well as how much time should be warranted to ensure a high level of team productivity. To best understand what tasks to put at the forefront of your team’s to-do list and which projects to place on the back burner, consider utilizing a tried and true productivity tool: The Eisenhower Matrix.”

Leading by the Numbers: What Your Enneagram Says About You as a Leader

“Understanding your strengths and weaknesses as a leader is imperative to not only leading others, but also leading yourself effectively. But the make-up of great leaders doesn’t just lay in the balance of the pros and cons scale, it is the amalgamation of intricate character traits and personal tendencies that make each of us uniquely equipped to be the leaders we are called to be.

One of the best tools available to understanding our unique make up is the Enneagram of Personality. Enneagram, derived from the Greek word ennéa or nine, predicates that human personalities can fall in to one of nine separate personality types. Discovering your Enneagram type is a great way to recognize your personality tendencies and how they affect interaction with others.”

Revealing Your Blind Spot as a Leader – And How to Fix It

“Regardless of experience, skill, or tenure, every leader has at least one area in their professional scope that tends to fly under the radar. These blind spots are areas in which people cannot plainly see what’s clearly occurring around them. Whether due to a focus on other priorities or simply a shortcoming that causes a lack of self-awareness, the larger the blind spot, the more damage that can be done within an organization. Examining your blind spots can be challenging; however, it also can be the key to building sustainable success, improving employee morale, and creating a culture of communication and accountability. Check out these common blind spots that leaders face and how to adjust your vision to fix it.”

Gen Z in the Workforce: What You Need to Know About the Next Generation of Graduates

“Generation Z is one of the largest generations in the world and is set to surpass Millennials as the largest in North America. Comprised of those born between 1997 and 2012, these individuals are shaped by new factors. While Millennials came of age during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, grew up in the shadow of wars in the Middle East, and moved into adulthood during the Great Recession, Gen Z doesn’t have the same defining moments, which may cause a shift in their world view and affect their professional lives.

The slow start Millennials faced during the beginning of their careers may not be the fate of Gen Z. And while many generations adopted pragmatic and cautious business approaches due to the Great Recession, Gen Z may not adopt these characteristics. They will be shaped by their own nuances. Understanding the type of workers they will be is imperative for businesses hiring the newest members of the workforce: the graduating class of 2020.”

Culture Is King: Why Young Professionals Choose Culture Over Cash

“The age-old idiom Cash is King may be a thing of the past—at least for the younger generation of workers. Culture has now taken the reins. And in a job seekers’ economy, this group of professionals may have the lasting power to maintain this trend. In LinkedIn’s Workplace Culture report, 86% of Millennials say they would consider talking a pay cut to accept a position at a company that has a mission and values that aligns with their own. The nine out of 10 young professionals who claim this vastly out shadow the 9%, or less than 1 in 10, of Baby Boomers who would do the same. This vast change between generational workers, though gradual, has come to a crux with the younger generations in the workplace. It is forcing a change in the way companies recruit and retain workers.”

Becoming the Leader Your Team Needs in Times of Uncertainty

“How would you respond to a crippling crisis that affects your team? Who would your employees look toward to lead them through troubling times? These are questions that may have seemed hypothetical two months ago but are now real issues that business leaders across the world are facing. We are in an unprecedented situation with more uncertainty seemingly every day. But when problems arise, it is the effective leader who ascends out of the struggle, embraces the weight of the moment, and leads those around them through the uncertainty. Your team is looking for someone to stand above the storm and be the beacon they can follow. Rise up and embrace your role as the leader everyone needs.”

16 Myers-Briggs Leadership Types

“As we learned in the Leadership by the Numbers series about the Enneagram types, each person’s unique personality traits help determine the type of leader they are prone to be. Another strong tool to use to uncover leadership tendencies and understanding strengths and weaknesses associated with personality traits is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.”

First published in 1962, the indicator examines different personality preferences within four specific relational realms:

  • People and things (Extraversion) or ideas and information (Introversion)
  • Facts and reality (Sensing) or possibilities and potential (Intuition)
  • Logic and truth (Thinking) or values and relationships (Feeling)
  • A lifestyle that is well-structured (Judgment) or one that goes with the flow (Perception)

Leading Up: 3 Keys to Upward Leadership

“Effectively leading employees is paramount to creating a strong, successful culture in any organization. However, in some instances, there are blurred lines between the leaders and those being led. According to leadership expert John Maxwell “Most leaders want to lead, not be led. But most leaders also want to have value added to them. If you take the approach of wanting to add value to those above you, you have the best chance of influencing them.” That is why it is imperative to not only lead those who work for you, but also lead those who you work for. Leading Up, or upward leadership, is the key to embracing leadership development throughout your organization. Here are the top keys to upward leadership that will help your organization thrive in today’s workplace environment.”

Leading in the Gap: Understanding What the Individual Needs to be Successful

“Feeling like a lone-wolf leader can be one of the most anxiety-inducing situations in which individuals can find themselves. But that is exactly what it feels like when you’re leading in the gap. From senior leadership expectations to generational differences to communication issues, being pulled from two separate directions, while simultaneously tasked to bring two different groups together and lead with both arms stretched out can be a daunting task. Most people experience a time in their lives or professional careers when they must mediate a seemingly impossible situation. An unstoppable force meets an immovable object. However, while these situations may seem to need a one-of-a-kind leader, they simply need a person who is willing to stand up and lead in the gap.”

Creating Business Goals That Stick

“Every year when the calendar turns over from December to January, leaders across every industry and business sector turn over a new leaf on a new year. And while most embrace this opportunity as a chance to build upon the success experienced in the previous year, they also see the need to create strategic goals that create sustainability and focus within the organization. There is a place for large-scale, grandiose goal-setting that ignites your employees and rallies your company around results-driven success. However, these types of goals tend to focus on the big picture without giving employees the tangible guidance needed to reach them. This year when creating goals for your organization, it’s important to embrace both the big-picture while also creating small attainable tasks that feed into the end goal. This technique will help your organization create business goals that stick.”

, , , ,

No comments yet.

Leave a Reply