Jo McDermott

Leadership

  • Let’s Start at the Beginning–What is Leadership?

    What is Leadership? This is the most important question in any discussion on  how to build your personal leadership skills.  It is also the most difficult to answer.  Leadership is a behavior.  Leadership is a perception.  Leadership is a process.  Leadership… Continue reading

  • Leaders Are Not Followers

    I know.  I know.  There is a school of thought that leaders can/should be good followers.  I’m not saying that leaders can’t follow directions, or act appropriately within their hierarchy.  I don’t think leaders are followers.  I think leaders think… Continue reading

  • Who Are You And How Did You Get That Way?

    Understand Yourself One of the most important tasks of becoming a great leader and a successful Executive (and those things are not necessarily the same thing) is to REALLY understand yourself.  You need to understand what makes you tick–what motivates… Continue reading

  • Does Aggressive Leadership Work?

    The Rutgers Coach I had breakfast with a group of friends this morning, evenly divided male/female.  The topic of the Rutgers coach who got fired came up.  I don’t think anyone in the discussion had seen more than a brief… Continue reading

  • Lessons from Business For Life

    There are a lot of things that businesses do as a matter of course that if we did them in our personal lives, things might run more smoothly: Have a Mission What is the purpose of your life?  A business… Continue reading

  • Leaders Don’t Give Up

    Leaders Come In All Flavors I have recently had the opportunity to watch some really good leaders in action.  They were all different kinds of people.  They were different genders, ages, backgrounds and experience.  The thing that I noticed that… Continue reading

  • Should Your Subordinates Like You?

    Should you be liked OR respected? This post is a follow on to my last post, Underground Relationships.  One of my readers said that he had a boss tell him that people working for you shouldn’t like you, just respect you.  He… Continue reading

  • Undercover Relationships

    Undercover Boss One of my guilty pleasures is the TV show Undercover Boss.  I know it is probably orchestrated and you only get to see the powerful parts, but I love watching it.  I am constantly amazed at how amazed… Continue reading

  • Personal Change Management

    Personal Change Management Is More Important Than OCM “Organizational change management” is usually listed on job descriptions as a required skill for executives.  Don’t get me wrong, it is a critical job skill.  Personal change management is just much more… Continue reading

  • How Do You Lead From the Middle?

    Many people are frustrated by their managers.  We want our managers to live up to our expectations, our hopes, our projections.  We want them to be charismatic, thoughtful, insightful, inspirational, good communicators, etc., etc., etc.  Some managers are good, but… Continue reading