Zach on Leadership

There are two questions that every leader must continually answer: Where are we going and what’s next? Answering these two questions every day is one of the most important things I can do. While the questions are simple, the answers are never easy. Additionally, the work is never done. These questions need to be re-asked and re-answered regularly. Not because our direction is erratic, but because our world changes constantly, and so does our context. In this article, I’ll break…

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Recently, one of my LinkedIn followers, Jen Musbach, told me that one of the most significant things she appreciates about the Zach on Leadership blog is my consistency. Every Friday, my readers can count on a new blog article and podcast episode. While I am indeed intentional about consistency, I hadn’t thoroughly considered how rare and how important this is. Furthermore, for those of us who call ourselves leaders, there is an inherent lesson here for all of us, whether…

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Once upon a time, Minnesota was known for bad weather and more than our fair share of lakes. For the past 11 months, we’ve become world-renown as one of the most divisive places on the planet. 11 months ago, following the tragic death of George Floyd, I wrote a series of articles about my observations and how these events influenced my leadership philosophy. You can read them here, here, and here. Now, this week, a new tragedy occurred. This one,…

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Many leaders have an awkward relationship with their job titles. Titles drive us to achieve. I distinctly remember the moments I was given the title of senior engineer, then manager, then director, then vice president. Those were big moments that simultaneously made me proud and humble. I also lead outside of my corporation. At my church, I was elected to an elder position, and then subsequently, board chair. When people address me by my formal title, I often do a…

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It is a standard business practice to set an Out of Office auto-response on your email when you will be unreachable. That way, when people reach out, you can set their expectations and redirect them, so they won’t think you are just ignoring their message. This is a good courtesy and almost everyone does it. If you’ve forgotten what that feature even is, then it’s probably been too long since you’ve had a break. Read my article on the importance…

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I very well may be one of the most prospected people on the planet. I don’t have any data to back that up, so I’ll just call it a hunch. I’m a senior technology leader at a large corporation. I have a very active LinkedIn presence. Those two facts must automatically stuff me into every technology salesperson’s leads database. I don’t regret my role or my social media engagement, so I accept that this simply comes with the territory. The…

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I’ve made an observation this week that I’d like to share. I’ve observed this in myself and I’ve observed it in others. I have a theory that I’d like to propose. I’m interested to know if you think it’s true. Motivation I’ve studied the science of motivation. I’ve written about it before on this blog several times. I fundamentally believe that people are motivated intrinsically more than extrinsically. Rewards and punishment (often called carrots and sticks) don’t do much in…

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“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” I’m sure you’ve heard that cliché before. There is simplicity in its truth. Yet somehow, many of us find implementing it elusive. It turns out, being yourself isn’t as easy as it sounds. In this article we will figure out why this is and what we can do about it. Discontentment I’d like to start out with a story. About six years ago, I was working for a different company. I was getting…

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Many of us have been working remotely for nearly a year. I’ve written often over the past year on various stages of adaptation and adjustment. Once upon a time, we all thought this situation would be temporary. Now, a year hence, some real fatigue has set in. In this article, I’ll offer my personal reflection on video conference fatigue and what to do about it. Exhaustion Allow me to state the obvious: hours upon hours of video conferencing is exhausting….

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As an organizational leader, I spend most of my time thinking about developing people and teams. It’s what I do. In this article, I’d like to tackle a myth that shapes how a lot of leaders think and behave. True or False: People should be well-rounded. Answer: False What answer did you get? Many think well-roundedness is both attainable and ideal. It is neither. Why do we think this way? For me, it’s my general educational upbringing. Just like many…

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