Leaders work to influence the outcomes they can, but recognize there are always things beyond their control. Some battles are not theirs to fight. By focusing on their sphere of influence, leaders spend their energy where they can make a difference. ─Deb Miller ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

By Ken Chapman Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc. One morning in late July of 1940, Japanese Consul General, Chiune Sugihara, awakened to find a throng of Jewish refugees outside the gate of the Japanese Consulate in Lithuania. Most of them had fled from Poland, barely escaping the grasp of the Nazis during their invasion of that country. But once again with the Nazis advancing, they were trapped. On that morning, they were seeking the help of Sugihara because word had spread among them that there was still one way out of Lithuania. They could travel through the Soviet Union into Japan and on to freedom in the Caribbean. The only thing they lacked was transit visas from the Japanese Government. Sugihara, a forty-year-old diplomat with a promising career, immediately wired Tokyo to obtain permission to write the visas, but his government refused to grant it. He wired them again, and…

By Ken Chapman Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc. From all appearances, performance reviews are a one-way street. The leader always appraises the employee. Even so, it is a beneficial procedure in which both leader and employee benefit. If you are among the fortunate leaders, you get an occasional appraisal from your leader, the person you report to. But what if the people you lead could reverse procedures and give you a performance review? What if they could measure for themselves how you measure up as a leader? I suppose there would be some surprises for many of us. But the truth is that employees are already measuring you and I. Not formally with a grade when it is over, but in bits and pieces—assessments all through the workday and often in work-break bull sessions. If you doubt that statement, remember that you measure your boss repeatedly when you respond to…

KC&A has launched a new leadership development process designed to address the unique challenges faced by women leaders. The process is named Equalibrium. It was created in response to recurring requests by clients and by women in leadership roles. Employers sincerely want the women in their ranks to have equal opportunity to rise to the challenge of leadership positions. Equalibrium creates an awareness of the unique challenges women face so they may acquire the tools and skills they need to succeed. The core concept of the process is ‘being my best self’. Many of the challenges faced by women leaders are created within themselves. Equalibrium identifies the obstacles women often create for themselves and provides proven strategies for dealing with them effectively. The initial offering of Equalibrium was conducted in Anniston, Alabama in April 2013 with a roundtable of women from Alabama and Georgia who represented different employers – electrical…

There’s always a crowd willing to identify problems. Leaders stand out by proactively seeking solutions. They focus on ideas rather than complaints and never play the blame game. ─ Deb Miller ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

If a person simply will not take the high road, you can’t stop them. Not everyone believes they need the goodwill of others. There are always employees who think they know everything and can do anything. Most annoyingly, they “know” what cannot be known! Then there are those confident but humble employees. They are wise in the way that a good person is wise for having absorbed life’s lessons. They know the value of goodwill. They welcome what others bring to the table. Don’t waste your mental energy on the know-it-all. Rather, be grateful for the good and decent to be found in every workplace. ─ Ken Chapman ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

Leaders know that while we are only young once, immaturity can last a lifetime. Leaders can see maturity in the young and immaturity in the old—and understand the implications of both. ─ Ken Chapman ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

It takes ten times longer to put yourself back together than it does to fall apart. Leaders know the wiser, more efficient, course is to keep one’s head to start with. ─ Ken Chapman ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

There are times when a coincidence can teach a lesson. For example: On a recent flight I was seated next to a man who spent the forty-five-minute flight telling me what a “lousy world” we live in. As I reluctantly listened to his whining, I read the following sentence on the page in front of me: Some people start each day with a smile so they can get it over with. Leaders know our description of the world is often a reflection of ourselves. ─ Ken Chapman, Ph.D.

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs . . . You may recognize the opening line from the poem If. Kipling wrote those words in 1895, yet today we know his advice was right on target. Approximately 2/3 of the population has no real-time awareness of their emotions. If you “keep your head” you increase the chance of a constructive response. Better to offer a thoughtful response than perform damage control for an emotional reaction. ─ Deb Miller