Let’s Move Away from Cowardly Leadership in 2024

I can’t think of one person I know that loves conflict. Let’s be honest, it’s uncomfortable. However, conflict is a crucial part of leadership. And there are ways to address conflict that provides growth to everyone involved in the situation. Last year, I had more conversations than I can count about cowardly leadership. These were not necessarily with HPC clients, but with people in general – family members, friends, colleagues, etc. As I write this post, I want to reflect on leaders I’ve encountered in my career, ones who avoided conflict at all costs. I’ll also offer tips for moving

Let’s Get Ready to Rumble! (Embrace the Suck)

Lorrie kicked off our series on Daring Leadership with her post Braving Trust and Vulnerability. Last week, Jillian discussed How to Be Perfect (Or Not) and the effect it has on Armored vs. Daring Leadership. This week I have the pleasure of presenting the topic of rumbling with vulnerability. I am going to need you to take a pause, a deep breath and embrace the suck. Wait, did she just say embrace the suck? Why yes, she did. How else can you describe the feeling of being naked in a room full of people while you bare your soul? In

How to Be Perfect (Or Not) 

Last week, Lorrie talked about braving trust, and a willingness to be vulnerable. She mentioned the theme from Brené Brown of taking off our armor and daring to lead.  Recently, Horizon Point has seen more and more client leaders struggling to take off their armor. We think it’s tied to the desire to be perfect, or at least to be seen as not a failure. Mary Ila’s research in grad school was actually on leader emergence versus leader effectiveness, and she found that emerging as a leader within a group is distinct and separate from being effective once you’re there.

Braving Trust and Vulnerability

As we just celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I found myself thinking of what made him a good leader. He led with his values always in the forefront of his actions, his values drove everything he did. He was a servant leader, who believed in developing and empowering others, and he was a transformational leader, who had a big vision, shared that vision and challenged others to see the potential of that vision, and fought hard for change.  He was a successful leader because he built trust and followed through with action. Brené Brown says that “trust isn’t built

4 Ways to Convert Values into Behaviors

Last week to kick off the new year, we discussed starting with a focus on creating or revisiting individual and/or organizational values.   Values are a great place to set an ideal, but how do you make that a reality?   As Brene Brown says about values:  One reason we roll our eyes when people start talking about values is that everyone talks a big values game but very few people actually practice one. It can be infuriating, and it’s not just individuals who fall short of the talk. In our experience, only about 10 percent of organizations have operationalized their