25 Leadership Blogs You Could Write Today (with 5 bonus tips!)

Blogging is a great way for leaders to communicate with employees. It fosters community, conversation, learning, and relationships that cross the org chart. If you’re stuck on “What do I write about?” here are a few suggestions.

1. Include a link to an interesting news or business article that you read, and share your own perspective on it.
2. Did you recently go to a conference or seminar? Share highlights of what you learned.
3. Share career advice with employees who aspire to your role.
4. Share career advice you wish someone had given you.
5. Write about the best mentor, leader, or teacher that you ever had.
6. Write about the worst day you ever had at work, and what you learned from it.
7. Is this the career you planned to be in, or are you surprised by where you ended up? Discuss.
8. Write a “day in the life” journal of either a typical day, or a unique one.
9. Write about how one of your hobbies or outside interests (sports, family, gardening, etc.) has shaped your professional perspective.
10. Give your own take on a broad business topic, e.g., customer service, personal accountability, planning, time management.
11. Take one of your organization’s values or principles and explain what it means to you. Depending on how many values your company has, this could be a series of multiple blogs.
12. Tell us how you do that thing that makes others ask, “How did you do that?”
13. Share the most important things you learned in college or graduate school, now that you’re X years after graduation.
14. Compare and contrast: What you thought effective leadership was at the beginning of your career, versus what you value today.
15. Share the spotlight: Celebrate the success of a team or work group by telling their story.
16. Make a list, e.g.: 10 Things You Don’t Know About Me, 5 Mistakes New Leaders Often Make, or 7 Tips for Presenting to Executives.
17. Visit one of your company’s stores or branches where you don’t know anybody, or call the service center. Write about your experience from a customer’s perspective. (Only mention employees by name if your feedback is positive)
18. Do the above, but with a competitor.
19. Test-drive a new technology, such as Google Glass or 3D printing, and write about your experience.
20. Compile a list of the mobile apps that you can’t live without.
21. List 3-5 books that greatly influenced you, and explain why.
22. Share your goals (personal, professional, or both) for a specific future timeframe – 3 months, 1 year, 10 years.
23. Write a “Throwback Thursday” entry – Tell us about something interesting that happened to you a long time ago.
24. Is this your first blog? Acknowledge your newness and tell your readers why you decided to start blogging, and how it feels to be putting your words out in this format for the first time.
25. Turn it around: Pose a question you find interesting, invite readers to answer in the comments, then join in the conversation by commenting on your own blog.

#170024763 / gettyimages.com

5 Bonus Tips!

• The tone of your blog should be conversational, friendly, and sincere. Write in the same voice you would address your employees in a meeting or via email.
• Even if you’re brand new to this, you already have the skills to do it well. If you can write a clear email or present before a group in a meeting, you’re over halfway to a great blog.
• Break up your text visually with frequent paragraph breaks, subsections, bulleted lists, or (better yet!) photos. Big text blocks are ugly and hard to read.
• Personal stories are always more interesting than vague platitudes.
• Vulnerability is the new black for leaders.

The 6 Hardest Things that Great Facilitators Do

Facilitating classroom training seems like it should be easy. We've all spent time in classrooms, whether at school or at work, and we've seen it done well and poorly. Yet some of the most powerful facilitaton skills are counter-intuitive, surprising, or just plain hard.

1. Talk less.

Chances are, you became a facilitator because you have expertise, great public speaking skills, or a combination of the two. That's why it's so hard to stay quiet, but it's one of the best things that you can do for your learners.

You might think you're well prepared by having a detailed lecture full of facts, examples, and anecdotes about your topic. In fact, the person who best connects with your examples is you. Present a nugget of information, then ask the class to provide an example that illustrates it. Unless your topic is completely foreign or abstract, your learners will recognize the concepts, ground them in their own knowledge, and provide the context for deep and meaningful learning.

2. Count to 7.

So, you've decided to try tip #1. You ask for an example, wait for the class to respond, and... silence. You wait a moment. The silence deepens. You realize that nobody is going to answer your question. You answer it yourself, then move on.

How long did you wait before answering your own question? It may have felt like a lifetime, but it was probably closer to 3 seconds. Silence is uncomfortable, and people will speak to fill it. However, a 3-second silence that feels excruciating to a facilitator does not feel nearly so long to learners. For many, it's not long enough to gather the thoughts and courage to answer your question.

If you slowly, silently count to 7, then one of your learners will break the silence for you. If nobody does, then they may not actually know the answer, and you can provide additional context.

3. Allow your learners to fail.

In 7th grade, I blew my chances at the county spelling bee by flubbing the word "sadistic." I didn't make it to the state championship, but you can bet that I never misspelled that word again.

Learning professionals tend to be a helpful bunch, and it's hard to watch your learners floundering through a software application or a logic problem. It's tempting to grab the mouse, nudge a conversation in the right direction, or give a hint to resolve the tension of uncertainty.

You're doing a disservice when you interrupt those moments of doubt, because that's when the real learning happens. If you establish a safe and supportive classroom environment, where it's OK to be wrong and learn from one another's mistakes, your learners will do just that.

4. Admit that you don't know the answer.

If you think of your role as "subject expert," trying to convince the class that you know more than they do, then you might be tempted to make up an answer or dismiss the question as unimportant. However, there are some great benefits to acknowledging your own uncertainty: You show humility and relatability. You reinforce creative thinking beyond the curriculum ("Wow, that is a really good question!"). You also have a great opportunity for an impactful learning and teaching moment.

Search for the answer and bring the learners along for the ride. If it's as simple as Googling the question or checking in a book, ask one of the learners to do the legwork. If the question is complex, off-topic, or needs someone else's input, write it down on a "parking lot" to be revisited at the end of class or on break. You can either track down the answer yourself, or invite the learner who asked the question to research and report back.

5. Step away from the PowerPoint.

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation tool, not a teaching tool.

Please read the above sentence aloud. Repeat 10 times. Thank you.

6. Be a broken record (or, if you prefer, a scratched CD).

Sad as it may seem, your learners are not hanging on your every word. Most training has a retention rate of 15-20%, and you don't get to choose which 15-20% the learners remember.

If there is a particular concept, fact, or message that is essential to your course, know what that is. Say it. Repeat it. Have the learners repeat it. Have the learners translate it into a work of art, interpretive dance, or infectiously catchy jingle. Say it so many times, so many ways, that it becomes your class's favorite salutation and inside joke.

6 Myths of Motivation

Positive reinforcement is a touchy-feely approach to management. As long as it is used appropriately, positive reinforcement is the most powerful tool a manager can wield. It is not about giving compliments or gifts to everybody, turning a blind eye to poor performance, or making everyone happy at the same time. The strongest leaders use positive reinforcement and use it with precision.

I can't motivate anyone; motivation comes from within. Since motivation differs from person to person, it's easy to think we can't control it. In fact, the reason some people consistently perform at high levels is because of reinforcement they've received in the past: from parents, teachers, former and current bosses. Ignore these people for long enough, and they'll eventually stop performing. The same is true for poor performers: Experience tells them that extra effort is not worthwhile. Prove them wrong with sustained positive reinforcement.

It's their job; it's what they're paid for. I shouldn't have to motivate them. If all you want from your employees is the minimum effort required to keep their jobs, then this approach works just fine. But if the only available reinforcement is not getting fired, don't expect any extra effort. People are smart and, once they have met your minimum requirements, they will apply their spare energy and effort to tasks with worthwhile consequences.

If I give too much positive reinforcement, people will become complacent. Actually, the opposite is true. When people receive positive reinforcement, they will repeat that behavior in hope of more reinforcement. They will also try to do better each time. This is how people develop passions. A corollary of this myth is that positive feedback should include suggestions for improvement. At best, this neutralizes the positive message. At worst, employees only perceive the negative.

If I give too much positive reinforcement, people will expect it each time. This can occur, but not because of too much reinforcement. Common mistakes: The same tangible rewards are used too often, rewards are given indiscriminately, or rewards are given on a constant schedule. To avoid this, always make it clear what you are reinforcing, vary your tangible rewards, and remember that people never get tired of social reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement needs to be tangible. In fact, social reinforcement is more powerful, and it costs nothing to give. Tangible rewards have benefits too: They can serve as a lasting reminder of an accomplishment. Just make sure you choose tangible rewards that people actually like (hint: money doesn't have the same impact on everyone). Combine social and tangible for the biggest impact.

Developing Emotional Awareness

"I don't know what came over me."

"I'm just stressed."

Emotional awareness is the foundation of emotional intelligence; if you don't know what you're feeling, then it's impossible to manage it successfully.

People with strong emotional awareness can easily articulate their emotions verbally or in writing. They tend to be closely in touch with their body's distress signals and feel comfortable making "gut" decisions. They are still vulnerable to emotional triggers, but they have a good sense of what those triggers are and manage them accordingly.

A lack of emotional awareness can be crippling at work. Without this skill, you could find yourself blindsided by your emotional responses or not realize the severity of a negative situation. People with this competency gap often have difficulty making decisions or setting specific goals, because nothing "feels" right.

Emotional awareness can be developed and deepened with practice. Here are some tips to help you develop your emotional awareness:

• Keep an emotion journal. Several times a day, write down all of the emotions you are feeling in as much detail as possible. Describe how your body is responding. Is your heart rate accelerated? Do you have any pain or tension in specific areas?
  
• Set aside time every day for reflection, meditation, or prayer. Exercise such as yoga or running can help you focus your thoughts and connect with your body.
• Mentally revisit a time when you felt stressed or angry at work. Carefully evaluate the emotions you felt at the time. Which ones were the strongest? Were they appropriate to what was actually going on around you, or was your response based on something else?

When you write or talk about your emotions, avoid words like "angry," "happy," or - the most overused emotional word of all time - "stressed." Stress is not an emotion; it is the brownish-gray color that comes when you mix multiple colors from a set of paints. Look at the emotions that make up your stress for a better understanding of how they fit together. To help you get started, here is a list of 120 emotions:

Afraid, Agitated, Alienated, Amazed, Amused, Annoyed, Anxious, Apathetic, Appreciative, Apprehensive, Bewildered, Bitter, Blissful, Bored, Cheerful, Collected, Comfortable,Confident,Conflicted, Confused, Content, Courageous, Curious, Defeated, Defensive, Defiant, Deflated, Dejected, Delighted, Despondent, Determined, Disappointed, Discouraged, Disgusted, Disillusioned, Disoriented, Distracted, Distressed, Eager, Ecstatic, Elated, Embarrassed, Empty, Energetic, Enraged, Entertained, Enthusiastic, Excited, Exhausted, Exuberant, Fascinated, Forlorn, Frantic, Frustrated, Giddy, Greedy, Grieving, Guilty, Hateful, Helpless, Hopeful, Horrified, Hostile, Humiliated, Hurt, Impatient, Incensed, Incredulous, Indecisive, Indifferent, Indignant, Insecure, Inspired, Intimidated, Irritable, Jealous, Jovial, Jubilant, Liberated, Lonely,Lost, Lustful, Melancholy, Mellow, Numb, Offended, Outraged, Panicked, Passionate, Peaceful, Pensive, Pessimistic, Playful, Pleased, Proud, Regretful, Relaxed, Relieved, Remorseful, Resentful, Satisfied, Schadenfreude, Secure, Self-pitying, Skeptical, Smug, Somber, Spiteful, Suspicious, Sympathetic, Terrified, Thankful, Thrilled, Tired, Troubled, Uncertain, Uncomfortable, Worried, Wounded, Yearning

If I missed any, please feel welcome to post them as comments. Cheers!