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Firm grasp on reality – the best leaders stay grounded in reality and results

The best leaders do less judging and more helping. They succeed by staying grounded in reality and results. Here’s how you can, too.

Have you ever had the sense you were spinning your wheels as a team member or leader? Ever attended lots of meetings and done lots of work with not much to show for it?

Cy Wakeman
Cy Wakeman

More often than not, we’re usually constrained by people and leadership issues. Team members aren’t buying in, there isn’t a clear vision for where we want to go, and we may be stuck due to roadblocks that could easily be pushed out of the way.

Cy Wakeman has a special brand of leadership thinking and training designed to deal with many of these problems. She’s the author of “Reality-Based Leadership: Ditch the Drama, Restore Sanity to the Workplace, and Turn Excuses Into Results.

I like Wakeman’s direct, candid approach, and the principles she covers. Here are her rules for practicing reality-based leadership. Some of these are worth printing out and posting on your office wall:

  1. Reality-Based Leaders Refuse to Argue with Reality.
  2. Reality-Based Leaders Know that the Stress in Life Is Caused by Thoughts, not Realities.
  3. Reality-Based Leaders Greet Change with a Simple “Good to Know.”
  4. Reality-Based Leaders Value Action over Opinion.
  5. Reality-Based Leaders Work with the Willing.
  6. Reality-Based Leaders Lead First, Manage Second.
  7. Reality-Based Leaders Work to Bullet Proof Employees so that They Can Succeed, regardless of the Circumstances.
  8. Reality-Based Leaders Make the News Rather Than Report the News.
  9. Reality-Based Leaders Are Very Careful About What We Think We Know for Sure.
  10. Reality-Based Leaders Work to Be “Happy” Rather Than to Be “Right.”

Stop dealing with drama. Determine what’s real and what’s not and then chart out what success looks like for you and your team.

Have a great week.

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