My youngest daughter and I have been playing a lot of chess. In my youth I was my third grade class chess champion but of course only a few kids knew how the chess pieces moved. As I coach my daughter on some of the key principles of chess I realized that many of these principles could be applied to leadership.
Fail Harder or Forever Hold Your Peace
Most people understand that one has to fail in order to learn but if you ask yourself and others, "Where is it safe to fail?" an honest answer, sadly, would be, "Nowhere!" Rarely do you hear someone say, "I need to figure out how I can fail today," nor would this person find themselves in line for the next promotion.
7 Tips to Becoming a Better Listener
Recently, one of my daughters received an award that caused me to pause. Among the awards she received was the best listener award at her Dance Team banquet. Instead of the certificate below, I thought she should have been given a gold embossed ear trophy! This is an award that I would have never won as a teenager but it is one that I have strived for as an adult, both in my personal and business life.