Leadership and management are fundamentally different things. Which one you should practice depends not on you, but on your business. Businesses go through phases in their lives, just as people do. What you need to grow today is different from what you needed to grow this time last year. Some days you need direction on where to go next, …

Being an effective business leader takes years of practice. The primary reason it takes so long is because effective leadership means being able to balance a number of skills, all of which require their own learning curve. In fact, “skills” isn’t even the best word for it. They’re really more virtues than anything else. Though …

We typically praise the person who is the last to leave the office and who works during weekends and holidays. Often, however, that person is the first to fall in the war of workplace attrition. Leadership demands long hours and great effort, but rest and relaxation are just as essential as hard work. Go-getters often …

RULE TO BREAK: BECOME A GREAT MULTITASKER The myth of multitasking for efficiency has been busted. However, it still has a powerful hold over us, especially with smart phones and other technologies that allow our brains to distract us. According to Gary Keller, author of The One Thing, multitasking leads to more mistakes due to …

When in doubt, lead with a joke. That trope of public speaking is also good advice for CEOs and founders. Among all the exhortations that leaders be inspirational, motivating, clear, charismatic, and passionate, the demand that they also be a hoot seems superfluous. In fact, humor is among a leader’s most effective tools. Use it …