A Few Good Leadership Behaviors

Many of the thngs Dan Rockwell writes about resonate with me. In this list, "Ask 'what' and 'how' more than 'why' really resonates with me. It may may seem counterintuitive at first blush, but if the objective is to move ahead towards your goal, then "what" and "how" focus more on what to do and how to overcome the obsticle and move ahead and less on assigning blame and focusing on problems. Of course you need to understand what happened and why in order to figure how to proceed, but the emphasis should be on 'how do we proceed'. 

8 Behaviors that propel leadership success: 

1. When you don’t like something, say it to someone, but not everyone.
2. Ask “what” and “how” more than “why.” “What” and “how” are execution questions. “Why” questions often spiral into excuse-making. Substitute “what” for “why.”
3. Create and agree on high standards and deliverables, together, and hold everyone to them, especially yourself.
4. Be positive about the future even if the negative past drags you down.
5. Celebrate progress more than correcting mistakes. Never let passion for improvement make you a critical, negative, nitpicker.
6. Take action. Follow Tom Peter’s advice, “Just do something.”
7. Focus on next steps.
8. Know and understand team members.