Author Archives

Nathan Magnuson

Leadership Development Consultant

Nathan Magnuson is an executive leadership consultant, speaker and author of the books Stand Out! and Ignite Your Leadership Expertise. Click to see the exciting ways Nathan is helping organizations and teams become more effective with Leadership-in-a-Box.

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5 Questions You MUST Ask Your Young Professionals if You Want to Engage Them

What’s the quality of your conversations with your young professionals? More specifically, what questions are you asking them?

In my new book Stand Out!, I share that young professionals today are the leaders of tomorrow. The reason is a matter of simple mathematics. When the Baby Boomers retire, there won’t be enough Gen X’ers to take their places. Ready or not, it’s time for young professionals to prepare to lead.

The question isn’t if. It’s how soon… and whether or not they’ll be prepared. If you’re a leader, a big part of that responsibility falls on your shoulders.

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The Size of Your Hope

I had a conversation with one of my entrepreneur friends this past week. Ryan had big plans for a new software release, but needed to put the project on pause to sort out some of the final details. To bridge the time gap, he took an interim CEO role to help turnaround a small company.

Then COVID-19 hit and disrupted everything.

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What I Believe About Leadership

Several years ago I interviewed with a large leadership development consulting firm. Things were going as expected until the office president threw me a curve ball by asking for my point-of-view on leadership. I was stumped. I had many ideas on what good leadership looked like but I didn’t have my own original model. Fortunately, I shared someone else’s POV I appreciated and was able to satisfy the president with my answer.

These days, my point-of-view on leadership keeps growing as I grow. I’ve continued to push my own beliefs of what effective leadership is and what the best leaders do. In fact, in my white paper Nine Ways to Be the Boss Everyone Wants to Work For, the very first best practice I share is that effective leaders “Believe in the cause.” They know what they stand for and case a positive vision for others.

So… what do you believe about leadership?

I’d like to share ten of my leadership beliefs with you.

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7 People Every Young Professional Needs to Get Ahead

My colleague Ann challenged my thinking recently. As she transitioned into a new CEO role, she reflected, “Other people have paved a way for us to succeed in ways we probably don’t realize.” I bristled at first because I wanted to believe most of my success was self-made. (This despite my being far from CEO material.) But a few days later as I stared out the window counting the Camaros in the parking lot, I came to a realization.

Someone else has already invented the wheel. And because of that, all of us can focus on greater achievements.

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Easy Button Leadership (EBL)

In my book Ignite Your Leadership Expertise, I wrote that leaders make life easier, less complicated and more fun for those around them. When I first drafted those words several years ago, I’ll admit they felt a little cheesy. But over the years, I’ve come to realize their merit all too well.

“Leaders make life easier, less complicated and more fun for those around them.”

When you take just a minute to notice the state of the American corporate workforce, it won’t take long to realize pretty much everyone in charge leads an incredibly hectic life. They fight fires, address new problems and rush to prepare for the next emergency meeting – all before their coffee is finished!

If you want to support the leaders in your organization, be careful! When your help looks or feels like more extra work, be prepared for a negative reaction. Instead, look for ways your ideas and requests can feel like an “Easy Button” (from the famous Staples television campaign) for their challenges.

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Leadership Lessons from My Time in the Military

Kirkuk, Iraq, 2008

It’s been over a decade since I returned from a year-long Army deployment to Iraq. It’s been over six years since I finished my military obligations altogether. Even though I’ve all but forgotten my initial trip to the recruiter’s office, some things will stick with me for life.

From time to time, I’m asked how my military experience informed my leadership. Here is a small sample of my lessons learned.

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Give Them Something to Believe In

Recently retired Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder famously crafted 16 Goals for Success which he used with his football teams over his decades of coaching. Goal #13 stated, “Expect to win… and truly believe we will.” According to Coach Snyder, one of the root causes of success was belief itself.

In my white paper Nine Ways to Be the Boss Everyone Wants to Work For, the very first best practice I share is “Belief in the cause.” As a leader, it’s not enough to simply perform the work itself. It’s also not enough to hold only private beliefs. Public beliefs allow leaders to give others around them something to aspire to.

What types of belief should a leader have? Here are a few for starters.

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Respond to Crises with Clarity and Confidence

What happens when you find yourself in the midst of a crisis situation? Do you freeze up? Jump into action? Sit down to create a plan? What if you’re the person in charge?

It’s the leader’s job recognize when stakes are high and respond appropriately. We don’t need to look far to see harsh criticisms of leaders with underwhelming responses to crises that occurred on their watch.

If you find yourself in the midst of a crisis you didn’t create, welcome to leadership. How you respond may make all the difference.

These nine questions will help you plan your response.

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The Cost of Unclear Expectations

I’m told that one quote preachers try to live by is, “If it’s foggy in the pulpit, it’s cloudy in the pew.” In other words, as the leader and communicator, if you’re unclear about any part of your message, it’s a sure bet everyone else is as well.

You don’t have to be a preacher to risk setting unclear expectations. If you’re responsible for performance outcomes of any kind, unclear expectations could be your biggest kryptonite. In fact, if the expectations you set are unclear, you force members of your team to work as much as three times as hard.

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3 Ways to Pursue Productive Failure

Winston Churchill declared, “Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”

He wasn’t the only leader who recognized the reality of failure on the journey to success. Late Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy admitted, “When you fail, you have to start all over again from a lesser position.” Before discovering a major breakthrough, inventor Thomas Edison insisted, “I have not failed. I’ve found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Alexander Pope imparted, “To err is human.”

Ultimately, the only way to avoid failure is to never attempt anything new – which can prove the greatest failure of all in times of change. Failure should never be the goal, but it should be a tool. After all, not all failures are equal.

Since we’re all sentenced to fail periodically along the way, let’s be proactive about the types of failure we leverage in our pursuit of success.

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How to Lead Former Peers

Have you ever received the good fortune of being promoted to the new leader of your team, only to find that life got complicated and edgy the moment you started? All of a sudden, your peers knew you as “boss” and not just their buddy. There’s a vast difference between the two.

What did you do in that situation? What should you do? Many leaders of former peers struggle at first. Some even go so far as to request a demotion in order to return to the way things were. There has to be a better way.

If you find yourself leading former peers, here are some steps you can take.