The following is a guest post by Russell Bishop. Russell is an educational psychologist, author, executive coach and management consultant whose clients include Fortune 500 executives in aerospace, healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology, information technology, telecommunications and oil and gas.

Russell serves as the Senior Editor-at-Large for the Business and Living sections of The Huffington Post. He is also the author of the book “Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work”, which I will be reviewing in the next installment of the Coffee House Book Review series. You can learn more about Russell and his book on his website at RussellBishop.com.

When it comes to internal roadblocks or organizational obstacles, more often than not the culprit behind these problems is an organization’s own bureaucracy. Ironically, even bureaucrats need workarounds when they run up against the frustrating bottlenecks created by other bureaucrats. Corporate bureaucracy and its close cousin, business process, often snag their own staffs in an impossible tangle of rules and regulations. Customers and suppliers frequently encounter roadblocks as they try to navigate the labyrinthine maze of the bureaucrat. One of the most perplexing aspects of process and bureaucracy stems from the fact that those frustrating rules were most likely created for good reason, but may have outlived their usefulness.

If you are trying to overcome internal roadblocks, you can complain about the other team, escalate issues through upper levels of management, or simply try to ignore their rules altogether. However, none of these strategies is likely to produce an effective result, much less one that will have the legs to survive. In trying to find an effective workaround strategy, you may need to actually get closer to the other team in order to find your way through.

In my book, Workarounds That Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work, I suggest that the first workaround may be with your own self, with your own mindset. In order to move from blame and complain to effective movement, you may find it useful to ask “what difference could I make all on my own that requires no one’s permission except my own?”

Sometimes, that question alone will point you to steps you can take to Click here to continue reading »”A Simple Workaround to Overcome the Bureaucratic Mindset”

They say that March comes in roaring like a lion and that certainly seems to be the case on my end as I have two exciting news items to share with my readers.

First up, I’d like to share the news of a new column called “Real Leadership” which I’ll be co-writing with S Max Brown for Incentive magazine. Our first piece can be found in this month’s issue and it’s called “Real Leadership: The Power of a Compliment”. You can read an online version of this column at this link. I’d like to thank Max for inviting me to join him in yet another co-writing venture.

The second news piece is my interview on the “Business Buzz” radio program, hosted by Susan T. Spencer, which can be heard on “WomensRadio”. The show is called “Something That Women Have and Men Want” where Susan and I discuss the importance of empathy in business and leadership. During this interview, I share 3 key steps leaders can take to build their sense of empathy to become a more effective leader.

You can listen to this interview in the player below, or you can listen to it on the “WomensRadio” website by clicking on this link.

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I’d like to thank Susan for inviting me to share my thoughts on this subject and for the interesting discussion on this issue.

Which personality type is best suited for leadership – the extroverted or the introverted? It’s a question that surfaces every now and then in discussions on leadership, often with the consensus that while an extrovert would appear to have an easier time leading others, introverts also have unique attributes which prove to be of benefit to those in leadership positions. Now, thanks to a recent study by Adam Grant, Francesca Gino and David Hofmann, we have tangible evidence that there are situations and team make-ups where an introverted person would perform far better than an extrovert in the leadership role.

For most leadership thinkers, this study serves to provide empirical proof for what we already surmised – that extrovert and introvert personality types both offer unique advantages that serve to benefit those who lead others, along with distinct limitations that can make this position a challenge at times for them to do effectively. This study also serves to reinforce a concept that has been a running theme on my blog – that business is indeed personal because people are involved.

Of course, if we’re recognizing that a leader’s personality has an impact on their effectiveness in managing their team, it’s only reasonable that we consider the role personality plays on the other side of the workplace equation. Specifically, that we recognize how Click here to continue reading »”Are You Fitting Employee Personality Into Your Leadership Puzzle?”

Last week, a few of the leadership bloggers who I enjoy reading and conversing with were invited to the 2010 World Business Forum in New York City to share with their readers some of the ideas presented by such renowned business leaders and thinkers as Jack Welsh, Joseph Grenny, and A.G. Lafley. Among the many interesting insights and points presented during this leadership forum, there was one comment regarding social media I found particularly interesting and worth more examination.

Charlene Li, the founder of Altimeter Group and author of the book “Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform The Way You Lead”, gave a presentation on developing effective social media strategies during which she made the following comment about how businesses should approach social media:

Social media is about giving up control yet remaining in command.”

Upon reading this quote, I couldn’t help but notice that in addition to being an accurate assessment of social media, this statement can also be easily applied to the field of leadership. To help illustrate this connection, let’s look at two examples of social media blunders made by companies this year, and what these mistakes can teach us about effective leadership. Click here to continue reading »”Social Media and the True Meaning of Leadership”