Weekend Leadership Reading: 8/7/20

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Weekends are time when things slow down a little. Your weekend shouldn’t be two more regular workdays. That’s a sure road to burnout. Take time to refresh yourself. Take time for something different. Take time for some of that reading you can’t find time for during the week.

Here are choice articles on hot leadership topics culled from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms. This week there are articles about uncertainty.

From Maura Thomas: To Control Your Life, Control What You Pay Attention To

“Your attention determines the experiences you have, and the experiences you have determine the life you live. Or said another way: you must control your attention to control your life.”

From Kristin Wong: How to Be Better at Uncertainty

“Start with the following tips. (Maybe they’ll work! Maybe they won’t. Who can be certain?)”

From McKinsey & Company: Five Fifty: Confronting uncertainty

“Good strategists manage uncertainty by playing the probabilities. But most of us use wishful thinking instead.”

From Jeroen Kraaijenbrink: Strategy In An Uncertain World

“In a world that is characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA), we can question whether the idea of strategy as we have known it for long is still valid. After all, under such challenging conditions, it is far from obvious that long-term plans, objectives and systematic analysis still serve their purpose. And if not, the more pertinent question is: What should strategy should look then in order to be useful under such conditions?”

From Wharton: Life Hacks from Marcus Aurelius: How Stoicism Can Help Us

“Stepping back from emotional and physical chaos to reach a state of calm, clear-headed thinking is the bedrock of Stoicism, a philosophy famously practiced by Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. Although Stoicism was conceived in ancient times, its guiding principles are very relevant today, according to cognitive behavioral psychotherapist Donald Robertson.”

From Will Jackson-Moore, Heather Swanston, and Mohamed Kande: How to succeed in uncertain times

“In a difficult environment, leaders need to resist the impulse to adopt a defensive pose. They must instead take actions that will position their organization for success.”

From Patrick Rhone: Embracing Uncertainty

“In the midst of this time of great uncertainty, I’ve stumbled upon an observation: Those who are dealing the least well with the uncertainty are those who refuse to accept it.”

From Ed Batista: How to Stay Grounded in Chaos

“When we talk about how leaders can manage emotions in times of crisis, it’s important to understand what we mean by manage, and what we don’t mean. Managing emotions means regulating emotions. It absolutely does not mean suppressing emotions.”

Book Suggestions

How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius by Donald Robertson

Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing by Jamie Holmes

Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance by Jonathan Fields

Every Monday, I do a blog post about business reading and business books. Follow this link to book recommendations for business leaders

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