When you hear bad news from your team, whether a mistake or accident, how do you respond? Far too often, we get upset and go down the path of lecturing, reprimanding, blaming, etc. about events we cannot change. We ineffectually dwell on the past instead of dealing with the future. It may be therapeutic, but it’s not effective or inspiring leadership. The best leaders don’t waste a lot of time getting angry or frustrated over bad news. They focus on what’s next instead of what was. They evaluate the options, identify a solution and act. The best time to reflect on what happened, to learn, is almost always later, much later. What’s needed in the moment is their poise, creativity and innovation. So what’s your style? More importantly, what’s your reputation? Ask your family and coworkers. If you routinely negatively respond to bad news and others fear bringing it to…

Yesterday evening I gathered with about thirty thousand of my closest friends at Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference in San Francisco to hear a speech by Bill Clinton. He touched on one point that stood out to me: the importance of how. Lot’s of people, governments and companies know what they want to accomplish. Few know how to get it done, day in, day out, in a way that accomplishes their goal. Knowing how to execute a grand or complex idea that has lots of moving parts or requires an extended period of time to put in place is the key to success today. Reflect on what you aspire to accomplish and ask yourself if you know how to get it done. If you do not, you need to either find people to help you, learn quickly or drop the idea to focus on what you know how to do. The real…