Lessons from Amazon that can help your team

Define what kind of team you are to avoid frustration | Lessons from Amazon that can help your team | What 3 areas should growing companies focus on? Created for {EMAIL} | [{NAME}]( at [{NAME}]( [For more relevant content - Update Your Profile]( | [Web Version]( June 22, 2021 CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF  [LinkedIn]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [SmartBrief on Leadership]( [SmartBrief on Leadership]( Innovative Ideas. Ahead of the Curve. [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [SHARE]( ADVERTISEMENT Leading Edge [] [Define what kind of team you are to avoid frustration]( Work teams, like sports teams, have different characteristics depending how they're structured and what they're trying to get done, writes Ed Batista. "If you think we're on the basketball court, and I think we're at a track & field meet, we're going to frustrate each other," he writes. Full Story: [Ed Batista Executive Coaching]( (6/19) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [Lessons from Amazon that can help your team]( [Lessons from Amazon that can help your team]( Bezos (Amazon) Amazon operates on CEO Jeff Bezos' principles of accepting failure, constantly innovating, making "high quality" decisions early in the day, improving meetings with memos and keeping teams small, and these concepts can be adapted by leaders elsewhere. The "two-pizza rule," for instance, can push managers to develop and promote leaders from within so that a large team can be split into two. Full Story: [Lighthouse]( (6/19) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( Join the Alternative Investing Revolution Yieldstreet membership gives you access to live Q&As with asset class pros, thought leadership on the emerging alt space, and an exclusive marketplace of investment opportunities to help you reach your financial goals. [Join Over 270k Members Today]( ADVERTISEMENT: [] Strategic Management [] [What 3 areas should growing companies focus on?]( Companies that combine "creativity, analytics and purpose" grow faster than competitors in any environment, but only 7% of companies exceed in all three areas, according to a McKinsey analysis. Researchers lay out how these three areas intertwine and how companies can take advantage. Full Story: [McKinsey]( (6/21) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( Join the Alternative Investing Revolution Yieldstreet membership gives you access to live Q&As with asset class pros, thought leadership on the emerging alt space, and an exclusive marketplace of investment opportunities to help you reach your financial goals. [Join Over 270k Members Today]( ADVERTISEMENT: [] Smarter Communication [] [If you, um, pause more, ah, your speech will improve]( Filler words such as "um" and "ah" can undermine your authority and effectiveness, although you can reduce these by talking slower, recording your speech for practice and learning the power of a pause, writes John Millen. "A pause after a point gets the attention of your audience and allows them to take in what you said," Millen writes. Full Story: [John Millen blog]( (6/20) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] [6 things you shouldn't do in a tough conversation]( Tense conversations aren't easy to manage, but you'll probably make it worse if you attack people's character, order them to do something, overstate your case or assume everyone knows what your argument is, writes business professor James Detert. "Your best laid plans will go to waste if you offend or anger the other person," he writes. Full Story: [Harvard Business Review (tiered subscription model)]( (6/21) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( Recovering from a Year of Burnout Providing employees with support, appreciation, and connection is more important than ever before. Here are [4 tips to reverse workplace burnout]( at your organization. [Read more](. ADVERTISEMENT: Sponsored content from The Wall Street Journal Free to read exclusively for SmartBrief readers - [The Economic Recovery Is Here. It’s Unlike Anything You’ve Seen.]( - [The Biggest Summer Travel Headaches and How to Avoid Them]( - [Skinny Jeans and 9 Other Styles That Date You]( - [Bald Eagles Are Back. And They Want to Eat Your Pets.]( - [Jobs for the City of Tomorrow]( [] SmartPulse [] How often do you overcommit yourself? All the time: I regularly take on more than I should 32.88% Sometimes: I can get overly ambitious from time to time 48.08% Not often: I generally do well to not take on too much 16.10% Never: I always manage my commitments rigorously 2.94% [] Biting off too much. 80% of you say you often bite off more than you can chew. It's easy to add commitments only to find you have too many commitments. Each one seems like a small, marginal task that we can fit in given the other projects we're working on. The problem is we forget all the other things that take up our time and energy (meetings, email, urgent issues, people development, etc.). In the grand scheme, those new projects don't fit in easily. The best suggestion I have is to pause before replying and accepting new work. Go look at your task list and your calendar. Identify exactly where the new project fits in. If there's not an obvious space to place it, consider passing on doing the work. Better to do a few things well than many things poorly! -- Mike Figliuolo is managing director of [thoughtLEADERS](, which includes TITAN -- the firm's e-learning platform. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Co., Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro. He is a West Point graduate and author of three leadership books: ["One Piece of Paper,"]( ["Lead Inside the Box"]( and ["The Elegant Pitch."]( [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] POLL QUESTION: How do you react when someone is overly-critical of your work? [Vote]( [I seek to fully understand any and all feedback I receive]( [Vote]( [I look for major issues but tend to ignore smaller criticisms]( [Vote]( [I tend to be dismissive of what feels like overly critical remarks]( [Vote]( [I blow it off. I have work to do and don't have time for excessive criticism]( Sick of biased news? 1440’s got you covered 1440 is the fastest way to an impartial point-of-view. The team at 1440 scours over 100+ media sources ranging from culture and science to sports and politics to create one email that gets you all caught up on the day's events in 5 minutes. It's 100% free, [so sign up for 1440 here.]( ADVERTISEMENT [] In Their Own Words [] [Can Facebook's CEO help you lead better? Maybe]( [Can Facebook's CEO help you lead better? Maybe]( Zuckerberg (Facebook) A series of tweets from a former Facebook executive about CEO Mark Zuckerberg's leadership style reminds us that all leaders are different, and trying to follow the famous isn't always the best path, writes James daSilva. "[L]eadership is an ongoing process of many small and big decisions; and that while you should always seek new information, inspiration and ideas, you shouldn't idealize or idolize any person or method," he writes. Full Story: [SmartBrief/Leadership]( (6/21) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( Corporate buyers power growth of renewables market Despite the pandemic, 2020 saw corporations announce a record amount of large-scale renewable energy procurement deals. Learn how large-scale buyers are driving the evolution of renewables. [Tune in today]( ADVERTISEMENT: [] Daily Diversion [] [The story behind the "black box" in today's airplanes]( Australian defense scientist David Warren was inspired by a recording device he saw at a trade show in 1953, leading him to create what became the modern "black box" found in the tail of commercial airliners. This article traces his fight to successfully develop the device and the competing claims from people around the world who were also investigating such technology. Full Story: [IEEE Spectrum]( (6/18) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( [] About The Editor [] James daSilva James daSilva Hi, it's your SmartBrief on Leadership editor! Thank you for reading and subscribing. You'll note I caution about simply [copying Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's leadership example]( even as I also include an item about [learning from Amazon (and Jeff Bezos)](. We need both. People benefit from examples of high-profile success even as they need to make their own path. Finding that balance is part of the journey. If this newsletter helps you, please tell your colleagues, friends or anyone who can benefit. Forward them this email, or [send this link](. And if you have any feedback or want to say hello, [drop me a note.](mailto:jdasilva@smartbrief.com) [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email]( Sharing SmartBrief on Leadership with your network keeps the quality of content high and these newsletters free. Help Spread the Word [SHARE]( Or copy and share your personalized link: smartbrief.com/leadership/?referrerId=japnABMSAp [] [] The more you do, the more you learn. Work begets work. Sarah Paulson, actor June is Pride Month [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Email](   SmartBrief publishes more than 200 free industry newsletters - [Browse our portfolio]( [Sign Up]( | [Update Profile]( | [Advertise with SmartBrief]( [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy policy]( CONTACT US: [FEEDBACK](mailto:leadership@smartbrief.com) | [ADVERTISE](mailto:lengel@smartbrief.com) SmartBrief, Inc.®, 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004