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We were at one of those local indoor gaming centers. You order bad pizza and free coke refills for the evening, and you and the rest of your party purchase game tickets to the multitude of arcade games they have at their facility. This is not my idea of a great party, nevertheless, the team had voted, and here we were.

I wandered from game to game, watching our team members have fun playing mindless competitions.

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I upgraded to an off-lease Jeep Grand Cherokee a couple of years ago. Because I was buying a used car, it came with options that I never would have checked the box for if I was buying a new car – like a heated steering wheel and air-conditioned front seats.

Here’s the surprising thing: in the winter I love my heated steering wheel. In the summer I love my air-conditioned seats.

What’s the lesson for leaders?

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Stacy’s time as a manager at the firm was coming to an end. She had started strong – for the first two years, her leadership of her team seemed to work well. They regularly met and even exceeded their goals. Team morale seemed strong. Innovation and energy were evident. Unfortunately, even early on there were indications that she wasn’t being the leader her team needed. Her staff turnover was higher than the other managers and even the people who stayed weren’t being promoted;

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He worked for the firm for several years.  He was sharp, hard-working and an inspiring leader.  His team members were challenged to bring their best for him and our company, and they did a great job under him.

His fatal flaw: he couldn’t work well alongside and under other leaders.  He created and fostered an “us-vs-them” mentality.  After a while, despite his great strengths, his liabilities became too great.  He was pulling a different direction than the rest of the leadership team,

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