We’ve previously discussed our inner C.E.O. but we also have an outer C.E.O. that helps us to lead problem solving efforts with others.

When I think about the effective problem solvers whom I know, three characteristics bubble to the top as being responsible for why their problem solving is effective.

One of the most important jobs you have when running a meeting is to keep the group on track towards the meeting’s intended outcomes.

You are an ally, not an enemy.

Relationships matter, and breaking up with your employer can be challenging but if you tear out of there leaving chaos in your wake, it may come full circle years later when you arrive at a burned bridge.

Psychological safety - it’s the secret sauce du jour for making great teams but without a robust skill set and paradigm, leaders attempting to create psychological safety might just create a mess.

How does the concept of leverage translate to your leadership world? High-leverage leadership actions are quick actions you can take at the right time that will create bigger results later.

We often hold our work time and our "time outside of work" in tension. It's easy to see them as competitors, each leeching time from the other and experiencing both as less satisfying than we'd like.

I invite you to shift the paradigm, away from work and life in a tug of war, to energy cycles of performance and recovery. Of putting out energy and then recharging.

Goals — those specific, measurable achievements that you can check off your list and relish in the accomplishment of. Why bother setting them? What's the point? 

I'm going to tell you something you might not believe. The purpose of having a goal is not to achieve that goal. 

What is the purpose of a goal then?

Up in Northern New York State, my dad is just finishing up another round of artisanal sugaring (producing maple syrup from the sap that runs in the spring). It's a hobby that bridges the depth of winter and sailing season — a hobby from which my brothers and sister and I reap serious maple syrup dividends.

Out of all my siblings, I live the closest to our father, so I see him the most frequently. The way I contribute, albeit meagerly, to his sugaring efforts is to save glass jars for him. Old syrup mason jars, peanut butter and pickle jars, and those jumbo jars the kalamata olives from Costco come in.

I save the jars, but I draw the line at removing the labels.