Spring has sprung and if you're lucky enough to be in a place where that means sun and warmth, these resources for busy leaders will give you something productive to read by the pool. The rest of us will just have to imagine. Either way, this month's posts and podcasts will help you assess the effectiveness of your workplace environment(s), your leaders, your marketing efforts and — perhaps most important of all — your own leadership.
1. Podcast: How Jason Swenk Used Chatbots to Generate $250,000 in Two Months
Chatbots are becoming increasingly common, easy to add to your website and effective at converting visitors into leads. This 25-minute episode from the Perpetual Traffic podcast demonstrates how a bot works and what the possibilities are for the small business owner who uses them.
2. Why Businesses Must Focus on Employee Engagement
This piece in the Irish Times (originally from Harvard Business Review) argues that attracting and retaining talent requires playing the long, broad game when it comes to employee engagement. This means investing in the three environments that matter most to your employees: cultural, technological and physical.
3. Podcast: Courageous Leadership, Part One
Courage isn't reserved for extreme conditions. This 15-minute episode from the Andy Stanley Leadership podcast focuses on what courage looks like in the everyday world of a business leader.
4. The Most Common Type of Incompetent Leader
Bad leadership isn't always overt. While it's easy to spot the bully, the micromanager or the narcissist, the absentee leader can fly under the radar — making them the most insidious of all. This post from Harvard Business Review sheds light on this all-too-common issue.