by Larry Dressler | Sep 11, 2019 | On My Mind
Are you someone who dislikes surprises? Do chaos, messiness, and unpredictability stress you out? Do you find yourself perplexed by and just a bit envious of people who have the capacity to just “go with the flow?” I, for one, do not like surprises or messiness. I’m a...
by Larry Dressler | Sep 4, 2019 | On My Mind
Recently, I discovered Kintsugi, a fifteenth century Japanese art form dedicated to repairing broken ceramics by filling in the cracks with gold. Once the repair is complete, the “brokenness” of the item — its defects — become its source of beauty and...
by Larry Dressler | Aug 27, 2019 | In My Ear Buds
If you are not an experienced consumer of podcasts, you might want to give one a try. The podcasts I listen to offer me valuable insights about leadership and collaboration. Most are available as a free subscription via an app on your phone. Thinking about them as an...
by Larry Dressler | Aug 20, 2019 | On My Mind
“I-don’t-know.” These are three words that most leaders rarely, if ever, dare utter. Why does the admission of “not knowing” feel so uncomfortable? As a client once shared with me, “A failure to know the answer or offer the solution feels like a failure of my...
by Larry Dressler | Jul 31, 2019 | From My Bookshelf
Everywhere we look in organizational life there is evidence that feedback is a source of fear and anxiety, both for the people on the receiving end and for those delivering it. It’s time to “fix” feedback. Too often feedback is: Non-existent: Feedback is simply...
by Larry Dressler | Jul 24, 2019 | On My Mind
I recently facilitated a workshop at the Encuentro Internacional de Equipos de Trabajo —an amazing international conference on best practices and innovations in workplace collaboration. My workshop was called: Taking Off Our Masks to Unleash the Power of Authenticity...
by Larry Dressler | Jul 9, 2019 | On My Mind
Over the past month I’ve been in very similar conversations with three different clients. They’ve gone something like this: Client: I think some of my people think I’m a real a$$hole. Me: Why might they feel that way? Client: Because before I arrived nobody demanded...
by Larry Dressler | Jun 18, 2019 | In My Tool Bag
Have you ever been part of a meeting that produced a terrifyingly long list of new projects and initiatives? As a client of mine recently described such a meeting, “It was an energizing and inspiring conversation right up until the point we realized we were going to...
by Larry Dressler | Jun 12, 2019 | On My Mind
What makes saying “no” so difficult? First, we all have these archetypal saboteurs that run like tape recordings in our heads. Some of the saboteurs that make saying “no” most difficult include: The pleaser who believes “people won’t like or value me if I don’t meet...
by Larry Dressler | Jun 3, 2019 | From My Bookshelf
After sharing my blog Leadership and the Art of Subtraction, I received emails from readers suggesting I write a book on what I call “skillful life-carving”. I began to look for existing resources and came across Greg McKeown’s Essentialism, which is a...
