Drawing and Holding the Line
After publishing my blog series about “over-functioning” in the workplace (you’ll find the links below), I wound up in many conversations with leaders who shared some version of the following: “OK, guilty as charged. I’m a chronic over-functioner. So, what’s the one thing I can do that will help me establish a healthier way of […]
Getting Wiser (Part 2): Partner with the “Unwanted”
At least 50% of surprises that come my way are unwanted by me. I know they are unwanted because my inner judge immediately labels them as dangerous, or bad, or inconvenient. I quickly double down on a conviction that the unwanted people or circumstances: 1) are being done “to me”, and 2) are the impediment […]
Getting Wiser (Part 1): Engage in Self-Reflection
During her first coaching session with me, a CEO client recently declared, “I don’t spend a minute looking backward. I’m all about the future.” My reply: “Well, then you’re not even close to reaching your full potential.” To her credit she didn’t fire me. Instead she laughed and asked me to explain. Here’s a version […]
More Faces. Less Facebook.
Take a minute and think about your three or four dearest friends in the world (excluding your intimate life partner). Now be honest: When was the last time you had an in-depth, heartfelt conversation with each of them? Yeah, when I asked myself this question about a year ago I was disappointed in my answer […]
Make Your Strategic Vision a Call to Change
A strategic vision is meant to articulate the preferred future of your organization. But visions are too often written as broad, idealistic statements that don’t explicitly convey change. So, several years ago I developed a tool called the “Change Trajectory Chart”. It assists you in framing your organization’s strategic vision as change. Creating a Change […]
Resources for Building Bridges Across Divides
Lately I’ve been yearning for reasons to feel hopeful. Our country feels more polarized than ever and, regardless of political affiliation, people seem less interested in listening, more self-righteous, and quicker to dismiss and label the “other” as the “enemy” or “idiot”. I’ve seen this dynamic spill over into families and even the workplace. So, […]
FROM MY BOOKSHELF: Think Again by Adam Grant
The old saying, “seeing is believing” doesn’t really describe how we operate as humans. If you’ve spent any time with me in a workshop, you’ve probably heard me tell a favorite story that challenges this conventional wisdom. There’s this elderly couple. The wife Ethel becomes concerned that her beloved husband Joe is losing his hearing. […]
ON MY MIND: Post-Traumatic Growth
“In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning.” —Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning I’ve always been interested in self-repair – the ways in which we put ourselves back together after things fall apart. Over the last year, more and more of us are feeling a little (or […]
ON MY MIND: The Myth of the Leader as “Talker-in-Chief”
Years of research show that top-down declarations and being “talked at” demotivates people, discourages the expression of diverse perspectives, and stalls organizational learning and change efforts. This leaves me puzzled when, at least a few times a week, I receive emails promoting professional leadership workshops on how to say things in ways that will sound […]
FROM MY BOOKSHELF, Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World by Vivek Murthy
Everyday, I speak with leaders who are surrounded by people and yet admit that they feel lonely. Loneliness is defined in Vivek Murthy’s book Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World as “the subjective feeling that you are lacking the social connections that you need.” When I began reading Murthy’s […]