ON MY MIND: The Art of Self-Repair
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 resilience. What if the trials and challenges we face in life were simply […]
ON MY MIND: Leading is Convening
“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 leadership. That’s my job!” I disagree. Always knowing the […]
ON MY MIND: Masks, Light, and Leadership
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 on Your Team. These are the words I used to open the workshop: “People are like […]
ON MY MIND: Saying a Skillful “No”
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 their needs by saying ‘yes.’” The hyper-achiever who believes […]
FROM MY BOOKSHELF: Essentialism by Greg McKeown
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 better book on the topic than I could ever write. I love McKeown’s […]
ON MY MIND: What Do You Stand For?
“Core values are the timeless ideals that require no external justification.” -Jim Collins For leaders and organizations, core values define what it means to operate with integrity. In my book, Standing in the Fire, I define “knowing what you stand for” as having clarity about and commitment to one’s core values. Core values are distinct […]
ON MY MIND: Leaders, We Can Be Kinder to Ourselves
You won’t be surprised to know that I’m my harshest critic. Often, when I return from a high-stakes client meeting a family member or colleague will ask: “How did it go?” Usually, my answer is something like: “The client was blown away by how well it went…I give myself a B.” Then I list all […]
IN MY TOOL BAG: The Team Check-in
Most high performing teams run fast and furious. Moving at that kind of pace we often walk into our meetings and jump right into the agenda. While hitting the ground running may feel productive, something gets lost: We fail to look up from our devices and to-do lists, even if for a moment, to see […]
FROM MY BOOKSHELF: Originals: How NonConformists Move the World by Adam Grant
Conformity – going with the established ways of doing things — is a reasonable strategy when it comes to navigating your career. It’s the path of least resistance. But according to author Adam Grant, if you want to change the world, you must pursue the path of originality. In Originals, Grant combines academic research about […]
ON MY MIND: Making Smart Choices in a Really Awful Situation
There are many versions of “really awful” at work. Your boss is absent or worse – an unappreciative, narcissistic bully. Or maybe you’ve realized that the philosophy or direction of your organization just doesn’t fit your values and you feel out of integrity. Perhaps you have realized that you are in the middle of a […]