Often young leaders who are transitioning from a manager mindset to a coaching mindset ask for support on how to work more effectively with the employees they supervise. Young leaders want to be taught the exact steps of what they need to do to coach their employees toward better performance. While there are many management…
Recently I had a business leader ask me, “When should I listen to my gut instinct and decide on an alternative course of action vs continue down the road I’m on and give my decision more time?” This question is a common one for leaders, when to turn back vs keep going? I pondered his…
Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist change and stay in its current state of motion. There are formulary solutions that mathematically calculate the amount of force needed for an object to break away from its current trajectory. You don’t have to be a physicist, calculating this formula to understand the challenges of…
Leaders are often asked to create something new. The pressure we place on ourselves to do it “fast” and “right” can be intimidating and stressful. Recently, a leader posted on social media that her thoughts were “all scrambled” when she was trying to create a new work product and she was struggling with self-critical thoughts…
Someone once told me, “A fundamental truth is that life moves towards pleasure and away from pain.” When I see leaders continue down a path they claim isn’t in their best interest, I ask myself, what’s the subconscious reward they are receiving? In the animal kingdom, it’s simple. Animals move towards pleasure and away from…
I recently re-read the book How Successful People Lead, by John C. Maxwell and The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni after having a particularly challenging experience collaborating with an executive team. What should have been a straight-forward operations assessment and recommendation project turned into a walk through a political minefield. Every step…
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a catch phrase that is thrown around in leadership circles and generally means you have the ability to emotionally understand yourself and others and manage social situations well. My personal bias is that successful leaders need to have strong EQ to be effective in managing employees and maximizing the people talent…
I find the word TEAM one of the most commonly used words in business, yet it is elusively defined. In any given organization, there are multiple groups of people arranged together called “a team.” Each member of the group comes with their own definition of what it means to be given a seat at the…
When I reflect upon the roles I’ve held in my career and the aspects that gave me the most satisfaction, I can say without doubt that the opportunity to mentor young talent has been the highlight. We all have them: the employee who is young, eager, shows some innate promise, and is looking for mentoring…
Have you ever worked with an individual who reminded you of Pigpen from the Charlie Brown series, except instead of having a cloud of dirt following them around, drama followed? As a leader it’s easy to think that it must be your lack of management skills, communication skills, or leadership skills that are the problem….