Leadership development is about behavior shifts. Even with the desire to adopt new behaviors, and with good intentions to change, we may instead engage in self-defeating actions. The person who says they want better work-life balance but finds that they cannot say “no.” The person who says that their own professional development is a top priority…
I view the transition to a new year as a time for new possibilities. Instead of asking you to embrace new initiatives, I invite you to bring a fresh perspective to your current way of thinking. There is a term for this that comes from Zen Buddhism – “shoshin” or “beginner’s mind.” It means having an…
A new year is a natural time to reflect on what you are leaving behind and what you are moving toward. January 2021 marks an even more powerful inflection point for all of us. A year of abrupt change and uncertainty during Pandemic Life will be followed by the hope and promise of vaccines and…
One of the trainings I have developed and facilitate regularly is on resiliency. What used to be a topic of interest to some organizations now seems to have nearly universal relevancy. Isolation, risk, and uncertainty all contribute to our stress levels and the challenge of staying mentally focused and healthy during the pandemic. Here is…
Today I had a close-up view of a glacier. I’m still awestruck and amazed to see something that beautiful and thousands of years old, in the magnificent country of New Zealand. Accordingly, this seemed like the perfect time to write about living your life with more passion and energy. I realize that my experience today is not…
In my May blog post, I explained what executive coaching is. But before people choose to participate in executive coaching, they often want to know what they would gain. It’s a good question. Coachees must spend additional time and energy on an effort that is not their “day job,” and they often already have jam-packed…
With potential new coaching clients, one of the most important conversations we have is my explaining what coaching is, and distinguishing what it is not. I have found that there is not one simple, easily-Googled definition of what executive coaching entails. But after having this discussion numerous times, here’s a summary of what you can…
I last wrote about the leadership skill of influence a few years ago. Since then, the interest in influence among my executive coaching clients is growing. It makes sense. No matter your position in an organization, you cannot always depend on your title to give you the authority to make decisions and move a vision forward. …
One of my coaching clients was promoted earlier this year. In her new position, one of her priorities has been developing her ability to influence. A recent blog post from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) concurs that influence is a leadership capability that individuals often need help developing. So what exactly is influence, and why…
I am working with a client who wants to develop his emotional intelligence (EI). Since EI entails a broad range of attributes, I encouraged him to focus on specific areas. We started with the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i 2.0) framework, one of the models of emotional intelligence. From the framework, he decided he wanted to work…