“One of the greatest necessities in America is to discover
creative solitude.”
Carl Sandburg
________
Reflections
“One of the greatest necessities in America is to discover creative solitude.”
Carl Sandburg
________
Reflections
Leadership Lessons from a Liberal Arts Major
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry I read a lot about leadership. A lot! Every leadership blog or website or book...
What does the college cheating scandal have to do with leadership?
Recently, a headline caught my eye: “Know who’s not surprised by ‘Aunt Becky’s rule breaking? Every teacher.” It was referring to the college cheating scandal where several parents paid bribes to get their children into elite colleges. It’s written by a high school...
Step forward or step back?
In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety. --Abraham Maslow The first time I thought I was grown up was after my mom died. I was 21, just finishing college, gone through a tragic event. I thought to myself, “I’m...
When Giving Feedback, it’s not the words; it’s the mindset.
I coach a lot of leaders and probably the top task they have anxiety about is giving feedback. When I ask them why they’re hesitant, I hear comments such as: “I’m afraid it will be uncomfortable; they’ll get upset.” “I don’t like conflict and feedback feels...
Staying in the Now: Important for Life and Leadership
I just finished teaching an online course “Mindfulness in Leadership.” One of the major points is that most of us spend more time dwelling on the past or worrying about the future than we do in the moment. I definitely fall into the “worrying about the future”...
Leadership From the Inside Out
“We judge ourselves by our intentions; we judge others by their actions.” I have never coached anyone who intends to be an ineffective leader. I often start coaching engagements using a 360 assessment called The Leadership Circle Profile. This insightful tool measures...
One characteristic that gets in the way of being an effective leader
“Imagination and fiction make up more than three quarters of our real life.” -- Simone Weil In my work with leaders, I find that one very human characteristic holds us back from being an effective leader: our ability and propensity to tell ourselves stories. Humans...
Along Comes Mary
When I was writing this blog, the words to a song by the Association came to me (Along Comes Mary) along with the title to a movie from the 90’s (There’s Something About Mary). Unfortunately, both of those titles have some connotations I did not want to evoke (but I...
What separates a great leader from an ineffective leader?
“A business can’t outgrow the effectiveness of its leadership.” --Scaling Leadership (Anderson and Adams, 2019 We’ve known for a long time that great organizations are the direct result of great leaders. But what separates a great leader from an ineffective leader? A...
Mindlessness
Have you found yourself experiencing the following: rushing through activities without being attentive to them breaking or spilling things because of carelessness inattention, or thinking of something else failing to notice subtle feelings of physical tension or...
A leadership development tool that really works
I use the Leadership Circle 360 profile in my coaching and assessment work because it is both practical and powerful. I don't say this lightly as I am hardly new to leadership assessments. During my Corporate career in a senior leadership role, I was on the other...
“Why We Work” by Barry Schwartz
On my Kindle... In the late 90’s, I was in a leadership class and was asked to write about my philosophy of leadership. I said this: “I believe that people want to do good work. I believe that people want to get meaning from their work, to make a valuable contribution...
