"Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you." – Eileen Caddy In the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, and it is appropriate, perhaps even expected, to find reasons to be grateful. Of course, the reality is that we should find reasons to feel grateful every single day, and … [Read more...]
A Simple Leadership Message on Election Day
If you live in the United States, you likely know it is Election Day. Direct mail, yard signs, neighborhood canvassers, radio and television ads and more – all add up to an important day in the life of a democracy. This post isn’t about politics, and while I have often written about what we can learn from politicians as leaders, the lesson today is different. The lesson … [Read more...]
Mitigate Stress to Show Employees’ Appreciation
Saying "thank you" is more important than ever, says Deb Boelkes, author of Heartfelt Leadership: How to Capture the Top Spot and Keep on Soaring. “[Employees] may be working long hours. They may worry that their health is at risk. Maybe they’re coping with a home life that’s been disrupted in some way. In other words, stress is at an all-time high. You may not be able to … [Read more...]
3 of the Smartest Words You’ll Ever Say
In her new book Heartfelt Leadership: How to Capture the Top Spot and Keep on Soaring, Deb Boelkes lays out the path to leading with the heart. Full of real stories and lessons from top heartfelt executives, the book will help you learn to transform from a person people follow because they have to, to one they want to follow. One lesson that really stood out to us comes from … [Read more...]
How to Master the Art of Respectful Truth-Telling
Most people have suppressed their true feelings to avoid conflict at work. “When you need to have a difficult conversation with someone, it’s best to be prepared,” says Jackie Gaines, Wearing the Yellow Suit: A Guide for Women in Leadership “Having an idea of the actual words you plan to use ahead of time makes the experience easier and will help you feel calm and in control … [Read more...]
Flex Your Style to Build Your Team
Building a high-performing team is a complicated thing to do. There is no single formula or strategy for doing it. The number of combinations of personality dynamics, business demands, economic situations and other variables affecting your team is probably too long to fully describe. Despite the complexity and number of variables, there some principles and ideas you can rely on … [Read more...]
The Key to Having More Time? Delegation
One of the co-workers I’ve most liked and respected in my career is a hardworking woman who is full of great ideas and ambition and takes a lot of pride in her work. She is someone who you can tell is going to do great things during the span of her career. That’s why one day, during a particularly stressful week, I was surprised to hear her say that she has a hard time … [Read more...]
How Do Your Employees Feel About Returning to Work?
For many organizations, the new norm is work from home, and for many managers and employees, there is a great deal of uncertainty about if and when they will return to an office or on-site location. If you are one of them, your transition back to the office may be completely out of your hands, but one very critical role you can play is communicating with your employees to … [Read more...]
Putting Out Fires: Stop, Drop and Role
I’ve worked with well-meaning, highly-principled leaders and managers for years. When the topic of coaching and developing their employees comes up, I often hear that they know coaching is important, they want to coach more, but they don’t have time because they are too busy “putting out fires.” Right now, that probably has never been more true. The pandemic put many leaders … [Read more...]
How to Keep a Conflict From Escalating
When I work with clients, I often see judgment driving much of the thinking during a conflict conversation. Rather than a genuine curiosity for understanding where the other person is coming from, one or both people judge the other person's intentions. Here's how I see the difference between these two attitudes: An attitude of judgment says: “They're trying to take … [Read more...]