Are You Fit To Lead?
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a training on team coaching. At some point during the training, the instructor made the comment, “Team coaching is like the X Games of coaching. You have to be fit for it.” There ensued a lively discussion of what it means to be fit, and how to cultivate…
How To Manage Difficult People
This morning when I Googled “how to manage difficult employees,” I got 54,400,000 results. Beyonce, by the way, got only 10,500,000. I know that the number of hits for any given search can vary dramatically from day to day (and I’ve done these searches multiple times). But still, I’m impressed by that spread! And it…
This Formula Will Help You Close Communication Gaps On Your Team
Not long ago, I sat in on a meeting between one of my clients and his boss. His boss requested the meeting because he had recently observed or heard about several incidents in which my client’s behavior had a negative impact on other team members. He wanted to hear my client’s perspective. He also wanted…
Do You Have What It Takes To Learn?
I was on my annual meditation retreat last month, and at some point during the week one of my teachers made a throw-away comment during one of his talks. He said: “You don’t become wise by thinking. You become wise by acting unwisely, being present for it, and holding the intention to learn.” His comment…
Tool Box: The Waterline Model – A Tool For Resolving Team Breakdowns
Last month I wrote about the way we tend to make things personal when we run into conflict or challenges at work. This month, I want to offer a simple tool for understanding and addressing those sorts of breakdowns. It’s called the Waterline Model, and I have found it extremely useful over the years in…
What If It’s Not Personal?
Last night at dinner my husband asked me: How do you get two people on a project to get along? I immediately responded with lots of questions: What’s the context? Whose project is it? What are the reporting relationships? How do you know they’re not “getting along?” What’s happening as the result of them not…
The “Secret” Ingredient of Leadership Presence
“Presence” is a buzz word in the worlds of leadership and executive coaching these days. A simple Google search will yield dozens of blogs and coaching sites and articles on the topic, some interesting, some little more than fluff. But what does “leadership presence” really mean? Why does it matter? And how do you cultivate…
Would You Want To Work For These Organizations?
It’s rare that I get really excited about an article in Harvard Business Review. But this month, I’m talking to everybody I know about an article in the April 2014 issue of the magazine. Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey, along with two other colleagues, wrote “Making Business Personal,” and I just happen to think that…
7 Leadership Lessons From The Dance Floor
About 15 years ago, back in my dancing days, I attended a workshop led by Frankie Manning, considered one of the founding fathers of lindy hop. Manning danced and taught his entire life, and was probably in his early 80’s at the time of this workshop. Despite his age, his mastery and energy were on…
Have You Opened Your Gifts?
Not too long ago, a client said to me at the end of our meeting, “I don’t know if you know this, but I really look forward to these meetings.” It was, of course, a very nice thing to hear. In retrospect, however, I think of her comment as a gift I left unopened. I…