Create a Legacy You’re Proud of Each individual leaves a legacy. But leaders have a unique opportunity. We have the chance to leave a deep impact on the tight-knit group that we may spend years leading. Regardless of whether it is intentional or not, you will leave a lasting impact on your team. And it’s up to you to decide the impact you want to make through your leadership role. That’s both incredibly exciting and […]
Your Leadership Impact Read More »
Which One is Holding You Back? What truly makes a good leader? When most people think about leadership, they picture the visible responsibilities: giving feedback, leading meetings, making decisions, managing conflict… But that’s just the outer game of leadership—the actions others can see. If you are trying to improve your leadership skills, it’s common to focus on these actions. You start to figure out what you need to do more of, or do less of,
Inner Game vs. Outer Game Read More »
Addressing the Leadership Skill Gap “When I first went from regular employee to manager, I knew exactly how to step into my new role and lead my team…” …said no leader ever!!! More often, it’s the opposite. You step into your role, then maybe you start to realize… “I didn’t get trained for this.” “I’m confident in my work but not in my team.” “I don’t want to let my team down, but I don’t
New Managers Aren’t Trained in Leadership Read More »
How To Motivate Without Micromanaging Many newer managers tend to swing wildly in one direction or another in terms of how much control they exert over their teams. Some go overboard on the “hands-off” approach. They’ve heard about or experienced the problems of micromanaging. What often happens is they show up as overly-trusting managers, not putting in the time to train team members or set appropriate guidelines for how the work should be done. While
Control Kills Motivation Read More »
The Hush Around Conflict Earlier this year, the hottest debate on LinkedIn was centered around something extremely trivial: the em dash. If you post on LinkedIn, you probably saw some of the heated comments between the “em dashes are indicators of AI” and “I used em dashes long before AI” crowds. We might dismiss this argument as silly internet drama, but I think there’s a much bigger lesson to learn here. Humans are brilliant, empathetic,
Is This Killing Team Creativity? Read More »
5 Tips to Salvage the Meeting With so much uncertainty in the world right now turning up the heat and pressure, employees are having a tough time. So if you’ve noticed your teammates being stressed or disengaged—now more than ever is a time for patience and understanding! As leaders, we face the same challenges that our teammates do. But we also have the responsibility to try to make connections and understand their struggles—and one of the
One-on-one Took a Negative Turn? Read More »
Not Just Authority “Why won’t they just do their jobs?” I think we’ve all had a frustrated moment like this at some point! When my client Rob* asked me this question, he was reaching the end of his patience. Rob was a highly analytical, black-and-white thinker. When given a job, he simply did it, earning him recognition as a high-performer. So when he transitioned into a leadership position, he couldn’t understand why his team didn’t
Learning to Lead Through Connection… Read More »
But It’s Making Your Work Harder “What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important.” Those famous words came from President Dwight Eisenhower, who used a simple grid to prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance. Today that grid is called the Eisenhower Box, or Eisenhower Matrix. Eisenhower’s urgency-importance framework is just as applicable as it was decades ago. Because, even though we now have an endless well of technology at
Our Brains Love an Easy Button Read More »
Isn’t it weird how we all know the basics of self-care—but we still have so much resistance to it? I remember working with my client Beth* to build better self-care habits into her lifestyle. We started with just two changes: ➡️ A “no excuses” 10-minute workout 3x a week. ➡️ Healthier meal-planning. Even though these were small changes, her resistance still popped up right away. “I don’t have time for all this!” she protested. Isn’t
We All Use the Same Excuse Read More »
Connecting Purpose to the Personal Sometimes teams go through periods of exhaustion. They’re just showing up, checking off boxes, and going home. As a leader, there are few things more disheartening. I’ve had several people tell me, “No one seems to care as much as I do!” Some days it feels as if you’re trying to carry your whole team forward by yourself. But what if you’re missing a crucial element? It’s not that your
Why Doesn’t Your Team Care? Read More »
I have a simple question for you: “Who else on your team can take on the project you’re consumed by right now?” Stop and think about it for a moment. Do you have an answer? A while back, when I asked my client Grace* this question, she looked at me like I’d sprouted an extra head! That’s when she realized how stuck she was. Grace had been asked to work on a strategic plan that
The Real Reason You’re Too Busy Read More »
In leadership roles, we’re used to starting Q1 with the heat turned up. Always busy, always behind, and always battling a long to-do list 😬 When under pressure, we naturally feel the need to work harder and faster. Especially as leaders with a whole team counting on us! But if that’s your mindset, you’re in danger of falling into the same trap I did: ➡️ You’re productive but you’re not actually making progress. ➡️ You’re
The #1 Gamechanger for Growing as a Leader Read More »
As 2020 draws to a close, I’ve been thinking about what I can say to you all at this time that will be helpful. What will be in support of you all finding peace with 2020 and setting your sights on better days (and outcomes) ahead in 2021? I’ve drafted and abandoned several blog posts, and finally arrived at this simple approach, which is based in the work I’ve done this year. If we can
Discover the Gifts of 2020 Read More »
Your saboteurs are the voices in your head that hold you back from reaching your full potential. They are the creators of your negative emotions, including anger, frustration, guilt, and blame, and they aim to keep you swirling in a negative mindset. They take up space in your brain without paying rent. They’ve been with you so long, that you may believe all the harmful things they say. Please know that you’re not alone. Every
It’s All a Bunch of Lies! Read More »
I think I can safely say that 2020 has not worked out as any of us predicted it would. We started the year with a massive vision. It was a “2020 Vision”- how perfect! Unfortunately, we all now know the deep pain and loss that this year has delivered to our doors. As we slide into August, with even more uncertainty on the horizon, I want to offer a cleansing ritual of sorts. I encourage you
The end of one year and the start of the next is always a great opportunity to pause and notice where we’ve been and where we’re going. As we head into 2020, we have the chance to usher in a new year and a new decade. 2020 represents symmetry and balance. It holds layers of meaning if we let it. No matter the condition of your actual eyesight, don’t pass up this opportunity to have
Click through and scroll down to watch the short video. This is a simple concept that we all lose sight of from time to time, so it bears repeating. Our circumstances are quite often happening to us. Sometimes bad stuff happens and we are powerless to change it. What we do have power over is our perspective through which we view the circumstances. Think of this like a lens or a framework for seeing the
Circumstances and Perspective Read More »
I am a magnet for success and good fortune. About ten years ago, I adopted this affirmation. It reminds me of my power to attract the people, things and circumstances that I want more of in my life. When I put my current office together in 2015, I wrote this on the bottom side of my desk (see the photo above). I also wrote it on a post-it note and stuck it to my computer
What’s Your Story? Read More »
Last week I received a lovely email from a woman who participated in my webinar. She let me know that the content I shared made a big impact on her and she’s looking forward to putting the concepts to work in her life. Today, as I was feeling low and lacking motivation, I re-read that email. It literally turned my day around and got me thinking about the wisdom of collecting these little notes as
You Need a Smile File Read More »
The brilliant Simon Sinek implores us to “Start With Why”. It’s a question that’s intended to drill right to the heart of our purpose. When used effectively, “why” helps us create a vision that’s infused with energy and supported by passion. Unfortunately, that’s not how most people use “why”. “Why did you do it that way?” could simply be a bid for understanding. But with just the slightest change in tone, emphasis or even body
The Impact of Asking “Why” Questions Read More »