professional development

The Most Valuable Hour in Your Week

The Most Valuable Hour in Your Week

The ‘To-Do’ list on Monday often starts with what was left on Friday. Then the messages start coming in from the people that depend on us for things — boss, peers, customers, kids, spouse, aging parents, our team, and friends. Then we respond like we have on every other Monday — we get to work. Here is a solution that will cost you an hour and give you a return many times your investment.

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3 Reasons Culture Matters

3 Reasons Culture Matters

Does culture matter at your company? If it does, where do you start in order to make it stronger? Here is some help answering both of those questions – prepare to be challenged to add the title of Chief Culture Officer to your job description.

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3 Questions to Test for Trust

3 Questions to Test for Trust

Do your people TRUST you as a leader? Here are three questions to test that by simply asking and listening. The hidden benefit of asking a great question and listening is that it actually builds trust.

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Teambuilding 101 – Enter the Danger (and I don’t mean find a ropes course)

Teambuilding 101 – Enter the Danger (and I don’t mean find a ropes course)

Have you ever seen a group of leaders start becoming a team? The irony is that it does not take a ropes course or a walk in the mountains to find the danger that binds leaders together. EOS® creates opportunities for groups to become teams every time we get together. This story is based on several dozen EOS moments that I have experienced with teams on the journey to achieve what I have learned to call vision, traction, and healthy.

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Help is Not a 4 Letter Word

Help is Not a 4 Letter Word

How well do you manage change? More directly, how skilled are you at seeking the help of your peers, leaders, and key people when leading a team through a difficult change? Too often leaders treat Help like a four letter word, never to be uttered lest we be punished! Here is a lens to assist leaders in seeing their role in supporting in and dumping out, so that help becomes part of the process of change and healing.

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Leadership Wisdom 101: The Power of 2 or 3 or 10 (Part 3 of 3)

Leadership Wisdom 101: The Power of 2 or 3 or 10 (Part 3 of 3)

What is the impact of being a loner? What is the impact of feeling a part of a community? Data provides the answer, and the message is consistent and powerful for finding friends and building connections in our teams. Here is a sip of data, and 4 things every leader needs to do to drive towards the positive side of community, both personally and with the team they lead.

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The Sweet Spot: How to find it for yourself

The Sweet Spot: How to find it for yourself

Seeing plants grow and watching people perform results in the same comment: “Wow, they love it here.” How do you recognize that sweet spot, and more importantly, do you know how to get back there? Here are a few tips to know when you are there, and 3 resources to help identify and find your own sweet spot.

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Golf, Ego and Leadership: 3 questions to get you out of the trap

Golf, Ego and Leadership: 3 questions to get you out of the trap

Leadership lessons are all around us. Here is a lesson I learned around EGO during a golf game. The irony is that I failed to listen to the exact words I wrote and the metric(my score) reflected it. Here is how to identify where your ego is getting in your way and three questions to step back and reset. Watching the movie Tin Cup is your homework if you want to explore the topic further.

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Leadership Wisdom 101: Developing Your Capacity to Lead Change (Part 2 of 3)

Leadership Wisdom 101: Developing Your Capacity to Lead Change (Part 2 of 3)

Managers make widgets; leaders make change. Seth Godin said this, and I believe it. It is why change management is one of the key skills we need to develop as leaders. Opportunities to develop these skills are found both in and outside of work. Here are two models that will help you navigate any life change, and a free download to help guide you next time you are faced with a change.

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Leadership Wisdom 101: Seeing the bigger picture in leading (Part 1 of 3)

Leadership Wisdom 101: Seeing the bigger picture in leading (Part 1 of 3)

We lead in all aspects of our life, and where we get into trouble is when we stop doing it. We also make things harder for ourselves when wisdom and skills gained to help us be successful in one of our leadership roles does not get applied in other areas. Hint – being an effective active listener as a manager can also help you as a mother, father, friend, or neighbor. Here is part 1 of a 3-part series on doing this effectively.

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My Top 5 Leadership TED Talks

My Top 5 Leadership TED Talks

Learning + Doing = Growth. TED Talks have become an amazing resource for learning and the good ones not only challenge, but inspire us to do something. Here are my five favorite TED Talks that I share with leaders every chance I get.

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The Book of Joy: The 20 thoughts that stayed with me

The Book of Joy: The 20 thoughts that stayed with me

Wisdom comes in many forms. I look for opportunities to be in the room with people that are telling their story so I can listen to their words and feel their presence. The Book of Joy transported me into a room with two leaders worth listening to as they celebrated their friendship and reflected on topics I believe are critical to people at this point in our history. Not just for leaders, but for anyone who is looking to lead in their own life, regardless of their title or place.

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