Questions are a leader’s most powerful tool. When you lead well, you learn to ask more than tell. There’s a distinction between teaching and leading. For the team, they can become blurred when the leader blurs those lines. Teaching means showing, telling, correcting, learning, and generating. Leading is involved, but the outcome is clear: transition competencies and accountability. For many…
In many ways, I rely on reframing my mindset to do hard things. When a cardinal shows up outside my window, I know Mahtab is with me and all is well. When good things happen amidst challenges, I focus on them rather than the challenge and it fuels me forward. When I’d rather stay home because it’s easier, I show…
When I wake up early, fully rested, without an alarm and the day greets me with a beautiful sunrise, peace and quiet, I am winning the day. My time of day is the morning. My energy is high, my thinking is clear, and my excitement for what’s possible is high. The enthusiasm and focus available to me are at my…
When things are meant to be, there is an ease to it all. Sometimes, I forget this and whether by habit or stubbornness, I get attached to how I think it’s supposed to happen. There’s the challenge. When I attach myself to how, it often leads to frustration, irritation, disappointment, and perceived problems. When I attach myself to the outcome,…
I don’t like being told what to do. In fact, I have a visceral reaction when I feel like someone is offering the “only” option and there are others available to me. When I take a breath and evaluate, it prompts me to action. The kind of action which expands my options, possibilities, and choices. As soon as that happens,…
Business is challenging. Peter Drucker said “Only three things happen naturally in organizations: friction, confusion, and underperformance. EVERYTHING else requires leadership.” I find this quote empowering. When you accept that it will be rough, little will go well, and the bar is low, you can rise to the challenge. Leadership is that scarce commodity available to those who realize the…
When things are hard it’s natural to think you want to quit, or at the very least, stop. Will you? Or will you let adversity help you grow? One way or the other, you’ll get there. One way is slower, with penalties and interest, the other is direct. The only way out is through.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.” James Clear shared this as part of his keynote at the recent EOS Conference, and it really spoke to me. As I think about my own systems, those in place for me personally are a bit more elusive than those constructed in concert…
Everybody leans on leaders. Do you ever feel like you’re the shock absorber for those around you? I know I do. You buffer things, are a sounding board, are the voice of reason, and a helper to those around you who may need a confidential source to confide in when things are chaotic. When you’re that resource for others, where…
Let’s talk about intentionality. What does it mean to be intentional and how does it show up in our world? I’m a pretty disciplined person at this point in my life. When I say that what I mean is, I intend to have certain results, and if I want them, I ask myself, “who do I need to be and…