What They See That You Don’t

“We know our actions speak louder than words, but what are we actually saying when we think we are being silent”?   When I taught my first undergraduate leadership course as a graduate student nearly two decades ago, one of the first topics we covered was Johari’s Window (Luft & Ingham, 1955). This simple quadrant ...

If It Ain’t Broke, Improve It

“When examining an organization’s structure, the critical question for organizational leaders to ask: Are you serving the structure or is the structure serving you and your organization”? The structure of an organization is so critically integral to how it functions it can sometimes receive more deference that it is due.  We can think of examples ...

Creating Unique Value

“It’s not how hard you work that qualifies you for a pay raise or promotion, it is how you understand and make known the unique value you bring to your organization that truly matters”. While our primary motivation for the work we do within our organizations is not focused on advancing our careers, organizational leaders ...

Ambidextrous Thinking

“Like an optometrist exam, getting your clearest vision often involves trying on a series of different lenses.  Discarding some, keeping and making slight adjustments to others to bring matters into focus”. False dichotomies are named as such because in truth, there is always a continuum in which individual preferences, tendencies and work styles fall. Though ...

The 60 Second Investment

“Growth requires you to look in the mirror until you see something that makes you uncomfortable. You can either change or purposefully choose to stay the same”. If your organization is anything like mine, your role involves participating in a fair number of meetings and other interactions which evoke a range of emotions from excitement ...

Progress Over Perfection

07. March 2016 Coaching, Goals, Tools 1
“Prioritize Progress over Perfection – Ready, Fire, Aim is a better strategy than Ready, Aim, Aim”. Whether it is something new in your current career or you are looking to break ground into a new field, we all have small insecurities that we compensate for in different ways.  For many of us, one common coping mechanism ...

Schedule Your Promotion

“As we go through the busyness of our daily work lives, it is easy to miss the small and significant interactions and accomplishments that demonstrate our unique value to our organizations”. Opportunities are everywhere, capitalizing on opportunity requires preparation.  So what is an action you can put in to practice right now to have you ...