Category Archive

Mental Toughness for Success Few of us wake up in the morning with the intention of being a hero. Instead, we hope to get by without any major stumbling blocks and aim to do what is expected of us. It’s only when confronted with obstacles that threaten to derail our routines and plans that we don the armor and go … Read More

Conversational IQ: 5 Conversational Blind Spots “Human beings are the most highly social species on this planet. When we succeed in connecting deeply with others – heart to heart and head to head – trust is at its all-time high, and people work in concert in extraordinary ways.” ~ Judith E. Glaser, Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust & Get … Read More

Driven to Lead: What Makes People Tick “Our understanding of leadership can be no better than our understanding of what makes humans, all humans, tick – what are the ultimate motivators of our behavior.” ~ Warren Bennis Leadership is about relationships with others. You cannot lead without understanding the innate drives that are essential to human development and survival. Decades … Read More

Coaching Conversations: Teaching People to Think  One cannot teach a man anything. One can only enable him to learn from within himself. ~ Galileo Galilei With so many employees being paid to think, leaders and managers should find ways to cultivate their staffs’ cerebral capabilities to boost workplace performance. But most leaders wouldn’t know where to start. The process begins … Read More

Overcoming Leadership Blind Spots “Leadership is a struggle by flawed human beings to make some important human values real and effective in the world as it is.” ~ Steven Snyder, Leadership and the Art of Struggle There’s no escaping it: Everyone has blind spots. No matter how hard we try to be self-aware, everyone – including the best leader – … Read More

Put Positive Leadership into Action Executive coaches and leadership consultants who encourage positive thinking often encounter cynical, hard-driving executives with a close eye on the bottom line. But positivity coaches have come a long way since author Norman Vincent Peale preached his positive philosophy of faith and miracles. Today’s positive-psychology movement is founded on empirical evidence. Social scientists have documented … Read More

Do Ask, Don’t Tell “Carpenters have hammers, dentists have picks, and physicians have stethoscopes. It is hard to envision any of these people working in their chosen fields without their basic set of tools. Managers, too, have a basic set of tools: questions.” ~ Terry J. Fadem, The Art of Asking: Ask Better Questions, Get Better Answers (FT Press, 2008) Good communication … Read More

Rethinking Motivation Most business leaders have lost sight of what motivates people at work. In fact, some companies haven’t updated their management practices in years, which means they’re incapable of creating high-performance teams. Companies continue to ignore the obvious: Offering incentives and rewards is less effective than tapping into truly meaningful intrinsic motivation. Leaders operate on old assumptions about motivation … Read More

Accountability Essentials “Accountability should be the strongest thread that runs through the complex fabric of any organization. It is the single biggest issue confronting organizations today, particularly those engaged in enterprise-wide change efforts.” ~ CEOs Roger Connors and Tom Smith, Change the Culture, Change the Game: The Breakthrough Strategy for Energizing Your Organization and Creating Accountability for Results (Portfolio Hardcover, … Read More

Improve Your Brain at Work  “You won’t know what your brain can do until you test its limits and push beyond them. No matter how inefficiently you are using your brain, one thing is certain: It is the gateway to your future.” ~ Rudolph E. Tanzi and Deepak Chopra, Super Brain: Unleashing the Explosive Power of Your Mind to Maximize Health, Happiness … Read More