collaboration

Why Diversity Is Good For You

In our work, we are having many discussions about the value of diversity. There is clearly a belief that diversity is a good thing, but many people don’t know exactly why. So, we wanted to provide you with some new research.   We’re at a time in our nation where there’s much division, anger, and fear. One of the areas of significant debate is the value of racial and ethnic diversity. So, it’s exciting to see this new research in…

Read More

What Do Others Really Know About You?

David came into the room and seemed almost depressed. He said that he’d met with a colleague and the colleague had told him that it was hard for him that David has it “so easy in life.”   David is a smart, articulate, handsome man who can wear just about anything and look like he walked out of the men’s magazine, GQ. He has a warmth about him that endears him to others, and he brings great insight to his company meetings. …

Read More

Examples of Great Questions

Over the last two weeks, we’ve been talking about the power of questions: The Right Questions Can Change Your Life and The Bones of a Great Question. Our articles have sparked requests from some of you asking if we could give examples of questions to ask. So, today, we’re doing just that. We’re sharing some great examples of questions that you can use to create engaging and connecting conversations. We’ve put them under a range of headings but don’t get stuck…

Read More

What Does Teamwork Even Mean?

In the USA it’s Labor Day, a time each year when we, as a country, recognize the contributions that workers have made to the success, strength, and well-being of our country.  Our last few posts have been focused on the challenges people face when working.  Last week, we offered some coaching in “It’s All About Teamwork”. Since that post we’ve heard from a number of you asking what the word teamwork even means in our current work world. So today, we…

Read More

Conquer Meeting Madness

We’re hearing again that people are struggling to get their work done because all of their time is spent in “useless” meetings…or Meeting Madness as we call it! Meetings are supposed to be a means to success. Sadly though, they’ve become a time-suck that actually prevent people from making headway on their list of things to do. But meetings can’t be all bad, can they? When done properly, they’re important and can do a lot to facilitate discussion, share information,…

Read More

Your Role As The Conductor

Recently, an executive we work with was describing that he was struggling to get out of the weeds of the day-to-day. He knew that he needed to be more strategic in his thinking and actions, but instead found himself pulled into doing the work that his team was assigned to do.   To succeed in his job, he needed to support others to do the work that needed to be done while he created the vision, strategy, and relationships to…

Read More

5 Steps To Decision Making

Last week we talked about how a handful of 2-second hesitations can lead to Failing to Make a Decision. Today, we want to share with you 5 important steps to increasing your ability to make decisions (even when it’s hard). 5 Steps to Decision Making Pause and ask yourself, “Is what I’m about to do in alignment with my goals?” It’s important that you actually know what your goals are. Consider what you are trying to achieve. Explore “What’s the…

Read More

Failing to Make a Decision

Linda was recently reading an article in The New York Times Magazine by Jami Attenberg (February 4, 2018) about healthcare decisions. In it, Attenberg said something that seemed powerfully true not only for our healthcare decisions but for all our decisions! This is what she said: “. . .[every time I needed to make a decision] I hesitated, and a handful of hesitations that take only a second added up to years of failing to make a decision.” This struck us as one…

Read More

The Skills That Make You a Great Leader

If you’ve been part of our community for a while, you know that our Work, with a capital W, is helping individuals, teams, and organizations succeed through increasing the leadership of each and every person, regardless of role or title.   As coaches and consultants, we work at the intersection of psychology and business and we know, from 30 years of experience, that the ability to lead requires that you: Pause and manage your reactivity so you can respond powerfully…

Read More

10 Minutes Can Re-Energize Your Team

We were recently in a meeting with two top executives. They were describing an incredibly challenging time when their leadership team was running at full speed. That afternoon, the team asked to skip a leadership team meeting so they could use that time to focus on several “revenue critical” efforts that were underway. These executives needed to make a decision that would move their agenda forward, create success for the organization, and manage their staff’s need for some control over…

Read More
Subscribe to the Monday Morning Business Coach

A weekly leadership email delivered right to your inbox.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with leaders, teams, and individuals who are passionate about growing in their leadership and in their ability to create cultures of psychological safety and engagement.

We’d love to hear from you!

(503) 274-9447

letschat@carpentersmith.com