With some regularity, our clients share with us that they’re more distressed by the state of the world than they can ever remember. We can sometimes feel the same, so imagine our surprise when on January 6, 2019 we came upon a New York Times column by Nicholas Kristof titled: “Why 2018 was the Best Year in Human History!” We found it very powerful to hear some of the amazing things that happened in 2018 – most of which didn’t make it…
One of the things we love about the PAUSE is that you can use it to interrupt your reactivity to external actions, and you can use it to provide support for how you respond to your internal thoughts and feelings. When people are under stress, they often work harder, run faster, spend less time sleeping, exercising, and eating. They feel overwhelmed and have no clue how to get clear about what they need. Pausing is a powerful way to…
We are not big proponents of resolutions, since most of us don’t get much beyond January with this laundry list of big ideas. We believe that you matter. And because you matter, you need to know what your priorities are in life so that you can take steps to move toward them throughout the year. On this last day of 2018, we encourage you to spend a few minutes thinking about what you want to focus on in 2019. Identifying your priorities can…
Last week in our post, Holidazed?, we talked about 4 things you can do to position yourself for a fun, hectic, connecting, tiring holiday—one that leaves you proud of how you showed up and how you managed your priorities. We started with PAUSE, which many of you know is the first step in our Leader in You framework. The PAUSE can look like taking a small sip of water, a shuffling of papers, or a full out break from the action;…
In the movies, the holidays are perfect, happy, loving, spontaneous, and connecting, or they are disastrous explosions of personal misery. Both images are stressful, and neither has to be yours! We’ve heard from many of you that you’re feeling pretty tired, worn down, and not quite in the holiday spirit this year. In fact, many of you report a love-hate relationship with the holidays. On one hand, you love much of the connection and celebration but on the other hand, you’re busy,…
This week we want to talk about what we’ve all come to know as Imposter Syndrome – which is known as Imposterism in the research community. Imposter Syndrome is a powerful and derailing experience. People with Imposter Syndrome believe that they have successfully hidden that they are not competent or capable and they believe that their actual accomplishments are not earned. They feel fraudulent and live in fear of being “found out”. Imposter Syndrome leaves people feeling alone and ashamed. To…
We coach people who want to be powerful and effective, to come to a discussion about concerns with not only the concern, but also with a proposed solution. For some people, the idea is quite natural, but for others, it’s a challenging concept. They don’t know how to organize their thinking, particularly when the concern is emotionally heated. Today we wanted to offer you a simple structure that was initially developed by the US Navy and is now being…
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. …
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…
Last week we talked about how The Right Questions Can Change Your Life. As you might imagine, given our belief in questions, we’re always trying to figure out the right ones to create engagement, ownership, and passion. Inviting these into your conversations brings about collaboration and partnership which is transformative in work, family, and community relationships. So, what goes into figuring out the right questions? Get clear about your goals for the conversation Most of us are moving so fast we…