Are you experiencing leadership drift? I wrote about this in my last post. As the word implies, “drift” is a loss of direction or purposefulness. I often encounter this in my work as a coach. Of course, any pattern of behavior that reduces leaders’ impact or influence is cause for concern. Leaders who have forgotten…
Business is an active, demanding endeavor. Only those who consistently apply themselves succeed. Organizations that thrive require leaders who actively dream, plan, engage, solve, pursue and network. It’s a lot of work, and there is no finish line. But no one can keep up the pace indefinitely. Every leader experiences profound peaks and valleys, seasons…
Are you working for a perfectionistic leader? Here’s a tip: submissiveness is not the answer. And as much as you’d like to, resist the urge to express resentment, defiance or disrespect. Rebelliousness goads perfectionists into reacting, worsening your relationship and causing irreparable damage. Instead, demonstrate your commitment to excellence by telling your boss that you,…
Perfectionism’s negative tendencies outweigh the positives when taken to extremes. As a coach, I see first-hand how working for a perfectionistic leader can be unbearable when they: Are generally inflexible and loath to entertain other ideas Become self-righteous when they’ve determined their analysis is thorough and needs no improvement Hover over employees, attempting to ensure…
No question, gratitude is a perspective that forms your mindset and world view. These act as valuable foundations for a positive, value-based life, both corporately and personally. This benefits the people around you as well. But how can you grow this trait within you? How can the seeds of gratitude get planted in your mind?…
The traditional definition of vulnerability is to be capable of, or susceptible to being wounded or hurt; being open to moral attack, criticism, temptation, etc. Most people in business understand these definitions and avoid vulnerability at all costs. Nowhere does this have more impact than in leadership circles. However, recent research in leadership has exposed…
When it comes to leadership give and take, “givers,” if taken advantage of too often, will eventually withdraw. I’ve been writing about the paradox of leadership give and take. What I’ve seen in my coaching practice is when givers become leery and withdraw giving to avoid being hurt, they become completely ineffective. Ultimately, the “takers”…
I’ve been writing about self-awareness and inner monologue, and how we can improve our connections to others through better self-knowledge. This next exercise builds on the previous exercise where you simply write down your inner monologue. It is a little harder because it requires you to pay attention to your beliefs and write them down….
It’s not always easy to uncover our blind spots and gain real self-awareness. One way is to write down your self-talk, recording the exact words you use. Do this several times over the course of a week, and you’ll uncover a lot about how you think and perceive your world. The exercise is even more…
Our inner monologue runs nonstop, whether we pay attention to it or not. It is a valuable source of self-awareness and a key to knowing our blind spots. Some call it self-talk, mind chatter, or inner voice. It often tends to be negative and judgmental. Even though our inner monologue filters, interprets, and gives meaning…