During a recent "Coach Approach to Managing" training workshop, I found myself in the midst of a lively discussion with a couple dozen ambitious leaders — half of them millennials — each...
Giving Feedback is Difficult!
I recently heard something at the end of a call that shocked me. It wasn't a scheduled meeting. It was a call I had to make because things weren't going well with a vendor we were...
Culture: It starts at the top
I can clearly remember the first time I witnessed first-hand the impact culture can have on employees. Thirty-something odd years ago, I was a fresh-faced consultant at a leadership firm. I’d...
Stillness is not a Luxury
Last month, I spent six memorable days in the Columbia River Gorge, near Portland. I was attending an alumni conference for Pepperdine University where I did my master’s, but I ended up going...
3 Things I’d Tell My 29-Year-Old Self
We recently facilitated a leadership training on the subject of balanced conversations. The attendees were primarily first-time managers who were feeling the weight of their new...
Sometimes, you’ve just gotta get on that bike and start pedaling!
Do you remember how you first learned to ride a bike? If you’re like most people, a trusted adult probably showed you the ropes (that’s me with my grandma, Elvie, in the picture!). Perhaps...
What Does Taking a “Coach Approach” Mean?
Why can’t my employee just do what I tell them to the first time? A client recently asked me that very question when struggling with one of his team members. What he realized was the problem...
So, how do you like YOUR scrambled eggs?
I recently came across an article in the New York Times that promised a recipe for cooking “velvety, custardy, soft-scrambled eggs.” What I found fascinating was the variety of comments (and...
What are the differences between a coaching culture and a mentoring one?
Lots of companies assign new employees a mentor as part of their internal onboarding program. While mentoring is great, it’s not the same as coaching. Both are valuable, but for different...
The Elephant in the Room
You could feel the elephant in the room. Laura paced anxiously, scanning her colleagues’ faces for some kind of indication they were on her side. “I don’t buy it,” exclaimed Laura....
A Surefire Way to Put Your Colleagues On The Defensive…
“Why didn’t you follow the new report-writing process?” Camilla froze, unsure what to say. She wanted to tell Tammy the truth: that she’d found a faulty assumption in the process that...
Stop “Squeezing Things In”
I once coached an executive who wanted to spend more time networking, but felt she had no time for it. As a leader in an industry where connections were critical, she felt disconnected. When...