Complete Video Library
Would You Like Any Dessert?
Reinforcing a policy with an employee who believes you are friends.
Article: Breaking the Cycle
What problems are we trying to solve with the same old ineffective circular approach? We can usually figure this out. When a problem repeatedly rears its ugly head, our approach is likely a circular one.
Article: Everyone Needs a Coach
Your time is precious. You need customized, just-in-time solutions. This is one of the reasons corporate leaders are now working with executive coaches. The one-on-one personalized approach gives you what you need when you need it. Coaching can accommodate your busy schedule. And quite often people will tell an outsider what they won’t tell you.
Article: Finding Balance
Everyone I know struggles to balance their work and home lives. No, wait a minute. That’s not true. My retired friends seem to have it down pat. The rest of us juggle, patch, negotiate, apply a temporary fix here and there. This isn’t very satisfying. In short, we feel as if we’re not doing justice to our careers or to our families and friends.
Article: Full Plate
The constant pressure to do more with less can lead to worker burnout. Burnout happens when requests for our time and energy exceed our capacity to comply.
Article: Generations Apart
A fun and interesting article about younger employees - from the perspective of a Baby Boomer. Honest thoughts and interesting stereotypes are discussed. Will some generation-based attributes still annoy us? Sure they will. Can we work through those problems? We can if we choose to do so.
Article: Getting Creative
What inspires you to create? When I ask my clients and workshop attendees this question, I’m usually met with a pause, possibly accompanied by a blank stare and a tendency to search for something shiny to focus on. Most of us aren’t used to thinking about this question, and it makes us uncomfortable. We aren’t sure we really are creative.
Article: Getting Enough Sleep
Some people wear their sleep deprivation like a badge of honor. If they sleep less, they think they’ll get more done. As long as they don’t keel over into their bowl of soup at lunch, they figure they’re doing pretty well. CNN has suggested sleep problems are reaching epidemic proportions, and the National Commission on Sleep Disorders puts the price tag at $150 billion dollars each year in higher stress and reduced productivity.
Article: Goals and New Year’s Resolutions
What are your hopes and dreams for the New Year? Maybe you’re like a friend of mine whose resolution is that she won’t have any resolutions. I recommend this for those of you who think last year was akin to spending eternity atop a treadmill set on warp speed. Maybe you need a break from resolutions.
Article: Got Post-Holiday Stress? Try Laughing!
Are you congratulating yourself for having made it through another stress-filled holiday season? About the time you’re ready to take that much-deserved breath of fresh air, you go outside and realize the fresh air you’re breathing is generating stalactites under your nose.
Article: Leading with Heart
What does it mean to lead with heart, and why is this important? We see signs all around of us of what happens when we fail to lead with heart. We end up fighting wars…we neglect those in need… we pollute our environment.
Article: Mortgaging the Future
Goals are mostly a good thing, but what happens when personal or corporate goals mortgage the future for short-term gain? At what point do we recognize the folly and re-think our strategy?
Article: Overcoming Worries and Fears
Our fears limit us. They hold us back. They keep us from living a positive, proactive life that embraces the good and decries that which needs to be changed. Fear-based decisions hurt us, and they hurt others who are affected by our decisions. The child who is never allowed to make decisions because we fear she’ll make the wrong decisions finally rebels and turns into the teenager from the black lagoon.
Article: Overwhelmed? Compartmentalize!
When we catch ourselves elongating a mishap or problem, we can compartmentalize. Big word, but relatively easy concept. Think of your life as one that is filled with a series of rooms. One room might hold that CEO who badmouthed your brilliant work. Another might hold your career with the company.
Article: Pay Attention
It is in our present moments, that we truly live. Each time we catch a pleasant scent or feel a cool spring breeze we are brought to the immediate. This gives us a chance to notice and appreciate that which surrounds us.
Article: Persevering When Times are Tough
It isn’t easy to experience loss, whether our loss is business-related, financial, or personal in nature. Most of us learned quite recently, for example, that the stock market giveth, and the stock market most definitely taketh away. Our response to a loss such as this can make or break us.
Article: Productive Workload Management
It seems donkeys, though beasts of burden, have limits. Load one to excess, and it will be hard pressed to do your bidding. People who work for us are no different. Some can juggle hats, plates, balls, and flaming torches simultaneously. Even the most talented will drop it all if we add too much to the mix.
Article: Promote Wisely
We often do this dumb thing in corporations. We want to recognize employees who do brilliant technical work, so we reward them with our plum management jobs. Sure, sometimes these people are brilliant managers, too. Far too often they end up cutting a destructive Tasmanian Devil-like swath through the organization as they spin their way up the corporate ladder.
Article: Stressed? Take a Break!
Ours is a complex, fast-paced world. We all know about the treadmill analogy. Some of us run pretty fast. The mind has a hard time catching up with the body. Some of us don’t so much identify with the treadmill as we do the Tasmanian Devil. Either way, we’re moving fast and we need a break.
Article: Supporting Consistent Ethics and Values in the Workplace
As business leaders, what do we truly value? Integrity? Innovation? Delighting our customers? Being an employer of choice? Or are some of these just platitudes that make our annual reports look pristine? Does our aversion to ideas advocating radical change suggest we are really a conservative company, even though our words tell everyone we value risk taking?