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Bill Berthel
Connecting
It seems we often start new relationships with common questions – “Where are you from? What do you do? Where do you live now?” These questions are considered socially safe, predictable and expected. However, these safe questions are often slow starters – or worse, non-starters – for meaningful connection. Having recently moved to a new…
Timely Response
Have you ever experienced not getting a reply in a timely manner? Maybe it’s a voicemail you left for someone several days ago, an unanswered email sent yesterday, or a text you sent this morning that remains unanswered or not replied to. We seem to have unconscious expectation of the expected reply time related to…
Expectations and Success as a Leader
I recently overheard a small group of business leaders commiserating about a project that wasn’t proceeding as well as anticipated. They all seemed to be in a spirit of supporting one another, as we so often do when we trust colleagues with our frustrations and complaints. This can be healthy, of course, the opportunity to…
Stop Growing and Developing
While I am a huge fan of the book “The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck,” I think author Mark Manson got one element wrong. He claims there is a natural “Law” called the “Backwards Law,” which suggests the human desire to improve and want for more is counterintuitive and that the opposite is…
Empathetic Leadership
There’s plenty of great information available on the value and power of empathy for leaders – so much, in fact, I hesitate to write on this topic for fear of not adding any value to the discussion. However, I would like to share a facet of empathy often not associated with leaders: the facet of…
There is no ‘I’ in ‘Team’
We’ve all heard the axiom before. Usually it’s in the context of reminding someone they are too focused on their own interests and not focused enough on the team. Sometimes it’s declared as a preemptive strike against the fear of lack of compliance to the agenda or team’s mission. Sometimes, it’s ensuring that the “cowboys”…
Right People – Right Seats, pt 1
Right People – Right Seats: This post is the first of two related posts. Here we’ll take on the “Right People” and in my next post, we’ll discuss “The Right Seats.” Part I: Right People The title of this post may remind you of one of the more widely known analogies of getting the right…
Why I Love Coaching Millennials
Despite my experience and background in Human Resources, I have resisted the generational stereotyping so common in my field. I have given presentations on the topic of Generations In The Workplace on several occasions, and I am invited to do so because my approach is that of common ground – how we’re the same –…
Unstuck your Team
Teams frequently get stuck. While different than complete dysfunction – but sometimes a precursor – teams may become challenged and stagnant for various reasons. In the worst case scenario, they remain stuck and become dysfunctional, and so identifying a stuck team and getting it unstuck is an important responsibility for a leader. In Patrick Lencioni’s…
Predictably Irrational – A Book Review
My niece, who attends Clemson University in South Carolina, shared a required reading from her economics course with several of my family members. Knowing how much I adore human behavior and psychology, she thought this book would be “right up my alley.” And my father-in-law knew I’d enjoy “Predictably Irrational” by Dr. Dan Ariely, the…
