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Cathy Gaynor
How (and Why) to Delegate Effectively
Delegation is an essential skill, both in leadership and everyday life. We all need to reach out periodically and ask for help. But it’s not always easy to do, for both social and psychological reasons. Let’s discuss the benefits of effective delegation, and try to remove some of the mental roadblocks that prevent us from…
Adopting the Essentialism Mindset
The pandemic has had a major impact on how we work – from where we do it, to how we measure success. We’ve necessarily shifted into efficiency mode, but can we be as effective, productive, and satisfied with our accomplishments? If those benchmarks were historically driven by a traditional work environment, can we see them…
Pace Yourself
Coming off the big upset at the Kentucky Derby last month, gets me thinking about races and coming from behind. Who does not love to see the underdog win? Maybe you would not be happy if you bet based on the odds that you have researched the horses or which horse has won the most…
Transparency versus Vulnerability
Transparent Leadership Brene Brown’s work on vulnerability has been showing up frequently in the news and on social media. I enjoy her work tremendously and am aligned with much of her research and her vision around what is needed by leadership. I prefer the word transparency rather than vulnerability; vulnerability seems almost too personal for…
Appreciation and Encouragement
During this time of working from home and dealing with challenges of connecting with your teams, co-workers, peers, and clients, appreciation and encouragement are critical. Even our families need that support, as we are challenged to be at home working and schooling together. In “The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace” by Gary Chapman…
Relentless Progress
The need to progress – to practice CANI, or Constant, Never-Ending Improvement – is an ever-present need in our lives, both personal and professional. Between social media and the fact of information literally at our fingertips, knowing what we should be reading, watching, researching or listening to can be confusing and often overwhelming. We often…
Demonstrating Influence
Which one of the following tips from the Inc Magazine article, “7 Ways to Build Influence in the Workplace,” do you feel is the most important? Build Trust with your Co-workers Cultivate Reliability Through Consistency Be Assertive, Not Aggressive Be Flexible Be Personal Focus on Actions Rather than Argument Listen to Others All of these…
Curiosity Did Not Kill the Cat!
The “curiosity” idea for this blog stemmed from a client interaction a couple months ago. During our leadership development session with her team, our client reflected on her interactions with others and the fact that she is always curious about why people think, feel, and act the way they do. And I thought, what a…
Winding Down to Power Up
According to Marketwatch1, the average U.S. employee who receives paid vacation has only taken about half (54 percent) of those days in the past 12 months. Additionally, another challenge – new to the digital age – is the number of people who take their vacation time but continue to work, checking emails, voicemails, etc. This…
Time for a New “Mindset”? – A Book Review
The subtitle of Carol Dweck’s book, “Mindset,” says it all: ”How we can learn to fulfill our potential.” In my work with clients, I am continually studying and learning about how we can all increase our potential. This book describes and gives numerous examples of how changing our mindset can and will do just that….