Leadership

Leadership’s Need for More Courageous Authenticity

As a leadership development specialist and certified executive coach, I work with leaders who are interested in scaling their leadership. Scaling leadership is defined as building organizational capacity to create outcomes that matter most. The scope of development is typically in three focus areas: The leader as an individual The leader’s team(s) The organization the…

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Coming Out of My Cave

Like so many of us, 2020 found me hunkering down and protecting myself by retreating to my cave. This move was necessary to keep me and my family safe, but it had some limitations as relates to growth. As things have been opening up and I am feeling safer out in the world, I am…

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Platforms and Pitfalls

I’m not really much of a gamer; my history with Activision and Atari 2600 gaming systems will either date me or render me seriously retro-cool. One of my favorite video games of all time, however, was Pitfall. In Pitfall, the player was a jungle explorer-type of character attempting to navigate around, over and through various…

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A Practice in Surrendering

Sometimes when I reflect upon my own thoughts and actions, I have to laugh a little – that laugh we use to mask critical judgment, the one that says somehow we knew better, somehow we’d been there before, yet here we are repeating the same folly. It seems that it would be infinitely easier to…

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From Peer to Boss…Help!

Moving up in the organization is an exciting time. Promotions offer more responsibilities, interesting challenges, and often a higher salary. And if you’re on that track, it’s inevitable that your peers may one day be your direct reports … which can be awkward at best, and distractingly uncomfortable at worst. The stakes get even higher…

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The Five F’s of Performance

As many of you know, I enjoy experimenting with fun and reliable ways to remember ideas that help me be a more effective leader, and to perform at higher levels as a coach, leader, spouse, father, and community leader. This led me to my latest experiment, the Five F’s of performance – Focus, Faith, Flow,…

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Mastering Development

Leadership, team, and organizational development efforts are often challenged by being disconnected from the strategy of the organization, too content-centered, and not adaptable to changing needs of a dynamic environment. Development occurs through many different yet integrated methods. While formal training is one aspect, it is only a piece of what people need to flourish…

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Old Dogs

I got really irritated the other day because the new pair of pants I purchased – and had worn only once! – got ruined. My dog Halo, in all his joy to see me walk through the door, jumped up on me and his nails snagged the fabric. Honestly, I was really mad, but not…

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Complexity

Life during a pandemic is extraordinarily complex. Processes, rituals, and daily habits we once took for granted have been sabotaged by complications and changes invariably leading to more complications and changes. That complexity – the addition of multiple interconnected parts into our daily lives – can be challenging on many levels. New information may be…

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Curiosity… not just for cats anymore.

Curiosity is one of the foundational qualities of a leader’s character and plays a vital dual role for those in a leadership position. It is the portal that allows us access to learn about ourselves, the fuel that feeds the flames of our education, inspiration, imagination, creativity, and judgment and allows us to make contributions…

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