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Grow Them or Buy Them
A question that many growing organizations wrestle with is whether they want to grow their leadership team from existing staff (internal candidates) or source new talent (external candidates) with demonstrated leadership experience. There is understandably a sense of mutual loyalty and value in providing existing employees with opportunities for growth and development. However, sometimes leaders…
Happy Holidays
The month of December has, through the years, come to represent celebration – the time of year to gather with loved ones, friends and colleagues in joy and peace, to look at once backward and forward and to reflect on the present. At Emergent, we are reflecting on the values of relationships, trust, contribution, and…
Intersection Observations
Have you ever approached a 4-way intersection simultaneously with three other vehicles? It happens to me sometimes at an intersection near my home. It’s the type of intersection that has four stop signs and no traffic light, and when four vehicles arrive at the same time, there is often a moment of observing the other…
Gratitude
Thanksgiving is a time where we create a strategic pause to be thankful, to be grateful, and to reflect in gratitude for all we know, have and love. While most of us try to incorporate gratitude, at least peripherally, every day of the year, Thanksgiving is when we actually put it on the calendar, front…
Five ways to get the most out of your daily reading
“The attainment of the carpenter is that his work is not warped, that the joints are not misaligned, and that the work is truly planned so that it meets well and is not merely finished in sections. This is essential.” – Miyamoto Musashi, “The Book of Five Rings.” Each year I set reading goals for…
Ralphisms
In a recent panel discussion for the local chapter of ATD, a participant asked for a list of what she called “Ralphisms” – evidently, I’ve become somewhat famous for always having a catchy phrase or saying at the ready, accumulated through the years and intended to both shift people’s thinking and be easy to remember….
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…
Why is it so hard for leaders to practice self-care?
And it’s not just leaders. Many corporate high performers struggle to care for themselves well – myself included at times. My healthy habits – restful sleep, good nutrition, diligent hydration – are sporadic at best, and my exercise routine is not routine at all. I also find that I am often a very shallow breather…
Leading Self-directed Teams
The topic of self-directed teams surfaced in a recent conversation with a few leaders around the dynamics of decision-making and authority on teams. One leader asked, “How do you lead a self-directed team?” – a brilliant question with a complicated set of answers. I didn’t want to rely solely on my leadership experiences, despite having…
High Performance Incompetence
I recently had the opportunity to receive some high-performance driver training from an expert at a local club track. During our discussion and practice laps, I realized that although I have been driving for over 25 years, there is an entire world of nuanced expertise of which I am completely ignorant. I am currently, it…