Articles/Blog

A Leadership Practice Worth Mastering

One of the most common complaints of the workforce today is not feeling heard or understood by one’s manager.  It sounds like this: “My boss doesn’t listen to me.” “My manager doesn’t understand what it’s like.” “My supervisor isn’t open to my perspective.” “I wish I had more of a say in _____” (fill in…

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Sod Casting

Sod Casting

Without looking it up, did you know what “sod casting” is? I first heard the word in a TED talk about leaders who actively broadcast their message from a self-centered, egotistical style. You might know the type … he or she probably has a blog. 😉 I immediately visualized spreading out a new lush green…

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Growing or Dying

Growing or Dying

If you’re not familiar with thermodynamics (no judgment!), the field has defined four laws that help explain temperature, heat, work and energy. The second law, most applicable to leadership and development, is tricky despite its simplicity. It’s often expressed as a simple truth: Energy is converted through work, yet you never get the same level…

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Aikido Communication

Let’s face it: no matter the type of relationship, there’s going to be conflict – and that’s okay. In fact, it’s expected. It should even be welcomed. Not all of us are comfortable with conflict, however, including myself. One common approach to conflict, and my personal favorite, is “I don’t want to make waves.” Unfortunately,…

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The Bright Side of Moving

At the end of June, Greg and I moved out of the home we’ve shared for 16 years. Prior to the move, it was seven months of sorting, organizing, disposing, donating, packing. I rank moving right up there with the night before a colonoscopy, putting on a bathing suit for the first time of the…

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Learning and Wisdom

We all have moments when we are either wrong or misguided. And it is our admission that creates learning and wisdom. Our inability to be okay with this idea keeps us from learning. It keeps the emotions trapped, and prevents us from being present and stepping further into our greatness.

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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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