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I read an article in the Sunday paper a few weeks back titled “The world is your oyster – if you pry it open”, written by Bruce Ramsey of The Seattle Times. He begins with advice to graduates, “Some time in your life, live outside the United States. Not only will you be in another…

My mama bear spirit surfaced this weekend. And, she was in full attack mode. Protective of her cub, the claws came out and the teeth were gnashed! And yet, my cub was fine…in fact, he was better than his mother. How do we reconcile the “less than perfect” facets of ourselves with our vision of…

As coaches, we speak a lot about the importance of energy renewal in four important areas: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. In training, we brainstorm about different options for each. When we coach individuals, we continually go back to “what are you doing to renew yourself?”. We personally commit to renewing ourselves in each area…

I was recently shaken by some tragic news. And while not all that familiar with the facts leading to this tragic event, I couldn’t help but think of how many of us are battling silent demons each day. Sometimes these battles are so troubling that it becomes so difficult to look inside that we are…

Making anything stick requires going beyond the intellectual understanding to embodying the change through constant practice. It is with practice that we move through the four levels of learning ultimately ending up at the level of unconscious competence. At this level of unconscious competence,  we have created the neural connections in such a way that…

Much of leadership success is based on one’s ability to recognize the context of a situation and to adapt your behavior accordingly. Context agility is critical to long-term leadership success. Context is also critically important in life success. Content without context is a sure recipe for failure and is the reason that many time management techniques just…

Nothing changes if nothing changes. And the most important thing that needs changing from time to time is our thinking, While behavior and action are important, they are not even close to being as important as your thoughts and feelings. It is these thoughts and feelings that inhibit or enhance future growth and development. Unfortunately…

I was re-listening to a course that I participated in a few years ago with Jerry Stocking. The subject of the course was intuition, an area that I was intending on developing or connecting with more strongly. I had what seemed to be many “aha” moments throughout the three day course, however the concept that…

Ever since I was a young kid, I was fascinated with how things got created. And while I never was really good at doing it myself, I was intrigued with the process of having an idea and eventually turning that idea into something tangible. Fast forward approximately forty years or so and once again I…

“Simplify, simplify, simplify, make the affairs of your life number one and two.” – Henry David Thoreau So what do you  think Thoreau means by this? I don’t think he literally means one or two. However this sage advice from the 19th century philosopher may be quite timely for those of us in the 21st century…

The word surrender often times implies giving up, or perhaps giving in, and the negative connotations associated with quitting. But what I think we are really doing when we surrender is stopping the ego from resisting “what is.” When we surrender, we stop the struggle and the fight and we turn the issue over to our…

I had a wonderful opportunity to share my perspectives on an integrated approach to leadership to a group of college juniors and seniors recently. It was inspiring to see their energy and interest for the topic, particularly their interest in the role of spirituality in leadership. Sometime during our conversation, I realized that everything I was sharing…

I remember sharing with my parents my plans to become a coach some years ago. Their immediate response was, “what sport?” Having coached youth soccer and baseball over the years, I could understand their difficulty in comprehending just what a professional or executive coach actually does. My eleven year old daughter recently described what I do to…

“Soft skills,” almost akin to the “sick sense,” the reference made by some people who do not fully appreciate intuition. Almost by definition referring to any skill as soft almost seems to marginalize it. And some hard charging analytical types spend so much time diminishing these skills because in their minds they can’t be measured. But they…

Less is more. More space allows room for new ideas, insights, and inspirations to surface. We seem to be cultivating a culture where more is better; more stuff, more commitments, more activities, just a lot more to manage and keep track of. Yet at times, when we are taking a breath, we realize at the…

I recently participated on a panel discussion regarding the topic of creating balance in what was described as a very busy and hectic world in which we live. I created a bit of a buzz when I suggested that most stress and “out of balance” sensations are self induced. I believe that statement to be true. Often times…

Spring time means planting, and planting leads to a harvest. As you reflect upon your life and your leadership, what seeds of success would you like to plant today for a future harvest. As as you think about your intended outcomes, the harvest, also give thought to the conditions required for growth. How will you tend…

What would it be like if you could be, do, and have everything that you were intended to have on this journey? And what if I told you that you could continue this process of aligning what you get with what you want in just 10 minutes per day. That’s right, just 10 minutes. So…