Press Items

Emergent, Formerly PLS, announced that Bill Berthel has joined as an associate and as a strategic human-resources consultant. His past experience includes serving as an HR manager at Golden Artist Colors. Berthel holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in HR management, as is a certified professional coach. He will serve Emergent as…

Recently inspired by a client’s successful experiment, I became motivated to commit to a series of experiments around positive changes I intend to make in both my leadership and my life. First, I examined elements of my life I would like to change — obvious things like weight loss, regular exercise, and reading. From there,…

I am often surprised at how I can complicate things, both in business and life. We get so busy planning and doing that we sometimes forget why we are doing it in the first place. There is so much to do, so many places to go, so much to accumulate, that sometimes we are un-able…

I will never forget my first promotion, moving from sales representative to team leader, supporting a team of three inside-sales representatives. It was an exciting time, and I couldn’t wait to dive right in. After the first week in my new role, my excitement was replaced with doubt and my dive-right-in attitude turned into hesitation….

Emotional intelligence is creating quite a buzz in corporate America. Organizations appreciate the benefits and bottom-line results they receive when their leaders consistently connect emotionally with their employees. The ability to emotionally connect with employees is inspiring and creates a stronger sense of followership in supporting the organization’s mission and high-leverage goals. Recognizing our own…

Because of my gender and race, throughout my working career and life, I have been part of the privileged class. Things have been easier for me because of how I look and what I am — a white male. And while I have taken advantage of my situation, I have also been open to creating…

Some years ago, I was inspired by Tony Schwartz’s concept of the “corporate athlete” featured in his book, “The Power of Full Engagement.” It really resonated with my belief that many corporate executives have learned very little about, or at least have not applied to any great extent, the principles adhered to by most professional…

My quest is simple, yet daunting — raise the consciousness of leadership, and consequently raise everyone else up as they become increasingly aware of how all of our actions and inactions affect the greater good, not only today but into the future. I am at once frequently surprised, mildly disappointed, and wildly optimistic about how many…

“If your emotional abilities aren’t in hand, if you don’t have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can’t have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far.” — Daniel Goleman, author of “Emotional Intelligence” I thought…

Transformation literally means to change form. In the context of leadership, it involves changing both our mindsets and our practices to transcend the limits of our current organizational culture and results. As Einstein suggested: “The world that we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems…