Highly matrixed organizations are complex in and of themselves, often fraught with ambiguous reporting relationships, inconsistent agendas, and slow, ill-defined decision-making processes. Leading cross-functional initiatives through a highly matrixed organization can be confounding -- on a good day. Leaders who have learned to navigate the complexities are a special … [Read more...]
People Developer/ Accountability
Healthy Engagement Leads to Clear Skies
When your team is stuck or at odds with one another, it’s not unlike the weight we feel when the atmospheric pressure has dropped. We often feel drained, and we move more slowly. Some of us get a headache. Cultivating healthy engagement across the team is one way to raise the barometric pressure and make room for clear and inviting skies. Healthy engagement happens when your team and … [Read more...]
Mentoring: The Gift that Keeps on Giving
Mentoring is like an infinity loop in which both parties benefit and have the opportunity to experience each side of the relationship throughout their career -- and perhaps simultaneously. Meaning, you can mentor someone at the same time you are being mentored by someone else. Either way, a typical mentoring relationship occurs over four stages: Qualification of fit – Style match, … [Read more...]
Relationships Rule
Of the four Emotional Intelligence (EI) competencies, retaining, growing and managing relationships is one of the more challenging to master. For one, it requires an investment of time and energy, sometimes with no immediate “pay-off.” It invites vulnerability, which, let’s face it, is not always comfortable. It also depends on the other three EI skills (Self-Awareness, … [Read more...]
Feedback … The Ultimate Leadership Advantage
The notion of perfection is a fallacy, especially when it comes to leadership. The most effective leaders are those willing to look in the mirror, embrace their blind spots and modify that which is not working well for them or others. Like an athlete at the top of her game, there is always opportunity to improve. While conducting a personal SWOT analysis helps you self-assess your leadership … [Read more...]
White Water Rafting Leadership Musings
It’s cliché, but true: Having all oars in the water at the same time makes for a smoother ride. And, so it was during our white water rafting adventure down the Black River in New York while on vacation recently. Eight family members in our bright yellow raft and our guide, Jasper, straight out of central casting. Upon arrival, we were stuffed into life jackets secured so tightly that we looked … [Read more...]
How To Minimize “Shiny Object Syndrome”
Is there any better place than the land of adolescents for harvesting lessons learned in dealing with distractions? My husband teaches high school English (ever-courageous soul). One of his favorite principals, now retired, had two questions he would ask students when he’d see them wandering the halls during class times: Where are you supposed to be right now? What is the most important … [Read more...]
The “What” and the “How”
I’m intrigued by the concept of leverage…the notion of getting more with less energy. Archimedes understood the power of leverage when he said, “Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the earth.” In today’s pile-it-on world, doing more with less is the order of the day, and nary a client isn’t struggling with how to keep the lever in balance. Early in your career, you are usually … [Read more...]