The final months of the year are often fraught with apprehension and stress. Then, before you know it, it’s a clean slate and we’re kicking off another year with new, more ambitious goals. We’re off to the races again! Is it any wonder that even the most centered leaders get a little out of sorts at times? I’m guessing that most of us have said something to someone that was not received … [Read more...]
Tips & Tools
Is Lack of Reflection Holding You Back?
Of all the leadership skills my clients choose to work on, the most under-valued is reflection. It’s not that anyone is incapable of reflection, it’s more about prioritizing it and carving out time to make it happen. Let’s face it, it feels so much more productive to, well, produce something. You crank out emails, respond to Slack messages, send texts, interview people, conduct staff meetings, … [Read more...]
The Possible Dream … Work-Life Balance
An article from Entrepreneur highlights some interesting research noting that 66 percent of full-time employees strongly believe they don’t have work-life balance. In our “always on” world this is probably no surprise. Nonetheless, that does not mean a healthy work-life balance isn’t achievable for you and your team. Afterall, as a leader, your team looks to you to set the pace and to model … [Read more...]
Roving Aimlessly?
Whether you set goals at the start of the New Year, the start of the school year, or on your birthday, the reality is distractions can be hard to ignore and even the best-made plans may feel at risk. A few months after setting goals you may give in to the fear that this time it won’t, in fact, be different. You respond by continuing to run full speed ahead - toward what, you’re not sure. … [Read more...]
Unwrap the Gift of Time
I read recently that the average workweek is now 47 hours. Based on many of my clients’ experiences, that’s an understatement. For all the talk about work-life balance, the pressure on business leaders to be available 24x7 does not seem to be dissipating any time soon. And, all the ever-connected technologies at our fingertips don’t help the situation. Nonetheless, as a leader, your … [Read more...]
What’s Your Story?
Most of us have enriching backstories that never make it to the front page because we fear it will show us in a less than favorable light. We tend to keep our introductions chronological, title-focused, and dare I say, sleep-inducing. A typical introduction goes something like this, “Hi, I’m Jane, the Senior Director of Marketing at XXX, with 25 + years of sales and marketing leadership … [Read more...]
SMART Goal-Setting Made Easy
Some people prefer to take each day as it comes and hope for the best. They thrive on the spontaneity of it all, and I respect that fully. Others stay clear of goal setting because they fear the possibility of failure. The gremlin inside their head whispers, “If I don’t set goals, then I don’t have to lament not achieving them.” While others aren’t necessarily opposed to … [Read more...]
How do you spend your most important asset?
24 hours a day, 168 hours a week, or 8,736 hours a year. That’s what we get. It’s the one resource we all have in common. The difference, of course, is how we each choose to spend this incredible gift of time. Off the top, most of us spend somewhere around 56 hours of each week sleeping. That leaves 112 waking hours a week. Then, if you take the “normal” workweek of … [Read more...]
Business Dashboard Smarts
You wouldn’t drive a car without a dashboard, right? Well, technically, you could get somewhere. But, without a dashboard, you might: Exceed the speed limit Run out of gas Get lost (if your dash includes a GPS) And, while none are dire consequences, each take you off-course and prevent you from getting to your destination in an efficient manner. The same goes … [Read more...]
How Does Your Leadership Wheel Roll?
There is a lot written about leadership. I mean A LOT! If you search for leadership books on Amazon, 21,907 hardback books come up. Must be a pretty important topic, or a lot of trees are sacrificing their lives for nothing. And, yet, leadership can be an amorphous topic and always easier to see than describe. It’s not one attribute or skill that defines leadership, it’s a … [Read more...]