LEADERSHIP BLOG

Have you ever felt stuck in your career and wondering if you will ever find a fit? Is there a  person on your team that just doesn’t get it no matter how you try to say it? Have you been trying to mentor that new hire, but noticing a disconnect between how you are teaching and what...

Being a mentor will cost you something: time, effort, energy. Busy leaders have limited capacity and many things that make demands on that capacity. So, why would you even consider being a mentor?

Some become a mentor because they see the long range impact of developing the next generation of...

Achieving our goals has gotten trickier in the last year. As we head into a new year, I would like to propose that a key factor in reaching our 2021 goals may be expanding the way we think about mentoring.  

The act of learning through mentoring can come in many shapes and sizes....

Great leaders have personal growth plans. No matter how seasoned of a leader you are, we all have potential for growth. Someone out there is further along. Someone out there has experience to add to your thinking. Someone out there has questions you haven’t even thought to ask. 

Here...

We have heard that it is better to give than to receive. The beauty of reciprocity is that when it comes to mentoring both giving and receiving can co-exist.

Mentoring, however, is not on the “radar screen” for everybody. It may be easier to put mentoring to the side because of the...

Crazy, busy life reactions are amplified when we have some “history” that can pop up at the most unexpected moments. One leader I talked to summarized the conditions as ripe for triggering the past with words like: Exhaustion. Scattered. Juggling.

Relationships are also fertile ground...

I love words. Finding the right way to translate a thought or concept into an insight is one of my favorite things. Communicating knowledge in a way that makes it tangible and relevant is something I strive to do. Yet, there is a word that has started to leave a bitter aftertaste in my mouth....

When the heat turns up in our conversations the tendency is to dig in our heels and expect others to adapt to our needs. It can be difficult to modify our natural preferences and engage in dialogue that brings out the best in ourselves and others, especially when we feel “time is of the...

I’ve often said that I was born with an extra large bucket of optimism. I remember the one day a consultant came walking through my door at work and commented on how I always had a smile on my face. However, optimism and a smile is not necessarily evidence of joy. 

Joy is something...

In the middle of busy lives and busy leadership coupled with the reality of pandemic fatigue it would be pretty easy and natural to preach a sermon for self-care challenging you to step back from “the busy” and intentionally choose activities that nurture spiritual, physical,...

The ditch that runs alongside every road to great things is neglecting your “ask.” We tend not to ask for help when we need to. Why? We assume our competence depends on us alone. We don’t want to impose on others. We accept the message that we “should” be able to do...

Change is a tricky thing. Sometimes we look forward to it. Sometimes we run from it. Regardless of how we respond, change always has a way of finding us. Learning our natural change style can help us capitalize on our strengths in seasons of change as well as  guard against potential...