FEATURED BLOG
6 Tips for Having Difficult Conversations
“I’d rather have dental work done,” thought Arthur, as he prepared for a meeting with an employee who seemed increasingly disengaged and had recently missed two important project deadlines. Having difficult conversations with others about job performance, work...
A Few of Our Favorites
Mindset and Personal Change: Climb the Ladder of Inference
Personal change begins with your mindset. As an executive coach, I’ve seen time after time that awareness and appreciation of your mindset — how you “see” things; how your beliefs and assumptions color your thoughts and actions — is essential to engage in any kind...
How to Be an Effective Coach for Your Direct Reports
By Laura Hansen. MA, PCC. One important competency for today’s leaders is successfully developing your direct reports through coaching. When you have decided that coaching is an appropriate approach with an employee, here are five things to keep in mind to be more...
Assertiveness: a Misunderstood Strength
By Nick Tubach, MBA PCC. Being assertive is just an expression of your worth and, in the context of leadership, can help you create a collaborative and inquisitive team dynamic. Uncovering the “what ifs” often lead to positive and sometimes transformational...
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The #1 Trait in Leadership Training: People Skills
An article was published three years ago in the Harvard Business Review titled, “As Your Team Gets Bigger, Your Leadership Style Has to Adapt.” Among the helpful insights in the article, such as moving from direct to indirect management and recognizing that people...
Elderhood: The Second Mountain
By Laura Hansen, MA, PCC In a series of recent conversations with one of my executive coaching clients, he told me that early in his career he had prided himself on being a “talented jerk” (his term). He reflected on the first company he had worked for where that...
The Value of the SBI Feedback Model
Are you aware of the incredible value of the SBI Feedback Model for executive coaching? Jason (not his real name, of course!) was increasingly irritated with the attitude of a direct report — Reilly. Over the past several months, Reilly had become increasingly...
Give Yourself Permission to Not Ask Permission
By Lilian Abrams, PhD, MBA, MCC, ESIA. Ali is a wonderful coaching client of mine, who is very strong in many respects. He is highly strategic, thoughtful, analytical, hard-working, results-oriented, respectful, warm, friendly, polite, and very well-liked by...
Why Leaders Should Not Ask Why!
Laura had just finished expressing her concerns about a project deliverable and suggested an alternative approach for the team. Amanda, her supervisor, was impressed, and wanted to know more about Laura’s analysis of the situation and her recommendations. “Why do...
Reframing Diversity
Kevin Anthony Johnson, PCC As diversity, inclusion, and equity initiatives are being evaluated, more organizations are grappling with the cultural norms and standards set by predominantly white male leadership. It's time to work on reframing diversity. The words...
One Way to Reduce Procrastination
I’ve been wanting to write a blog about procrastination, but have been putting it off. Seriously! With summer vacations, holidays, some family-related travel, and my natural tendency to wait until deadlines are staring me in the face, I was actually procrastinating...
“Hold on, Let Me Finish!” — How to Stop Interrupting
By Steve Hansen, PCC. We are all guilty of interrupting — but if we all just stopped and listened, argues Nancy Kline, we could radically change the way we live (from The Promise That Changes Everything: I Won’t Interrupt You, by Nancy Kline). Imagine the relief,...
The Power of Listening
By Margaret Enloe, JD, PCC A young man walks through Central Park wearing a t-shirt. It says in bold black letters, “WARNING, I’m not listening.” A touch edgy? Yes. A sign of the times? Maybe. Either way, it may work for a young man, but it won’t for leaders — the...