Even with all the assessments, scorecards and performance reviews, there appears to be a growing chasm between performance and perception. Why just yesterday a coaching client of mine – we’ll call him Tom – scratched his head when saying, “I thought my work would speak for itself. Now it appears, that in addition to my […]
Would 30 billion in cost savings or added productivity make a difference to our lagging economy? I think so.  To get that huge number wouldn’t require a government bailout or an act of Congress. It’s would be much simpler than that, involving ground-up involvement. Consider these facts.  Each day 11 million meetings take […]
As I boarded the first of three flights from Atlanta to Bangkok my only thought was how I was going to best serve my client. Traveling internationally had become routine. Little did I know that the teacher would become the student and I would be served up lessons I could never have seen coming. Twenty […]
The setting couldn’t have been better: The training room windows inside the lodge pole looked out onto a thick forest. At the other end of the room cushy leather chairs faced a fireplace. The food was gourmet-organic and during breaks we could take walks on the beach. The environment was harmonious. Perfect! For the 15 […]
Imagine you’re a mountain climber. Your goal is to scale the world’s top three peaks. Each will require great effort and sacrifice. However, you determine you only have enough energy to climb one. So you choose the most popular mountain. You make it to the top and experience the thrill of success. However, a deep […]
As tragic as they were, what lessons can the space shuttle Challenger and Columbia disasters teach us that we can apply in business? According to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, NASA never fixed the underlying institutional problems that led to the 1986 Challenger tragedy. As a result, many of them played a role in Columbia’s […]
Q: If it’s “lonely at the top” how I can get support as I grow in my career? A: Develop a “Hot Team” of people who advise, support and challenge. Before I sat down to write this column I had just finished a coaching session with a newly promoted mid-level manager. Julie started our conversation […]
In an average week I may interact with 10-20 clients in my role as an executive coach and strategic facilitator, and it seems that everyone has been experiencing the same thing; increasing levels of stress.  One person I talked to last week admitted being addicted to stress; and then followed by saying “what am […]
To witness congress over the last several months, we might get the impression that negotiation is a passive aggressive slug match instead of an art form of elevated communication, or a series of compromises on the way to achieve a common goal. We might roll our eyes when see our elected officials play another game […]
Where do you go to get quality work done? If you’re like the people Jason Fried interviewed for his book “Rework” your answer might be a coffee shop or a special room in the house, or while traveling on a train or a plane. You wouldn’t mention the workplace being a good place to get […]