The industry is changing, the CEO is new, the customer changed their mind, the project is behind schedule … change is inevitable. It happens every day, in all aspects of every company. Here’s a typical scenario I might run into with one of the teams I coach: It’s been a long month. The team is working hard to meet a deadline, but morale is low, and everyone knows it. They tell me things like: “There’s nothing I can do. I can’t finish my report until I get the data from Finance.” “He said I made the wrong call, but it… read more →

High Impact teams operate in an atmosphere of trust. Championship basketball teams can run last-second, game-winning plays, moving the ball quickly from person to person for an open shot, because they trust each other to be where they need to be and execute their role. But when it’s time for the leadership team in a corporation to put together the upcoming fiscal year’s budget and they’re tasked with increasing profitability by eliminating costs, many react by trying to protect their departmental funds and headcount, withholding information, and keeping their team under the radar. As members of the leadership team jockey… read more →

So often I have clients come to me saying something like: “Can you coach her so she can fit in here?” “I’m unhappy at work and I don’t know how to fix it.” “I got feedback from my boss and I want to fix it.” There is nothing to “fix”!  None of us are broken.  So often we compare ourselves to some other standard believing it is how we should be. Or we want someone else to “improve”.  Whether it is in their relationship with others, the work they do, their behaviors, or even just the words they use.  I… read more →

Recently there has been much talk about Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella’s comments about women and raises. He has apologized profusely for “projecting” his experience on more than half the population… good for him! As the dialogue has unfolded, it reminded me of a lesson I learned at the first company I joined after college… I graduated with an engineering degree from a highly respected college (Lafayette). However, it was a recession and it was before the days of internships so I did not have “relevant” experience. I was fortunate to be offered an entry-level job at $5.00/hr. That’s right, engineering… read more →

So often I catch myself explaining in great detail why I am running late.  I feel a sense of guilt and want to be able to justify why I am keeping someone waiting.  What I have learned is that the more we elaborate on why something is out of our control, the less competent we appear.  If we continue to expand on excuses for something that is clearly our responsibility (like managing our time and keeping our commitments), the bigger the whole we dig. What we actually believe we are doing is providing more details that justify why we have… read more →

So many of us say… “I don’t have time for that”; “if only I had more time”; “there’s not enough hours in a day to get it done”; etc… We all have the same 24 hrs.  It is just a matter of how we choose to spend them!  Many of us are rushing from one meeting to the next.  Meetings run over and you’re late for the next one… it seems you can never catch up. When you take “time” to break down your typical day to see how much energy you are spending on things that are not aligned… read more →

I was recently at a friend’s mom’s funeral and was moved by the eulogy and the remarks made by those at the service.  It struck me as how little was said about the work she did.  Many of us spend most of our lives working when you start to break it down… Begin at age 22 to ~65 (43 years!) What mattered most was to recount the many memories created over the years with family and friends.  I thought about how I will want to be remembered and spoken about when it is my time… it is definitely more in the lines… read more →

I recently had my little boy totally melt down due to stress.  He has multiple projects due at school with the deadlines looming before the holidays.  It creeped up on him and he became totally overwhelmed.  I suggested to him (in the middle of a tear-filled meltdown) that he choose to stay in from recess and work on one of the projects.  He whined that he “needs“ recess and that wasn’t a good idea.  I reminded him that he has basketball after school so he will still get physical activity for the day. When he got home from school, the meltdown continued… read more →

I was asked recently how many bad bosses have I had.  Only one comes to mind quickly over a 25 year career!  However, as I reflected more on what was so “bad”about him, I realized what he was pushing me to do was actually beneficial for me but I could not see it at the time. What my boss (in Germany at the time) wanted me to do was spend a little more time connecting with others in the office.  To me, he wanted me to “waste” my time socializing when I was there to do a “job”.  To him, he was… read more →

I had a discussion with my son recently on what position is the most important on a team.  He loves football and talked about how he wants to be either corner or wide receiver.  I asked him what about those positions is so interesting?  He said because that’s where the action is… they are the most important positions on the team!  His coaches have wanted him to play on the line, as he is built for it, but he has absolutely no interest.  He sees them as lesser roles. So we had a great dialogue around how every position on a team… read more →