I recently listened to an interview between Krissa Tippett, the host of On Being, and Pico Iyer, journalist and author, about the “urgency of slowing down.” Pico has been an advocate for the importance of finding stillness and he models it in his life. He lives with little technology in a remote village in Japan […]
As the year winds down, it’s important to review how you are doing in relation to goals you have set, professionally and personally. A great way to get feedback from others in your environment is to conduct your own informal “360.” It’s a highly effective tool to develop self-awareness and get input on how others […]
Thanksgiving has long been among my favorite holidays. It’s devoted to being grateful for all we have and considerably less commercial than other holidays. Despite the euphoria that might set in as we visualize how wonderful our upcoming Thanksgiving might be, many leave the holiday feast feeling fat, angry and disillusioned after “quality time” with […]
Improving your EI is about managing your inner response to things and choosing a new way to handle your inner reaction to people and situations. For example, Bob is a leader who has little impulse control and in meetings or even in casual interactions, he would frequently interrupt others to make his point. Worse yet, […]
Despite what you may have read in the news lately in stories surrounding the election or NFL player protests, the First Amendment does not provide a private employee with the right to free speech or freedom of expression at work. Rather, the Constitution’s right to free speech only applies to the government’s attempts to restrict […]
The biggest reason leaders fail is not intelligence or IQ, but lack of emotional intelligence or EI. Fortunately, EI is developable; IQ isn’t. Research shows that the leadership art of influencing others to achieve common business and organizational goals is based on inner strengths, the ability to build mutual satisfying working relationships, effective decision-making and […]
When members bring challenging issues to our confidential Key Women’s Leadership Forums, they express a desire to be supported with tips and strategies on how to be more resilient through those times when life gets really prickly. During these conversations, as facilitator, I have noticed that some people have a very narrow definition of resiliency. […]
In our peer forums, one of the participants shared that some of the employees reporting to her find her “intimidating.” “How can I get the feedback I need to build trust and rapport?” she asked. The group began to discuss the importance of being self-aware. Once you are aware of how you might be coming […]
I recall a time when a CEO in one of the peer forums I facilitated was presenting a business issue and projected flat growth over the upcoming year. He was about to go on to what he thought was his bigger issue when one of his peers said, “Wait a minute—why are you assuming that […]
Holly’s great grandmother, Bess, was a baker. With the untimely death of her husband, Bess needed to work to support her young daughter. She, her brother and her sister opened their first bakery in 1916. The family-owned bakery developed a reputation for excellence and eventually grew to 13 operations throughout the Pittsburgh area. Holly got […]
