Monday Morning Business Coach

Powerful, Focused and Afraid, Oh My!

We have been working with an extraordinary executive who is powerful, thoughtful, effective, focused and afraid.    “What?” . . . you may ask, “how do those five words end up in the same sentence?”   Fear is a central part of the survival mechanism the brain has used to keep us safe since the dawn of time.  We feel fear quickly and intensely because from the perspective of evolution, it is what kept us alive.    Like the rest…

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The Final Three Feet

We recently read a story about a young woman who had the opportunity to train with Philippe Petit, the man who walked between the Twin Towers on a wire 1,300 feet above the ground.  As she was working with him, he noticed that she would get so excited about getting where she was going, she would falter where she was.    He told her she needed to understand the final three feet.  He said, “You’re not there yet.  You can…

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Organizations Need Time to Grieve and Heal, Too

Last week we talked about how important it is for individuals to grieve and heal their losses in order to move forward.  Just as with individuals, organizations, as a whole, get “attached” to a truth and when that truth fails to materialize or is no longer true, they, too, need to grieve the lost future in order to integrate the new one.    When we say “organizations,” we are describing the people who make up the organization and who by…

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Time to Grieve, Time to Heal

There comes a time in each of our lives when we are faced with painful, life-changing events over which we have no control.  Whether it’s a big event or a small event, it will require two things of us: time to grieve and time to heal.   The life-changing events we speak of here don’t have to be catastrophic in nature.  Life-changing events can include: being passed over for a promotion, not winning an RFP, working for someone who is…

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If You Want a Different Outcome…

One of the more challenging aspects of being a human is that we have the ability to cognitively understand the need to change and what needs to happen to bring about a change, but we struggle with practicing the behaviors that will actually sustain the change.  Often, we hope that change will occur without us actually changing.  Ah, humans.  We are a funny species.  We tell ourselves that because we understand that we need to change and because we understand…

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Silence is a Communication

One of the things we regularly remind our clients is that everything is a communication. And by that we mean, everything. What you wear, how you stand, how fast you talk, what your eyes do as you listen, how quickly you return a call or email, how you set up your office… you get the picture. And, that means that if everything is a communication, so is silence even though you may have believed it is a lack of communication.  As…

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Love

Here we are once more, on the brink of a New Year.  We are entering this New Year having just experienced a heart-breaking end to the old.  And yet, we would encourage you to look forward with commitment to growing in your ability to love and be connected – to yourself and your sense of purpose, to your family and their success, and to your world and its commitment to caring for all people.   In George Valliant’s new book,…

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Consuming

Here we are again – it’s the holidays.  We are already being bombarded by ads online, on TV, in the paper, on buses, even in bathroom stalls to take advantage of the after-Christmas sales.  Buy, buy, buy and you will be happy.    But what we know is that consuming does not make us happy.   It provides us a sense of satisfaction for a moment and then we are on to the next thing looking to feel filled-up.   …

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Leading Through Sorrow

We had a different post prepared for today, but in light of the tragedies in both Oregon and Connecticut, it seems important to devote this week to the power, and importance, of your leadership to the healing of our world.   There is, in each of us, a leader.    We urge you to bring the leader in you forward and offer your voice to help build and maintain healthy: streets, neighborhoods, communities, friends, co-workers, and family.   By bringing…

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Whatever is Happening in Your World Needs Your Attention

There was an advertisement on the radio recently and they opened by saying,   “No matter what’s happening in the world, your world is still happening.”   We don’t remember what they were trying to sell but we did think that the statement captured an important nugget of truth.   Often, as we work with leaders, of all walks of life, they will say things that diminish the importance of their stress, their pace, their health, in short, their lives. …

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