Monday Morning Business Coach

What is the Monday Morning Business Coach?

For over 12 years and running, every Monday morning we’ve sent out an email containing an executive coaching “nugget”—a simple, practical tip or strategy for you to easily take action on to start off your work week.

We use the situations of our clients (anonymously, of course) as well as what we’re pondering or reading about to write a short post. We keep it short because we know your life is busy and you need the “quick tips” to solve your problems, help you focus, and move you forward. We’re not claiming we can solve every issue, but we aim to give you the knowledge and wisdom to help you find your own power and create the future you want. You can view past posts below.

Emergence

CREATIVITY, like life, IS EMERGENT. — AHA! (aha-writers.com)   A few weeks ago we encouraged you to shift from an attitude of certainty to an attitude of curiosity in order to increase your creativity and innovation. You responded with some wonderful insights about the ways that small shift in perspective had opened your eyes. And then, when we were at the offices of AHA!*, an amazing creative agency that we have worked with for the past couple of years, Betsy Henning,…

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525,600 Minutes – How Will You Use Them?

While we know that January 1st is simply the day after December 31st, we love that so many people pause around this time of year to reflect on where they have been this past year and where they want to go in the next. For some people, this is a celebratory time of vision and excitement, for some it’s facing upcoming grief or loss, and as we saw last week, for many it’s a time to start anew and create a…

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Moving Forward After a Layoff

This week, we have asked a dear client, friend, and colleague to share her experience and her strategies for finding her way back to herself after a layoff. We know that life offers us many opportunities to find ways back to ourselves and she has much to teach: Moving Forward After a Layoff by Heather Stewart For the past 5 years, I worked for an incredible little company that makes creative products for creative people. I first joined the company…

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Your Holiday Leadership

For the past couple of weeks, our clients have come to meetings looking a little worse for wear. They are running hard at work—where many are at fiscal year end—while also trying to prepare for the holidays. They are attending the plays and shows that their kids are in, going to office and personal holiday parties, participating in religious services or activities, and trying to figure out great gifts for hard-to-buy-for family members. Many report that they both love and…

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Becoming More Creative and Innovative

Everywhere you look there are articles and books about becoming more creative, expanding your organization’s culture to become more innovative, and leading change rather than reacting to it. We’re all for greater creativity and innovation. Unfortunately, the current approach of many individuals and organizations leaves them disappointed and in a state of constant reactivity. Often, leaders treat creativity and innovation like they are either a box to check on a to-do list or something to do once a year at…

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Delegating Well Isn’t Micromanaging

We heard from several of you over the past two weeks that you were concerned that if you use our 3 steps to delegate effectively, it would be experienced by others as micromanaging. Delegation, as we described a couple of weeks ago, is about providing Context, Content, and Connection so that the individual who is assigned the activity can organize their thinking and their tactics to accomplish the delegated task. When you provide the three ‘C’s of delegation, you are…

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The Voyage Back… to You

If it’s true that life is a journey, then the most important voyage we know of is the one that takes you back to you. This holiday season, we want to encourage you to take time for yourself. Yes, there is a lot of pressure to spend time with family and with friends, but as your coaches we strongly recommend that you plan some time for yourself that is unencumbered by the demands of life. Time to relax, reflect, work…

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3 Steps to Effective Delegation

As coaches and consultants, we find that people regularly struggle with delegation and they tend to feel uncomfortable admitting it because they believe they should know how to do it. In our experience, delegating is a challenging skill; one that few of us are taught. People are frequently told they should “just delegate that” but when they try, they don’t get the results they hoped for so they give up delegating and just heap it onto their already full plate…

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Feeling Proud at the End of Your Day

We were recently at a meeting where the presenter asked these questions: Who in the room has read an article on time management?  Everyone raised their hand. Who has taken a class or webinar on getting more things done? Almost everyone raised their hand. Who feels great about their ability to prioritize their key imperatives and get them done in an efficient and timely manner? Only about 11 people raised their hands. Despite all of the reading and classes, it’s…

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The Leader in You and Empathy

Those of you who know us know that we believe that leaders exist at all levels of an organization and in all walks of life.  We believe that leadership is a way of being in the world.  It requires a willingness to influence the world (not stand on the sidelines and complain) and to be influenced by the world (not stand impervious to the events and lives playing out around you.) We are passionate about finding the key nuggets of…

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