We were recently facilitating a company meeting with a team of people, many of whom had worked for the company for their entire career. In the meeting, people were complaining about the challenges they faced and the hardships of the current financial environment in their industry. They were feeling threatened, singled out, and personally…
Certainty in Your Truth vs. THE Truth
A couple of weeks ago, we wrote a post about The 5 C’s of Self – Confidence and the importance of standing in your own truth. The 5 C’s include: Conviction, Certainty, Commitment, Courage, and Connection While many of you wrote that you loved the idea of the 5 C’s, those of you who know us know…
Giving Thanks
Here in the United States, this is Thanksgiving week, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It’s a day that we here at Carpenter Smith Consulting use to remind us of all that we are and all that we have. As coaches, we recognize the power of gratitude and giving thanks while moving through…
The 5 C’s of Self-Confidence
Last week, in our post, Imposter Syndrome: You’re Not Alone, we encouraged you to watch the short TED-Ed talk, What is Imposter Syndrome and How Can You Combat It?. We hope it was helpful to learn more about this surprisingly common experience that can seriously undermine your confidence, and get in the way of success. As a result of last…
Imposter Syndrome: You’re Not Alone
This week we want to talk about what we’ve all come to know as Imposter Syndrome – which is known as Imposterism in the research community. Imposter Syndrome is a powerful and derailing experience. People with Imposter Syndrome believe that they have successfully hidden that they are not competent or capable and they believe that…
The Power of Your Contributions
We coach people who want to be powerful and effective, to come to a discussion about concerns with not only the concern, but also with a proposed solution. For some people, the idea is quite natural, but for others, it’s a challenging concept. They don’t know how to organize their thinking, particularly when the…
What Do Others Really Know About You?
David came into the room and seemed almost depressed. He said that he’d met with a colleague and the colleague had told him that it was hard for him that David has it “so easy in life.” David is a smart, articulate, handsome man who can wear just about anything and look like he walked out…
Examples of Great Questions
Over the last two weeks, we’ve been talking about the power of questions: The Right Questions Can Change Your Life and The Bones of a Great Question. Our articles have sparked requests from some of you asking if we could give examples of questions to ask. So, today, we’re doing just that. We’re sharing some great…
The Bones of a Great Question
Last week we talked about how The Right Questions Can Change Your Life. As you might imagine, given our belief in questions, we’re always trying to figure out the right ones to create engagement, ownership, and passion. Inviting these into your conversations brings about collaboration and partnership which is transformative in work, family, and community relationships.…
The Right Questions Can Change Your Life
In our roles as consultants and coaches, we’ve come to understand that finding the right question in a conversation with a leader, a team, or even an entire organization can be a game changer. The right question grabs people’s attention, it helps them see and think in new ways, and it demonstrates genuine interest in…