Face Your Fears
So often we are held back more by our fear than pushed forward by our possibility or potential. We are bombarded with mantras and cliches for addressing this fear: “Feel the fear and do it anyway” “Just do it” “Get over it” “Push Through.” There’s a lot of basic,...
Holding a Courageous Space
In leadership, especially in the industry of mentoring, coaching, counseling, or other support professions, many of us use the expression that we “hold a safe space” for people. But that’s not really the truth, is it? We don’t hold safe spaces. We can’t guarantee...
Which Way Will You Face?
Is it too direct or macabre to suggest that in a very real way, we die every night? Perhaps a more accurate phrasing might be the day dies -- but that doesn’t fully capture the beauty of the moment, does it? Because with that day goes a part of us that will...
A Beautiful Response
One of my favorite things about writing this blog is the responses I receive from you all via email. A few weeks ago, I shared a post with you called "The Flexible Oak," and an old friend responded with something remarkable: this beautiful poem by Lao Tzu. ...
Is Change Possible?
Maybe. We’ve all been there, right? Your boss has hired some schmuck to deliver a bunch of feel-good, kumbaya mush that’s supposed to build better teams or something? As one of those schmucks, a question I love to ask my clients and audiences at some point during our...
The Reciprocal Benefits of Leadership
Last week, we talked about the power of your mindset as evidenced by a profound psychological study. Well, there was another study involving nursing home residents that I found to be just as incredible, and just as impactful for us today. In this study, nursing...
People Never Change Around Here!
Turns out that’s not quite true. In fact, people can change quite dramatically. Recently, I read about a psychological study on people in their 70’s. If any generic group would be set in their ways, surely it would be those people past retirement, yes? So this is what...
The Flexible Oak
Unconditional Presence: The Oak Tree was an article last week from one of my favorite newsletters, The Daily Groove by Scott Noelle. Noelle is an amazing Parent Coach -- and oh, how I wish I could be the parent he writes about! As a leadership coach, however, his...
Do You Have Permission To Fail?
Have you heard this one? If you can’t give yourself permission to fail, you can’t give yourself permission to succeed. Put another way: If you’re unwilling to be wrong, you can’t be right. The amount of times this has shown up in my life, and the lives of my clients...
How To Have Those Tough Conversations
We talked last week about accountability, but what happens when someone fails to live up to their end of the bargain and it’s time for “the tough conversation?” Ouch! A client of mine got a new job a couple months back, that, in many respects, was exactly what she...
