Blog

It’s been one of those days … you started with a meeting at 8:30, had back-to-back conference calls until 2; and then get a text from your boss at 2:15 asking to review your team’s latest results.  There have been some extenuating circumstances, and your numbers don’t look so good. Knowing there’s not enough time…

When we operate more from a growth (vs. fixed) mindset, we are more successful. There are numerous specific benefits – increased confidence and resilience, better ability to manage time and solve problems, to name a few. You can learn more about this from Carol Dweck’s work and other professional resources on the subject.  People often…

A lot has been written about mindset and why it matters. Most often the discussions address the disparity between the fixed and the growth mindset. Those with a fixed mindset view intelligence, abilities and talents as something you are born with while those with a growth mindset believe these traits can be improved with effort.  …

Strengths overused become weaknesses?!? What?!?  It’s easy to get derailed by all the advice we are given about how to evolve our leadership. Work on my weaknesses. Work on my strengths. Don’t let my strengths become my weaknesses. As we think about it – knowing our brains are always looking for shortcuts – it can…

Every New Year’s Eve, I write a letter to myself to be read the following New Year’s Eve. In it, I envision what the coming year will bring. As you can imagine, world events over the last few years have thrown some curve balls at my expectations.  We didn’t win the HGTV Vermont house, but…

Because I am a constant learner, I’ve had to overcome a dynamic I encounter often: learning in front of others, and the occasional embarrassment that comes with that. Several executives I’ve worked with and coached have shared similar challenges because—when you operate at the top of an organization—you are often viewed as if you are…

We are constantly bombarded with advertisements and slogans establishing a company’s brand. To this day, if someone mentions the company Alka-Seltzer, their tagline (from the 1970s) “Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, Oh what a relief it is” automatically plays in my head. I’m sure there are plenty of examples of brands playing around in yours. These…

In about a week, the streets and skies will be full of family and friends traveling to be together with others for Thanksgiving. For many, going around the table to share their gratitudes is a tradition. Too often, people around the table are so busy thinking about what they are going to share that they…

I have been loving the recent NASA photos of our solar system and it has had me thinking about systems at work, especially in teams.  I’m sure there must be a Star Trek episode (or two or three) that deals with “leveraging the wisdom of the system.” The phrase is right down its alley. The…

With Halloween just around the corner, my install-recall memories are of wonderful, handmade costumes and the warning: “Don’t accept anything that’s not wrapped from people you don’t know.” As an adult, I get it; as I child, I couldn’t reconcile the lack trust in people who lived on our street.  Trust is a popular topic…