Executive Coaching
Do You Serve Or Lead?
You finally obtained your dream job. Your title might be CEO, vice-president, head coach, orchestra conductor or school principal. Regardless of your craft, now your success depends on your ability to motivate, develop and coach those you lead. As a senior leader, you’ll be evaluated on the performance of others rather than your own direct…
Read MoreWhat Does Success Mean to You?
Most of us seek success. Is there anything wrong with that? Let’s face it, success is better than failure. Winning is better than losing. But high performers can also seek success for the wrong reasons. In addition to creating plans and goals to achieve success, I believe it’s important for high performers to understand why…
Read MoreCan You REALLY Let Go of the Outcome?
I’ve written before about the concept of process versus outcome in achieving sustainable excellence (see Understanding Process & Outcome). For a leader, coach, or performer, the basic concept is simple: Focus on the task at hand and let the outcomes take care of themselves. I’ve spoken with countless clients about this over the years. But…
Read MoreWhat Motivates You?
You’ve seen the familiar headlines. A professional athlete destroys his locker after a loss…or complains that he isn’t getting the ball enough…or gripes about other teammates to the press rather than behind closed doors. The executive lavishly refurbishes his office with shareholder money, as if to create a personal shrine…or allows the company to lose…
Read MoreCan Confidence and Humility Coexist in a Leader?
A Lesson in the Airport The other day I was in an airport lounge preparing for my latest consulting trip. The lounge was filled with the usual business types chatting on their cell phones, having drinks and generally conveying an air of self-importance. An employee came by to clean up my area, collecting glasses and…
Read MoreWhat We Can Learn From Adversity
Adversity originates from many sources. It could follow the loss of a big game, failure to get a promotion, a bombed presentation, or losing a business deal to a competitor. More seriously, adversity may result from being fired, significant financial difficulty, the end of a relationship, or serious illness. Regardless of the source, we can…
Read MoreConnect With Those You Lead
What comes to mind when you hear the term leader or leadership? For most, it is some combination of power, charisma, intelligence, charm and motivation. It is true that many effective leaders have these qualities. Yet, in order to be a truly great leader you must genuinely connect with those you lead. You cannot do…
Read More5 Reasons Leaders Don’t Give Tough Feedback
Most of us agree we can’t be great without candid feedback, especially about things we can improve in ourselves and our performance. Yet often we don’t receive this feedback at all or react poorly when we do. Lisa McKale recently published a very nice infographic on Resourceful Manager regarding this topic. In my experience these are typical reasons…
Read MoreHow Do I Get in the Zone?
You know the feeling. Everything is going your way. The ball goes straight down the fairway every time. Before you hit your shot you KNOW it’s going to be good. The words are rolling off your tongue during the speech or presentation. You have the audience on the edge of their seats. You close the…
Read MoreThoughts On Leadership From A Fortune 20 Executive
I’m fortunate that practically all my corporate clients genuinely care about leadership and demonstrate this commitment in our engagement. However, many executives claim to be interested in leadership yet their behavior often doesn’t match their speech. I’ve recently crossed paths with a senior leader (not a client) who writes about and demonstrates leadership. Karin Hurt…
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