The Business of Blooming
We have thousands of trees and bushes on our property, and some begin to bloom in early April if the weather is warm enough, but some don't bloom until late May regardless of the weather. We always think that some
Key Distinctions in Effective Coaching
"Empathy" is the ability to understand and appreciate the feelings of another. "Sympathy" is the feeling of sorrow you have for the plight of another. In coaching and advising, I practice empathy without the sympathy. I call it "tough love." My clients call it
Failure Work
What I call "failure work" is work that must be done because the original attempt was unsuccessful. It's tough enough when you have to do a lot of failure work for your own errors, tougher when it's because your client
Why Not?
Before you ask "What?" or "How," try asking, "Why?" "Why are you asking me that question?" "Why do you feel that way?" "Why is this the decision you choose to make at this time?" "Why do you feel overwhelmed?" You can't fix a problem or
The Green Zone
I view successful resolutions of issues as being in a range. Picture a pressure gauge. The red zone says you're in deep trouble. The amber zone tells you you're approaching trouble. The green zone says you're in good shape. But these
Strategy Is About Tomorrow, Not the Next Decade
Someone asked me why I created Sentient Strategy® with such a "short-term" look at the future (12-18 months). Aside from what I think is the obvious—in this day and age it's foolhardy to believe you can intelligently organize for five
Priorities
A "priority" is something that's more important than other things at the moment. Permit me to make something clear: Health and family are always the priorities over business. I was actually asked yesterday by someone how to decide whether an important, impending business
Generalize and Thrive
You can certainly be an "expert" and also be a "generalist." Peter Drucker's expertise was strategy, which he pretty much "invented" at GM, but the application of his strategic processes applied to any industry, any profession. In most cases, the
Motivation
If you give an unhappy employee more money, you create a wealthier, unhappy employee. More than ever, people seek agency (which was once called "empowerment"), the ability to apply substantial latitude of action to their work and have the "freedom to
No One Right Way
A key aspect of organizational consulting (and individual coaching) is that there is seldom "one right way." There is almost always a "feasible set" within which success can occur. Picture a gauge indicating too little pressure, ideal pressure, and too