Boot Camp
Some people I coach tell me they'd rather face a prospect in a strange office in an initial meeting than deal with me on Zoom in a role play. I tell them that's the idea, congratulations, my work here is done
The Empathic Coach
If you want to be a really great coach (and less of a boor) STOP telling people how YOU do things, as if that will improve them. Try to understand who they are, what their skills, affinities, and potential are,
It’s That Second Time
One of my gifts for speaking at a University's school of business was a coffee cup that keeps the coffee hot. It requires an app and control by my iPhone (of course) but it does what it promises and keeps
The No Normal®
This is not a "reset to factory settings" world. You can't unplug and plug life back in. These are the times of No Normal®. There is no "return to normal" nor a "new normal." There ARE new realities. We need to
Now’s the Time
One post-pandemic phenomenon that fascinates me is what I see as a rise in immediate gratification. The tourism and hospitality industries are roaring. People are no longer saying, "Some day we have to do that," but rather, "Let do that
The Law of Unintended Consequences
Foreign aid is good, right? Especially when people are starving. Common sense. Well, not so much. For many years, the US policy was to distribute massive amounts of food to hungry people in countries which gladly accepted it. However, in so
The Emotional Connection
Behind almost every business goal is a personal goal. It may be recognition, vindication, power, enrichment—whatever. When an executive says that better teamwork is needed, it may just be that the executive is frustrated and tired of playing referee among
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