Author: Beth Wonson
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Where’s Your Laser Focus?
When I was just starting out in my own leadership career, there was one particular leader who I kept going to for approval. I was not able to get it no matter how hard I tried. There were several people in leadership roles who were supportive, gave me great feedback, took time to teach and…
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Is Your Team Blocked on New Ideas?
Not every idea can be put in place, but every idea can be received and discussed. Most ideas can’t be implemented as they are presented, but the discussion of ideas leads to things that can make a difference, and it builds trust within the team.
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Between a Rock and a Hard Place
When you are anyone other than the person in ultimate control of an organization, there can be times that you find yourself feeling between a rock and a hard place. How do you proceed without letting your frustration become so apparent that you are labeled as resistant to change or negative? In my coaching and…
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Managing Defensiveness
Do you feel like every time you try to talk with an employee, they are defensive? Or maybe you are the employee who finds yourself being defensive. Or perhaps you are the supervisor who finds your attempts at giving feedback are met with defensiveness.
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The Leading Cause of Leadership Burnout
More and more, leaders who come to work with me are just burnt out. I can hear it in their voice and see it in their eyes. And nearly every time, when I delve into what is at the root of the burnout, they reveal that they are exhausted by solving problems for employees who…
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How many times is too many?
A common theme among managers is that there is a staff person who is not meeting expectations. This one person often takes up more real estate in the manager’s head than any other employee. The manager tells me that they’ve had discussions with them about how they aren’t meeting expectations. Not specific conversations, just vague…
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Building Leadership Presence
I used to have a very bad habit. I would apologize in advance for what I perceived to be my shortcomings or weaknesses. In fact, sometimes I still do. Luckily I have some great friends and colleagues who don’t hesitate to point it out to me. Why did I do it so often? I thought…
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When You’re Promoted From Within
I often have managers come to me saying things like:“I have this person who reports to me but they don’t respect me. When I give feedback, they talk back to me. When I delegate they complain. And I don’t know what to do.”When I hear these kinds of things, I always ask, “Were you promoted…
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How’s your confidence these days?
A pattern I’ve been noticing is that some of my usually confident clients are reporting that their confidence is shaky these days. It’s no wonder. The pandemic has been a long-haul (darn, I’m sick of saying that). And it isn’t over yet. If you, like so many of my amazing clients, are feeling your confidence…
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Managing is Nuanced
A client came to our session with an inquiry about what he’s learning. The lesson he just completed focused on how involving employees in decision making can be empowering and lead to deeper engagement in the work. Had this manager continued with his thought process of empowering his staff to discuss deadlines that were already…