Witnessing the simple act of a child letting go of a rock to free her arm taught me a profound life lesson. This lesson has guided me for over a decade, reminding me to release what no longer serves me, and how that leads to genuine relief and freedom. Let me tell you the story ...

Recently, I had the pleasure of consulting with a seasoned nonprofit Executive Director who was grappling with a particularly messy challenge. During our 3-hour session, I took notes and sketched diagrams as she talked, helping her untangle the complexities in her mind. By the end, we had identified key areas for organizational strengthening, clarified her evolving role, and outlined necessary funding strategies. She left feeling grounded and confident about the future, a common outcome of my consulting sessions. If you’re facing a similar challenge, book a confidential session with me to find your own path forward.

It is amazing to me how horrifying the idea of taking time off is to so many people. And I get it because I used to be the exact same way. Vacation-resistant clients are often the most stressed, overwhelmed, and short-tempered of my clients. So I start with baby steps. Together we identify an upcoming weekend and add a Friday and a Monday off. For many over-achievers, the idea of missing two days is enough to put them into their stretch zone.

Events such as funding cuts, economic downturn threats, competition, politics, civil unrest, and even pandemics can bring a hurricane-level of chaos to teams and organizations. With a new "hurricane" seemingly forecasted every day, and new worries constantly arising, how can your organization prepare?

It’s easy to forget, especially with experienced new hires, that adjusting to an entirely new work environment is often quite unsettling and challenging. For many, it is more challenging than the actual work itself. No matter how impossible it may seem to spare that time, the initial investment is well worth the result: retaining a solid new employee. 

There are going to be times when you are faced with answering an unanswerable question. Maybe it is from one of your children, or a friend, a co-worker, a boss, or a direct report. This Navigating Challenging Dialogue® tool applies to any situation where you are faced with providing answers to a situation or question that you aren’t ready or equipped to answer.

If you recognize that venting has become a go-to strategy for stress relief, it is likely that relationships may be suffering along with your own wellness. As a leader, manager, or teammate, we each have a responsibility to notice the role of venting and do our best to shift it. Here are a few of my recommendations.

Imagine a world without feedback. I know we all have moments when we wish for less feedback. But a world with no feedback would leave me rudderless. It would be like leaving the harbor in a boat, moving forward, but not knowing if the forward movement was getting me closer to or further from my destination.

​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 mentor me, but that one person’s attention and approval were allusive to me.

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.

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.

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 can’t seem to proactively come up with answers to the same questions over and over again.

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 discussions.

Despite how many times they meet, the employee continues on the same trajectory of under-performance.

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 a bit shaken, try this.

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 fixed, he’d be soon dealing with confusion, chaos, and even worse, a lack of trust.

Here’s a question I get all the time now: “How can I keep my staff motivated and engaged when I’m exhausted myself? I can’t keep trying to fake it -- that’s even more exhausting. And if I talk about it, I’m afraid I’ll open a can of worms and it will turn into a whine-session.”

Here’s the thing about building connections: it requires trust. And trust is developed through disclosure. Disclosure is your opportunity to model the behaviors you desire in others.

One of the least discussed aspects of leadership is what to do when you’re asked unanswerable questions. How can you answer with honesty and integrity while continuing to build trust and maintain employee or team engagement?

So often we are hooked into the myth that in order to successfully manage people you must know all the answers. The truth is, you just need to be able to ask great curious questions.

Depending on your industry, it is really tough to hire good employees right now. But are you letting your fear of losing a mediocre employee keep you from having direct conversations about performance?

This question comes up far too often in my coaching conversations. How would the performance of your business be transformed if you had a culture of feedback?