Category: Leadership
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How Have You Trained Others to Treat You?
There was a time when I was really mad at an organization for the way (I perceived) they took advantage of me. I was angry and resentful, but what I’ve realized since is they were treating me exactly as I had trained them to – I worked all kinds of hours, I prioritized their goals…
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Uncovering Their Expectations
Have you ever been in a conversation or a meeting where you walk away thinking a decision was made – only to find out others thought it was merely a discussion? It happens all the time, and it is one of the key ways we waste time and manifest drama and chaos. Listen in to…
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Open the Invitation
Many years ago, the National Indian Youth Leadership Project’s Mac Hall taught me an incredible lesson about bringing programs into the world. He said, “We only go where we are invited,” meaning we could provide information, but we wait to be asked. We didn’t assume we knew what was best for a community. Instead, we…
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The Week Behind and the Week Ahead
Do you ever get last-minute emails from your boss on Friday? The ones that drop in just as you are heading out the door? Or even worse – messages that you read on Sunday morning, and they mess up your whole day? Well, here is a great “manage up” strategy to prevent those last-minute communications.
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Roaring Fires in the Night Sky
We went camping a few weekends ago, and I’m pretty good at building campfires, but it’s close to impossible to build a good fire with bad wood.Fortunately, our sad, smoky little fire was rescued by two pairs of gentlemen on two separate occasions. With their tattoos and camos, they appeared to be the opposite of…
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Going One Step Beyond Crucial Conversations
Reading the book Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High changed my life. My awareness was increased and I gained more tools, but I was still getting tripped up and triggered by my ideas of what others should do, what they should believe, and how they should behave. That’s when I knew I…
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Let Go of the Rock, Revisited
When we clutch and cling to what we treasure, our tightly closed fist prevents us from accepting anything more, and it can also prevent our moving forward with ease and freedom.Listen in (or read on) for a short, sweet story about a child who learned to open her fist, which, in turn, opened my eyes…
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Which Do You Choose: Your Own Needs or the Good of the Whole?
It’s not important to determine if you’re an individual or if you’re someone more focused on the good of the whole. The important work is about awareness – what the situation in front of you needs most, in that moment. Listen in to learn how to move between the two with ease.
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Are You Trying to Get Back on Track?
If you’re off track, you can try to get back on, but maybe it’s time to jump tracks and try out a whole new one.Sure, you can bring some of your experiences, learning, and history with you – but you can also let a whole bunch go…
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Empowering Others Through Questions
Is it easy for you to come up with a quick answer to solve other people’s problems? It is for me, too. The challenge is that I’m offering them a solution that’s a good fit for me, but it’s not necessarily a good fit for them.The empowering work is to ask people simple questions that…