Advice for transforming leadership, culture, Curiosity, and communication from Beth Wonson
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For a long time, I believed an untrue story about myself. It wasn’t my story actually, meaning, it didn’t originate with me. Still, I kept telling and living it. Until one day, after living it for nearly twelve years, I had enough of that story, and I stood up to it. The story—which I bought into hook, line, and sinker—was that I am bad with money. I understand why the person who originally assigned that label to me believed it was true. She met me when I was struggling to keep a house together for myself and my two teenage girls.…
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Get the best return on your own time!
Just because I can … The “I must do it myself” mindset is the fastest route to burnout, regardless of whether you run your own business or you head up your own department. Surrounding yourself with an effective team is the best way to reconnect with why you started doing what you do in the first place. And I’m not talking just any team—I’m talking about being brave enough to build a team of people who: See things differently than you do. Have strengths you don’t. Are willing and able to disagree with you. Are people you’re not necessarily comfortable…
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Swimming Upstream
I had a fascinating and energizing day yesterday playing in a branch of the South Yuba River in Bridgeport, California. I walked alongside a sweet river, watching the currents as it flowed. The river—not much more than twelve feet wide—wound around corners and connected with tiny tributaries. The banks and riverbed are what I’m learning is referred to as placer, sandy deposits within which precious minerals can be found. The area was beautiful, but my feet were uncomfortable as the small gravel filled my sneakers through the mesh fabric. I looked forward to getting to a spot where I could…
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The Fire Paradox – reinstating fire in its role!
I was watching the frightening news reports on California’s many wildfires last night when I heard the most amazing statement, “We are looking at The Fire Paradox as a tool for reducing wildfires.” The Fire Paradox? I had to know more about such an intriguing term, especially as I’ve been spending time considering and coaching around the negative impact of snuffing out our shadow aspects! The Fire Paradox is a methodology of managing fires that has been used in Europe for centuries. It is the understanding that fire is both friend and foe. And sometimes the best way to manage…
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Who am I to be doing this?
I’m doing business development coaching with an entrepreneur who has created an amazing foundation for her new and evolving business. Well, she calls it new and evolving. What she is missing is that this business is simply the leveling up of all her experience, study, practice, and skills. The culmination, if you will, of all she’s accomplished into one package. She’s an expert in the making. This client is working with me because within this leveling up, she has moments where she asks the age-old question, “Who am I to be doing this?” In my experience, this is a question…
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I’m tempted to indulge in willful blindness
Willful blindness is a term that originates from legislation passed in the 19th century and is based on the concept of personal responsibility, and more specifically “if you could have known, and should have known, something that instead you strove not to see.” Author Margaret Heffernan reminds us in her book by the same name—Willful Blindness—that this behavior is a choice. It is also the path of least resistance, which in my interpretation creates the thinking errors and blind spots we use to construct barriers to empowerment and fulfillment.My mind is eager to indulge in willful blindness, as we’ve just…
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Are you living your values?
Yesterday I was giving a talk on Leadership Authenticity at the CA Society of CPA’s. I shared about how important it is not only knowing your core values, but also modeling them so coworkers and employees know exactly what you value and expect. One woman raised her hand and asked me if our core values can change over time. Absolutely. When I was 18 through probably 26 years old, I loved my family. But as I gained independence, family was neither a priority nor what I’d call a non-negotiable core value. However that has changed. And in honor of that, instead of…
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What if I get too proud?
Warning! Pride goeth before the fall! This sentiment, from the biblical book of Proverbs, ran through my mind for years. My Mother truly believed and lived by these words. One of her primary jobs was to make sure I didn’t get too big for my britches and risk a fall. As a result, compliments were scarce and comments to keep me in check were doled out frequently – for my own good of course. I’m certain it was her way of keeping me safe from the dreaded fall. When I was working with my amazing friend and colleague, Bart Crawford, he took…
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Am I Trustworthy?
“I was having a riding lesson with a new trainer that I didn’t really trust. I was an inexperienced rider so I figured I just didn’t know any better. As I was transitioning to the canter, I lost my balance and fell off. The horse stepped on my leg. I’m still riding, but I haven’t been able to canter again.” A coaching client seeking insight and support around her fear of cantering shared this story with me. I am an avid horse enthusiast, not a riding instructor or a horse trainer, but as a facilitator and coach I frequently work…
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I had to fire 3 people today.
I had to fire a few people today. It wasn’t pretty. I had to literally escort them out the door and demand that they never return. I will miss them but their banishment was for the good of the whole. The reasons for the immediate terminations were quite clear: They didn’t show up consistently but always seemed present when something went wrong. They made the same missteps repeatedly. They never came forward and took ownership of their mistakes. They forgot to do things OFTEN – give messages, shut off lights, file correctly, and mostly clean up after themselves! And they…
Leveling up Leadership and Culture Through Healthy and Candid Communication
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