Too often we find ourselves talking around issues.  For lots of reasons we leave meetings without saying what has to be said — and then we engage in the ‘side conversation’.  Perhaps you’ve experienced the side conversation:  ‘Can you believe what just happened in that meeting?’  Rather than speaking up, we rely on the side...Read More

The first few months on a new job present opportunities and challenges for both the employee and the employer. In fact, studies show that new hires, at all levels, are most vulnerable during this period, but also more receptive to establishing new patterns of behavior for long-term job success. Read more…Read More

I spent last week working with 73 smart women: the 2013 Class of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale.  These women from around the world gathered to hear from experts on what it takes to get elected to office. I had the opportunity to work with each woman, one-on-one, to help her grow her executive...Read More

In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell cites research that says in as little as two seconds we make numerous snap judgments about who someone is based on nonverbal clues such as age, gender, ethnicity. These first impressions can work for or against us. Reality is we have no control over some of them, but lots...Read More

Organizations talk frequently about the importance of their employees working together.  The reality is that working together doesn’t always work well — working with others isn’t easy and teamwork isn’t natural for some people.  But being able to build strong, effective, working relationships with team members is often the determining factor for both an individual,...Read More

This month I’ve talked with many of my clients about the year-end reviews they’re doing for their direct reports, as well as the year-end reviews they’re getting from their bosses.  Hopefully, December isn’t the only time of the year they’re giving and getting feedback, but for many organizations, year-end reviews still mark the ‘official’ feedback...Read More

Last week I participated in a well-run board meeting led by a smart woman who knows she benefits from the input of other smart people.  Suzanne, not her real name but a real person, is ready to make some big life changes so she’s calling on her Personal Board of Directors.  She intentionally put her...Read More

Happy Halloween!  It’s not often you get to tie executive coaching to one of the most important days of the year for kids. On Halloween, we think of ghosts, goblins, and gremlins. In coaching we sometimes face some scary things too, including our own gremlins — those negative thoughts we have inside our head that...Read More