Recovering Leader

When - and when not -- to invest in coaching

Working with coaching clients globally for many years now, it's notable that great coaching starts with the right leaders and teams to receive coaching in the first place. That means there are plenty of situations where coaching is definitely not warranted. In this Heidrick article, I've gone into some depth about that, sharing what I discuss with and suggest to... Read more →

Make The Rest of Your Career a Love Story

Consider this, “The best work is constructive play” (source: Kay Cumings) Here are suggestions to help that idea find its way into your career choices. Let it wipe out any autopilot or sad, old ideas about work being work, a necessary evil. Find and fall in love with the work you enjoy most, don't settle for less, and challenge any self-limiting ideas that may be holding you back. Read more →

Three Must-do Practices for Leading Change

Beyond a great vision, strategy, roadmap, and a capable organization, the leader's or team's ability to build broadbased and sustainable support is the key to leading transformative change. Here are three great ways to do that. Read more →

6 Awesome Ways to Lend a Helping Hand ... Virtually

How to prioritize and practice finding peace amidst all the background radiation of ambiguity, chaos, and fear, and take that peace and use it to focus on helping others now more than ever; after all, it's food for the soul to lend a helping hand. Read more →

Every Day is Bring Your Kindness to Work Day

A friendly leadership approach works wonders when you want to enable those around you to free up their most powerful talents and skills in service of a shared vision or goal.  Read more →

11 Coaching Tips to Seriously Upgrade Your Email Impact

Building executive presence (EP) is a hot topic. A dash of swagger when face to face are crucial; but how do you demonstrate EP on email? EP-busting email habits are rampant, according to my experience as an executive coach. With a few simple practices, and breaking a few habits, you can use email as an instrument of greater influence. Read more →

How to Strengthen Your Organizational Intelligence ... And Why You Should Care

Do you work with or lead anyone who people avoid, or maybe seems to be a bull in a china hsop? They may be described as having lower Organizational Intelligence or "OQ"? Here's what you should know to help them be more successful! Read more →

DIY Career Design Pro Tools

Face it; your career is not in the hands of anyone else but you. Even though some jobs come with potential for promotions, this is the design your own career era. Why? Loyalty between employers and employees is way looser than in days of yore, due to workforce management (e.g., using headcount for cost control), frequent organizational change, shorter employee... Read more →

Infographic: 4 "DEFT" Steps to Goal Attainment

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Awesome Questions Leaders Should Ask Regularly

Asking better questions makes better leaders. There are questions we could ask the people who work for us that we simply don’t think to ask: the ones that can help us clean out our own blind spots, and know what we need to lead, even if it's hard to hear. For example, when was the last time you asked someone... Read more →

How Bully Bosses Can Change Their Stripes

Bullying is trending—in schools, on social media, and across the political landscape, and more recently, it's common to hear accusations that certain managers create hostile workplaces by acting like bullies, too. When can these mean managers change? Read more →

Workplace Conflict? Here's What to Do About It

The American hive mind has rarely, if ever, seemed so cranky and conflicted. It's no surprise we are tracking that emotional crud into the office with us every day. Perhaps the lies, mudslinging, and bully-behavior in Washington have never been so in our faces, as they are amplified and served up to us 24/7 in the social and professional media.... Read more →

How Relatable Are You as a Leader? Upgrade Your Interface!

The more aware you are of how your way of interacting impacts others, the more you can lead them in a positive, inspiring, sustainable way. It’s that simple. The reverse is also true. Read more →

How Good Are You At Feedback? Here Are 10 Power Tips on Giving Feedback

The way you (and your organization) handle feedback can have a profoundly critical impact on its success. So it’s worth spending the time to get it right. Here are 10 ways to do that! Read more →

Maturing from Me-leader to We-leader: Get Comfortable in Third Position

Far too many "leaders" are overly invested in their own ideas, opinions, and directives; they are me-managers and me-leaders: "me think this, so you do that." It's often just a bad habit, or self-styled way to manage. Specifically, they're partially to totally blind about how things look from others' points of view, and how they come across to them. It's fixable, and worthwhile to fix. Read more →