Recovering Leader

Being Direct / Sugar Coating

Occasionally I hear from a leadership coaching client "I'm not very good at sugar-coating it" when it comes to delivering bad news or tough feedback to someone. They ask me for help delivering a message in a "nice" way. So what shall I tell them? "Do A, then B, then C. Here's my bill." No. My job as a coach... Read more →

Monday's LeaderTip: Enjoyment at Work

Enthusiastic leaders make it a priority to enjoy their work. They find themselves energized and rewarded by their job, particularly when they share this core value with their people and customers. Yet settling for less is so often the norm. What stands in the way of your looking forward to coming to work most days? Take notice of your level... Read more →

PodCast LeaderTip: Enjoyment at Work

Download leadertipenjoyment_at_work.mp3 Read more →

Excerpts from Jack Taylor Interview: "We're All In This Together, Kids"

It's the weekend, which seems like a great time to post this. I had an excellent opportunity to interview Jack Taylor three days ago, founder of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, for my book, The Peaceful Leader, and an article we may pitch to Fortune. Mr. Taylor, 80-something, was referred to me as someone who exemplifies what I call Peaceful Leadership. I hadn't... Read more →

Leadership and "Shoulding"

It's important to be on the lookout for a tendency toward directive behavior, and one sure sign is "shoulding." That is, when a leader is inclined to say "You should do ..." or, worse, "You should've done..." The challenge for a leader is to be a coach, guiding your people, rather than a parent. You are invited to guide others... Read more →

Connecting the Dots: Leader's Humanity and Best Work

Leaders are human, and it's critical they bring their ability to feel with them to work, and not shut down emotionally "because this is business." It means looking others in the eye with how we really feel, being curious about them, really listening to what they say, and owning / acknowledging feelings (ours and theirs) when they happen. The majority... Read more →

Leadership and Mistakes: A Note to Well-Meaning Perfectionists

Mistakes are part of everyday life--we're human--it's what you do next that really counts: admit it, get creative, roll with it, fix it, learn, maintain a sense of humor, and do better next time… Do you allow yourself to make mistakes? If you fall, does it feel like a mile? Assuming you care deeply about your work, it's almost always... Read more →

Monday LeaderTip: Letting Go of Complacency

Leadership often means finding the courage to change lasting problems that result from a state of complacency. As you reflect on the situation, consider two factors: how is it standing in the way of the future you're working to build; and in what ways—either knowingly or below the surface—are you contributing to keeping it that way? Whether obvious or not,... Read more →

Exploring the First of Six Principles of Peaceful Leadership: Imagine

1. Imagine -> 2. Design -> 3. Develop -> 4. Listen & Learn -> 5. Lead -> 6. Change IMAGINE ... Be a dreamer ... create a crystal clear picture of the future that has the most meaning for you and your organization. Whether you are creating something new, or re-evaluating your existing situation, a meaningful future lies at the... Read more →

About This Book: The Peaceful Leader

Six Principles of Peaceful Leadership (Revised draft from Upcoming Book) Great leadership begins with the courage to change. Leaders must tackle an unprecedented challenge–a kind of self-inflicted crisis of spirit among leaders and workers alike. The fierce new "what have you done for me so far today?" workplace is in our face 24/7, born of light speed technology and tremendous... Read more →

New Hope for Restless Brain Syndrome

[Fade in] Setting: A beach at sunset, gentle waves, white sand, and a healthy breeze. A middle-aged man and woman, hand in hand, are walking briskly, looking at each other lovingly, and laughing quietly, obviously very contented. A well-groomed golden retriever is walking and running a few steps ahead, going in and out of the lapping water. Announcer 1: (Male,... Read more →

Cooking Up Leadership Competencies (New / Improved)

What are your firm's most critical leadership skills, and how do they integrate with your overall talent management process? In my practice, and in my own executive experience, I've worked with many firms that have explicit / implicit expectations of "leadership competencies." These can be used, misused, and are often disused, depending on a) how, well, usable they are, and... Read more →

No Hakuna in HIS Macaca

If you're looking for an example of accountability, this isn't it. In fact, our tale is one of denial, one of my favorite topics, because, guess what: we're all only human. HOWEVER... Take a look. This comes to us, unsurprisingly, from the political sandbox. Per David Stout of the New York Times, in his story today entitled: "Senator Says He... Read more →

Healthy Conflict and Leadership

Striking a balance on conflict is crucial for effective leadership. Ineffective leaders tend either to avoid conflict or to be unnecessarily confrontational. Winning leaders, aware that vigorous debate is healthy, promote frank and open discussion without overkill. Reasonable disagreement followed by resolution tends to yield rich and productive results. Take a hard look at how you view conflict, and how... Read more →

Monday LeaderTip: Meaningful Measures

What gets measured improves. The less cut-and-dried sources of information, like listening to your instincts / intuition, are fundamental to great leadership—but only in tandem with clear standards and a handful of powerful indicators of progress. What' goes into designing a strong measure? Key criteria include ease of use, comprehensiveness and relevance to your desired results. Consider the Walgreen's example... Read more →

Asking For Help / Listening Deeply

As we wrap up "Asking For Help" week here at the Recovering Leader, it's important to highlight the importance of asking and listening at a deeper level. Too often we are distracted in conversation "in the interest of time," and missing most of what is being said. In dealing with a question or issue, asking penetrating questions and listening deeply... Read more →

Teamwork -- and Great Blog to Check Out

Lora Banks, a fellow coach here in the Bay Area, has a great blog, and her recent post on Patrick Lencioni's teamwork model is fantastic, as it presents clearly the key strengths of his work. I told Patrick a couple of months ago in a piece of fan email that I used his facilitator's guide in a team intervention with... Read more →

Asking for Help 101 - Weakness or Strength?

I have a CEO coaching client who's business has been growing by leaps and bounds. We've worked together for quite a while, and he says his business is better / he's a better CEO in part because of our work together. (Actually, he's incredibly capable and motivated, and his success is a direct result of that, with the coaching having... Read more →

Six-Question Self-Test: Check Your "AFHQ" (Asking For Help Quotient)

Here on Day Two of "Ask For Help Week" at the Recovering Leader, we wanted to give you a chance to look at your own beliefs/behaviors. As we've said before, asking for help is a quick, effective, and, ultimately, more productive way to solve problems and get things done than trying to do everything yourself. That said, it can be... Read more →

Case Study: Not Asking For Help

Grandiosity: An Aeriel View from the Prideful Balloon Once upon a time there was an executive who had a lot of success, and got promoted to a senior position in a large company at a fairly young age. "Sol," we'll call him, had done many projects, large and small, very well with sheer determination and will to win. He was... Read more →

It's "Ask For Help" Week Here at the Recovering Leader

Okay, maybe it's not going to show up on your Outlook Calendar, but it's "Ask For Help" week here at R.L. -- and welcome to it! Over the next seven days I'm exploring the topic of Asking for Help in detail, and I want to thank fellow Bay Area coach Lora Banks, for her supportive comment when last I mentioned... Read more →

The Changing Leader: It's an Inside Job

Meaningful, sustainable change starts with viewing our situation and ourselves with new eyes. “It’s an inside job,” so to speak. I was explaining my coaching approach to a prospective self-identified "career transition" client. He was clearly conflicted about leaving his current executive role, not because he fears leaving, but because there are things he likes about it. I told him... Read more →

Spark of Leadership

We often use terms that have to do with heat to describe positivity, inspiration and motivation. For instance, when something excites us we say we are “all fired up.” When someone does aA_match great job we say, “She was really on fire yesterday.” A go-getter is known as “burning up the pavement.” Thought leaders blaze "new trails." Likewise, a great... Read more →

Peace

“Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things, and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.” ~ Unknown Read more →

New Reality Show: Top World Leader / AMERICAN STYLE

Setting: A large, glamorously lit, glittery white stage with Travolta/Saturday Night Fever-like floor lighting. A blond British model in a glamorous gown type takes center stage, the applause sign flashes, and the studio audience goes wild. "Hello Los Angeles, and America! I'm your host, Missy Baggins, and welcome to TOP WORLD LEADER / AMERICAN STYLE!" Applause sign flicks on and... Read more →

Cleaning Up Your Beliefs

Your experience and genetics -- nurture and nature -- have resulted in your beliefs. What you believe leads to how you feel about something. What you believe and how you feel drive you to the actions you take. Your actions lead directly to the results you are getting. So your beliefs -- whether positive or negative – lead directly to... Read more →

Self-Coaching Du Jour: Fun Work

When you get the most excited and are having the most fun at work... 1. What type of thing are you doing? 2. What specific activities and tasks are you doing? 3. Who are you working with? 4. What are you definitely NOT doing? 5. Who are you definitely NOT working with? 6. What stops you from doing it more... Read more →

Balance Sheet Hiring

Reference checking has become marginalized among many companies, as fears pervade. Yet, when done well, it is a highly valuable piece of the hiring puzzle. What can you do as a hiring manager? Ask for recent, relevant references, and be prepared to ask them “judgment neutral” questions. What are those? They are questions that do not ask for a positive... Read more →