You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Will Rogers As a leader, you know that first impressions matter. When take to your stage, you have less than a minute – a tiny window of opportunity-to build real rapport with your audience. If you don’t connect, the window slams shut. It doesn’t … Read more
Ken is a nice guy.Everyone says so. A senior VP of strategy at a major aerospace company, Ken prides himself on being pleasant and agreeable to work with. Ken works really hard to be nice. So what’s wrong? Being nice is killing Ken’s effectiveness and efficiency at work.It’s also impacting his team, his peers, … Read more
Guess what: You’re being watched. Right now. Is your “Game Face” on? That is, are you aware of what the people you lead see under their microscope? They’re analyzing each detail of your your behavior-looking for clues on how best to respond. Don’t take it too personally, it’s not just you. As social animals, that’s … Read more
In your leadership, how do you seek influence? Through strength? Or warmth? Research continues to mount that leading with warmth is the more effective leadership strategy. Warmth builds trust. Trust allows people to let their guard down. They’re open to the new, rather than defending the old. Warmth promotes effective communication and connection. Warmth shows … Read more
Culture is the fishbowl in which your company swims: it’s invisible, but impacts everything. Company culture is a combination of beliefs and behaviors, and is best defined as “how we do things around here”. As an external leadership consultant, I get invited to come and swim in different fishbowls every week. Sometimes the swim is … Read more
I can’t do this. I don’t know what I’m doing. This is too hard. I’m not going to make it here. I’m going to be found out. Do you have a track record of achievement, yet still hear these kind of messages running in your head? If so, you may be dealing with impostor syndrome -a … Read more
Over the past few months, I’ve spent a lot of time with new leaders who want to hone their “executive presence”. They want to be perceived as confident and competent. They want to put forth their ideas with clarity and energy. In our time together, they’ve had the opportunity to design and present their ideas in a … Read more
In The Leadership Challenge, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner write: Credibility is the foundation of leadership. If you doubt the messenger, you doubt the message. Last week, I was leading an intensive workshop for a company in the professional services industry. I’m helping their consultants to become more effective communicators. Over the multi-day training, the consultants … Read more
Poor Molly Huddle. Heading towards the finish of the 10,000 meter finals at the World Championships in Beijing last month, Huddle thought she had the Bronze medal in the bag. This was turning out to be her best finish ever in an international race. Huddle led the entire field as the bell rang to signal the last of … Read more
Why are these kids smiling? I should know–they’re my kids. Alexander and Miranda posed for this photo last Wednesday, right before they got on their bikes to ride off to the first day of school.They were really excited. Usually a request for their picture provokes eye rolls and mad faces. Not on Wednesday. … Read more
