Are You a Leader Who Plays it Safe?

If we want people to invest their emotional energy, we need to put more skin in the game.
Authentic Buy-in
If you’ve been in the professional world, corporate or otherwise, for any length of time, you’ve heard about the importance of communicating benefits. Communicating Benefits is one of those basic block and tackling skills that rarely get taught in high school, or even college for that matter (like balancing a checkbook – what’s with that?), […]
Making it Safe to Say What’s Real
“How are you?” “How’s it going?” If you’re spending time in the US, you’ll hear these greetings all day long; from colleagues, friends, clients, the checker at the grocery store, your kid’s teacher, the mailman, the guy making your latte at Starbucks – that’s just what we say to each other in this country. Do any […]
Don’t Fool Yourself, People Know
I don’t remember where I heard it. I do remember it was eons ago, further back than I could attempt to pin down, but somewhere along my journey, I remember someone once saying, “Who you are in one area of your life is who you are in every area of your life.” It stuck with […]
What are the Lessons of Your Life?
As I’m watching my husband bundle up to “battle the elements” for his walk to catch the train on his way to work, I’m reminded of my childhood. As some of you know, I grew up a world away from where I find myself now (just outside NYC), on a cattle ranch in northwestern Montana. My dad […]
Creative Thinking and Making an Impact
What seems like a lifetime ago, in the summer of 2001, I got one of those crazy ideas (for those of you who know me, you know that this is not terribly unusual). I was in Seattle at the time, running my corporate events company, and I found this breathtaking spot at the foot of […]
Expectations, Caring and a Tale of Two Trees
As my husband and I were comparing schedules this morning, trying to figure out when we will get the chance to get the annual Christmas tree, I was reminded of the contrasting experiences we’ve had in the past and how critical it is to deliver on expectations and show that you care. Year-before-last, we put […]
The Power of Surrender
“We must continue to open in the face of tremendous opposition. No one is encouraging us to open and still we must peel away the layers of the heart.” – Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, Tibetan Buddhist master There are books that you read, that reach down and grab you by the soul and shake you, and […]
Bridging Courage
When I was growing up we lived about 10 miles out town (I was a country mouse) and I rode my bike everywhere. I thought nothing of pedaling the 7 miles each way to my best friend’s house to hang out, when her family moved closer to town. I did what a kid had to do […]