Why do organizations offer flexibility? Business - Business- Business. Successful accomplishment of business strategy is the primary reason for building a flexible work culture. The majority of our employees require flexibility at some point in their careers. Research increasingly points to flexibility as one of the most important career considerations of staff, emerging … [Read more...]
Leadership Lessons in the Blink of an Eye
When you think of leaders who have made a difference who comes to mind? In our Total Leadership Connections program we spend time discussing this and over the years several themes have emerged. Many are the same for all leadership programs around the world. Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Mohammed, Gandhi, Mandela, MLK, JFK, FDR are on most lists. When it gets more personal folks … [Read more...]
Generic Answers Lead to Lost Opportunities
If you find yourself constantly resorting to generic answers when people ask you questions about yourself – it’s time to rethink your approach. We can so often drift through our day, not even seeing the opportunities in the conversations with others. From the simplest Hey, how are you? to the more complex questions you are asked throughout your work day - how often do you … [Read more...]
People ARE listening! The question is – Are you saying anything worth hearing?
From years of experience, I’ve learned that if I leave a voicemail message for my husband, I have to get to the compelling and important information at the beginning of the message. If I leave it for the end, he never really makes it there. He begins doing something I call “light listening” (i.e. He’s bored with his own wife’s rambling message and can barely pay … [Read more...]
In Praise of the Scripted Response
The boutique was packed, perhaps more than usual for even a Saturday afternoon due to the gray drizzle keeping everyone from the beach. My shopping companion, Julia, had found a pair of earrings she liked in a locked case. She asked whether someone could help her take a closer look. The reply was instantaneous. “We’re very busy helping some other people right now so it … [Read more...]
Leadership and Emotional Pollution
Did you ever throw a paper cup on the ground and walk away? The women who read this blog would not think to do that. The cup would find a home in a trash can. And, if you look down and there is a candy wrapper lying on the pavement, do you pick it up and throw it in a waste basket? Most likely you would take the moment to help clean up the area. So, why do we walk past … [Read more...]
5 Lessons I’ve Learned about Leadership
The economic waves have settled a bit and my company is getting ready to hire several new employees. As the resumes have rolled in, more than I can ever remember, I thought back to my very first professional job and the anticipation of the world that was unfolding before me. When you started your career what was front and center on your work agenda? I was armed with a … [Read more...]
How Do You React When Someone Upsets You?
Last week I attended a Board meeting for a local non profit organization and before the meeting officially started, we were having a casual conversation when a colleague of mine made the comment that someone’s “nose was out of joint” because of a certain interaction that had occurred earlier in the week. That got me thinking. What was the origin of this idiom and what … [Read more...]
Presentation skills are more than “talk”
Courageous leaders have an organic skill that shines above all else…Presentation Skills. The ability to engage others through presentation skills exercised daily through one-on-one conversations, group interactions and conference calls is more than just “talk”. To present effortlessly increases credibility, confidence and commands attention. A skilled leader with … [Read more...]
Women Leadership Lessons and Tackling Tension
Long plane rides often bring me fresh ideas, or at least give me time to think in fresh, new ways. Flying from Newark to San Francisco is perfect. Just about six hours with little distraction from my writing and musings. Sometimes! On this particular plane were a brother and a sister, two or so years apart, I guessed. They were attractive, well behaved children whose parents … [Read more...]