The Blog

Seizing Coachable Moments I like to think of myself as a good listener. Someone who is not stepping on the end of your sentence so I can share my hero idea. A moment of great coaching helped me  - compassionately but clearly – see a gap between this aspirational self...

What’s that operating agreement, competency or habit your team committed to in a recent off-site but got lost in the deluge of day-to-day meetings, slack and emails? How do you dust off your shared commitment to “listening to understand” or “effective feedback” and...

There are jerks at work … people with patterns of gaslighting, stealing credit, being passive aggressive and worse (resources here and here for those situations). But then there is jerk-at-work-behavior. This differentiation helps me pause when I encounter a zinger...

I’ve been guilty of attempting to cajole or nudge a manager into their people leadership responsibilities by underplaying the energy, effort and time required. In the face of a seasoned thought leader (also a team leader!) who was exasperated by the idea of regular...

There’s a common thread I see across teams right now. The desire to reset. Redefine.  Reconnect, reflect on where we’ve been, what’s served us and what hasn’t. Teams are interrogating old norms and ways of working. We’re sifting through habits and practices, much like...

I love a good list. I’m here for all the summer bucket lists. I’m hoping not to tarnish the summer bucket list by also making a summer-work-bucket-list. Summer feels full of delicious possibility. That unique slice of time that lends itself to imaginaation. Adventure....

Squirmy. Anxious. Sweaty and hoping no one notices. Afraid I’ll be written off as “not smart enough” or someone who “just doesn’t get it.” This is how I feel when I’m considering taking the leap into disagreeing with someone and we don’t yet have trust in the bank....

I spent part of this week with a team of people who have been working to solve a complex problem for several months. This week something clicked, or shifted, and a set of ideas caught fire. The team hatched exciting new ideas and they also each cleared the space on...

When we build communication skills we tend to stay tightly focused on how we’re showing up in the actual conversation. We build competencies in delivering our message and in engaged listening. Those skills build trust. They are foundational to strong relationships....

This is a great read about offsites.  Meaningful offsites create conditions where we: Connect to a shared purpose. I’m not talking about a group edit of a mission statement😝. I’m talking about work where you feel that spark of energy – electricity – around the big...