When Faltering Happens
<1312 words> Faltering can happen any time, no matter how well prepared you are and how experienced and skilled and everything. No doubt faltering has many causes but to my mind, when emotions simply will not remain in the back row of a command performance, the prospects of faltering happening significantly increases. “I was struck with […]
My Story of an African Farm
<1156 words> Apparently it was necessary for me to have a crazy dream of registering for a farmers’ expo here in Nova Scotia. The rule was that if you could register a VOF (Very Old Farm) you somehow could claim senior status. I thought I might use my grandfather’s farm outside Mafikeng in South Africa – […]
Retrofitting Relationships at Work
It has become a fundamental principle (a principle from which other truths can be derived) that engaged employees do take care of your customers, bring in hard cash, and uphold the highest quality standards you can afford. There is a great deal of overlap in what are deemed to be the best questions to get the best answers, but it has not made much of a difference: the number of ‘engaged employees’ seems to stick at 30% according to various studies spanning at least a decade.
We are overthinking the issues of leadership and employee engagement.
Hope Is a Strategy (Well, Sort Of)
As I get deeper into coaching a client about her career, increasingly we centre on her values and interests, which brought us to consider ‘hope’ as a factor. What is the taste and feel of her hope? Until we understand that hope is essential to her moving forward in her stagnated career and life, we’re fiddling. […]
If ‘career’ is a verb, then what is a ‘career plan’?
Instead of simply scanning the bullet points in articles on career planning discover the right questions to ask first.
Very few people have career plans that move linearly from A to Z. Most of us career from one perceived opportunity to the the next, but often the advice we get assumes we’re in control. We’re not. What we can be in control of is the basis of making career choices: what do I like and what would I like to have more of? There are some good questions to ask. Ask them. Answer them. Then act.
Being a Leader is Hard, so WHAT (are we going to do about it)?
The corner has been turned on the complexity of leadership. The true skill is in achieving simplicity: Simplicity with the clarity that can come only from a depth of curiosity and reflection. It is true that it is harder to be simple with clarity. It requires regular and full attention. Being a leader surely requires constant and deep reflection to develop and maintain clarity of vision and purpose. It is hard to do that alone.
That is why leadership coaching has become such a precious and sought-after service.