The Latest
I owe a great deal of where I am today to your knowledge, patience and guidance. I have to work on myself everyday but I find it easier and more like general maintenance, like small corrections these days. I can directly attribute many of the...
What if.... Nobody Gets to Be Rong? Yes, what if we could 'allow' this idea into our set of options when we form our responses to the world? If you are like most, the spelling error has crossed your awareness,...
Conscious living, what is that? Who cares? Why? We live our lives far less than fully conscious. Too harsh? Maybe. I wonderwhether conscious is good or 'something else'. The fact is that our brain can onlyhandle very few things at...
Why are we here? What is the reason that we were born? What are we supposed tobe doing here? What is your 'Purpose'? And so what if we do or don't know?Hmmmm … Living Without Purpose Let us address the...
Choice is Always Happening We make choices all the time. Choice is one of those 'always happening' things. Not choosing is still a choice. If I want something, like a glass of water, I automatically 'see' it in my mind....
“Knowledge discovered is nothing until it becomes knowledge shared.”
I owe a great deal of where I am today to your knowledge, patience and guidance. I have to work on myself everyday but I find it easier and more like general maintenance, like small corrections these days. I can directly attribute many of the...
With my first name as Joseph, I have often heard 'go with the flow, Joe', sometimesdirected my way. What does that mean, exactly? I'm thinking it means, cooperate,don't rock the boat, blend in, keep your head down, make as little...
The world could do with a few more convention busting insights. Particular towestern society most of us can relate to the image of 'the boss' arriving to takenames and kick some butt. The witch hunt is a tradition, fiercely propagated,reinforced...
The big/whole picture is made up of tiny photographs. Particles to make the full result - pic Mosaic Puzzles Shaping Vision Imagine that you have a magic lens through which you can zoom in or out in your view of...
We call all the time. I receive calls and send calls out. There are many types of call. Forinstance, what is it like when I ‘call you down’? Like that? Which form do you like more, to becalled down or...
How does my approach and assumptions affect the Coaching conversation? Feelsobvious to me that different choices on these points could make a massivedifference in the effectiveness and outcome of a Coaching interaction. Consider,the approach and assumptions you are thinking of...
A big question. Do people even notice me? In those instances when they do, what would I like my impact upon them to be? Can I put on just the right outfit, walk just the right way, say just the...
Leadership, where is it? I don't mean there isn't enough of it, though that is likely true, I meanwhere, physically, does the leader take up position? Is the leader out front, ahead and all othersare behind, following, as they say?...
New Year thoughts. Welcome to the New Year. "So what are your plans?" And so it goes, on into Resolutions that too often have simply never worked, and other sad tales. Well… there are always those SMART goals or many...
Cube Tune Up Whether participating in self growth or leading a team development session at work, it can be really helpful to use a simple model to frame the explorations and discoveries. Simple is most often best, so memorable and...
from 'depositphoto' The New Year Resolution has a poor reputation. How come? I say it is because it is a promise to change. An example all have experience with. We don't like to change, us humans. We squirm, struggle, fight,...
Lynn was seriously groused with Mike. They were doing so well, having a fine time, until he jumped off of his end of the teeter totter. 'Ka-boom', she crashed into the terra-firma like a ragdoll. Seriously groused for sure. Maureen...
The Coaching toolkit holds many insightfully useful items. One that I find particularly powerful is the phrase pair of See yourself, Celebrate what you see. The Power of Self Reflection Practiced delivery of these six words can transform an entire...
Sometimes we want to help but don't know how. I have felt that. The Covid situation has more of us wanting to help, while not knowing how. The Five Love Languages (Chapman) offers the premise that we each have a...
Randori is a martial arts exercise where multiple attackers engage you at once, and you do not know which one will attack next or from what direction or what technique they will use. It is a supremely present moment experience....
#alcoholism # addiction #cure Having Coached hundreds over the past two decades, alcohol came up more often than I expected. Some clients were seeking approval, some empathy, some sympathy, all sought freedom from everything that is alcohol, especially the judgment...
The Secret to Successful Teams Many studies reveal a consistently counterintuitive result about the make-up of the most successful teams. It is not the people with the longest, most impressive list of credentials, including experience, that make up the best...
Guest Article Few things can be as devastating as hitting a wall in your career. This is especially true if you’ve given it your blood, sweat, and tears, only to lose your position. However, this can be an opportunity to...
Relentless conjures images of unstoppability, maybe even of a juggernaut. Whoa. Yet, if we could call some of that up on demand, well, that could be really handy. There are things in the way of choosing to be relentless. Full...
We are social beings. We like to be among and with and around, others. In all of that we prefer to please others so they will like us. Mostly. There are times, too, when we really want to especially please...
Bronze medalist showing her opinion of herself Many quote the old saw about the glass being half full or half empty. As lovely as it is, one can too easily nod like a wise sage and just move on. What...
In order to understand ourselves better we make models that sort behaviours into a few easily understood bins. One example is when we use gas, liquid, solid to sort among the different types of matter in the world. We refer...
#action #accomplishment #inspiration #leadership Knowing exactly what to do, when and how, is not our normal state, pined George, feeling very normal, not having any idea of what to do. Speaking to his coffee cup, "most of the time I'm...
It is not acceptable in society that we intimately touch each other in public. This is definitely the case at work. Agreed? Yet it is considered essential that we, as humans, experience touch, not just once in a while but...
#stress #ease #mentalsilence #rejuvenate Millie Grenough wrote a book titled, “Oasis in the Overwhelm” and in it she offers a great little experience that can bring us back to center, to become more calm and rejuvenated, in about 20 seconds...
#leadership #personaldevelopment #personneldevelopment #coaching a short 2 minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXr-GFBHUEw "No, no and no!, the leader is the one out in front, visible, inspiring, doing what they want the rest of us to do too and showing us how"! Jim...
Many pundits advise that we ought to lie to ourselves, fake it 'til we make it, say the lie with gusto, until somehow it becomes our true state. Wha...? I know, with certainty, that I am not a multi-millionaire. So...
Sisodia, Wolfe, Sheth A really quick book review Firms of Endearment how world-class companies profit from passion and purpose The focus of business on productivity and cost cutting lifted the mainstream of society out of a marginal level of...
Did you just say, "I've decided to take up smiling"? But, but, have you not smiled before? I have and I liked it but this is the first time I recall deliberately choosing to smile. To choose to smile is...
#marketing #strategy # productdevelopmen #competition Blue Ocean Strategy how to create uncontested market space and make competition irrelevant Kim and Mauborgne A really quick book review Why is it that Ford did so well with their Model T and so...
#Coaching #professionalCoaching #personalCoaching #businessCoaching #successCoaching Have you ever toyed with the idea of working with a Coach? Have an idea of what you would explore if you did decide to try it? Willing to step at least a tiny bit...
Hear this at work? What thoughts come to mind about the level of trust at your workplace? Of course it depends on the context, so what would the context likely be for you to 'want to dig further'? The statement...
Oh, thank you, I really want to But others... So I'll pencil you in, yes And if you'll check back? I really, really want to But others could.... and And sometimes they do. What would I say to them...
Mindset the new psychology of success Carol Dweck Ph D A really quick book review Dweck pushes back, hard, on any idea that a person's ability to succeed is predetermined by heredity, social situation, gender or anything for that...
Certainly some Affirmations bring more potent outcomes than others. I might Affirm 'I want safety'. Well, yes, I do want that. However, my understanding of how the Universe works is that it is like a massive warehouse that holds every...
The Culture Code (Coyle) All the rage this past decade has included a focus on the Culture of a group, organization, company. It is said that Culture is the fabric upon which all else is built. When good results are...
#self awareness #noticing #confidence #success #happiness Increasing Self Awareness Self awareness is claimed to be the doorway to more of almost everything good. What then, is the doorway to increasing self awareness? Some things are simple and not easy. Meditation...
The Fierce Question Is there a point where failure or success becomes irrelevant? In her book, Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert proposes that it is not the classic question, 'what would you do if you knew you could not fail?' that...
#Leadership #Management #Performance The movie Avatar (2009) was about acknowledgement on a far away planet peopled by very large blue humanoids living a simple mutually connected life, connected to their planet, plants, animals and to each other. An important aspect...
A really quick book review The Truth About Employee Engagement (Lencioni) is a fable in typical Lencioni style, that provides an experiential journey of discovery about increasing employee engagement at a number of companies, including a Mon and Pop type...
Three stone cutters were asked what they were doing. One said, "cutting stones" Another said, "making blocks" The third said, "building a Cathedral" Which one was probably the most motivated? Which one is most likely to stay, not move to...
We all strive to be more successful at least some of the time. What if we could accelerate the process, be successful sooner and make it stick too? I was Coaching with an Executive who owns their own business and...
What is it in us that decides which plants are weeds? There is a saying, "but for judgment, even a weed would be a flower". I find that thought provoking. When considering the idea of a weed, judgment is the...
Business Heroes and Heroines are all around us. They tame dragons every day. Can you recognize them? They don't need a lot of celebration, but, hey, once in a while, yes, celebrate our Heroines and our Heroes. Are you one?...
Some folks tell us that dissatisfied employees are a liability. I say they are an asset. Or more accurately, dissatisfied employees could be a liability or could be an asset. It depends on the nature of the dissatisfaction. Show me...
I am seeing articles of late that diss the concept of Net Promoter Score. Some say that Reichheld got it wrong with his Ultimate Question. One article concludes that there is no 'ultimate question' and that, ultimately true insight comes from...
The Art of Coaching: Navigating Initial Skepticism I was being interviewed as a prospective Coach for a powerful female Executive. She was not all that keen on the idea but had agreed with someone to have a conversation with me....
A really quick book review, Joseph Seiler MCC 2011-2022 Loving What Is, Byron Katie How many times and how many ways have we been advised to, “just let it go”? And how easy has it been to do that? Byron...
Millennial workers, born between the early 80s and the early years of our present millennium, are, apparently, challenging to direct as employees. Some predict that we are likely to hear much of the following tongue in cheek description of this...
Empowerment is not Leadership. When I empower you it is implied that I 'give' you power. What if it is simply wrong to believe that one person can ‘give’ power to another? What if all we can really do is...
Finding Your Truth Our minds wander and wonder and think about us as, at times great and at times, small, as brave and fear-filled, as worthy and not. What is True about you and me, and about all people? I...
#Engagement #Clientengagement #Employeeengagement #Success Links to the other two Parts are provided at the end of this portion. To continue, we now need to ask ourselves questions such as: "What might a more engaged clientele do for our business?" (do...
#Engagement #Clientengagement #Employeeengagement #Success Links to the other two Parts are provided at the end of this portion. If we had a useful Q12 equivalent to the employee version to measure client engagement, how would we have gotten it? Gallup...
#Engagement #Clientengagement #Employeeengagement #Success Links to the other two Parts are provided at the end of this portion. The Gallup organization developed a 12 point questionnaire to reliably measure the level of engagement of the employees working in an organization....
#Leadership #Selfdevelopment #Delegation #Executivesuccess #Personneldevelopment When it comes to leading well, I really like simple. It can be a powerful self development aid to keep things simple. By simple I mean to the point, dead easy to understand, no...
#Leadership #Success #Leadershipdevelopment #ExecutiveCoaching There is a worldwide movement to increasingly welcome women into positions of authority. Hardly a day goes by that we don't hear how, for instance, companies that have strong representation of women on their corporate Boards...
#Leadershipdevelopment #BusinessCoaching #ExecutiveCoaching #Accountability Jack Welch was CEO of GE for over 20 years and brought massive increases in valuation. Some point to Mr Welch as the most successful CEO of the twentieth century. Some are not so sure. He...
#engagement #leadership #organization #development There is a lot of buzz around these days on the topic of engagement and also on the topic of millenials. Lack of employee engagement is a global crisis that can be measured across pretty...
#employeeengagement #leadership #management #supervision #employeedevelopment Employee engagement is the basis of a successful business (according to some and yes I agree). The employee represents the doing part, the arms and legs, of the company. That last person to touch...
[caption id="attachment_767" align="aligncenter" width="565"] from the back of my business card[/caption] #Success #Dobetter #Developingself #Developingothers There can be a feeling of struggle when moving towards success. One side of it is the push and pull and striving to do better,...
#empowerment #leadership #development #evolutionary Executive In his great book (my opinion), Turn the Ship Around, David Marquet explains how empowerment is actually an insult, and recognizes the usual leadership model as the blah, blah that it is, replacing it with...
#choice #leadership #decisions A choice that Leaders make continuously, is whether they want to be right or want to be happy. Right and happy can co-exist. Yet, often they are opposed. The most effective Leaders seem to choose the better...
#Better #Results #Easier #Leadership #Clarity #Success #Soundingboard #Confidante #Businessplan The new fundamentals of business have changed and this is good. We have moved from feudal hierarchy through the structures of the industrial revolution to command and control and now to...
#Better #Results #Easier #Leadership #Clarity #Success #Soundingboard #Confidante The foundation of the Business Plan can be described using three elements Our vision, our 'why' Strategy, our approach to realizing our 'why' Plan, the exact steps needed, yes, written Again, we...
The Spark of Self Discovery “I really need to do something to get more fit”, George told me. "I don't have access to or want, exercise equipment and really do not like how it feels to work out in a...
We hear a lot about the so called, millenial generation, which is roughly people born between the early 80s and early 2000s. It seems there is some challenge in leading and motivating and getting productivity from this group. Hmmm? First...
Every once in awhile a decision making situation shows up where what to do is just not at all clear.It happens. But what to do? You are the one expected to make those decisions. That is why you get paid...
Seven Steps to Slay the Dragons of Life One day The hero/ine Stops... Unable to take another step David Whyte poet What is happening in this verse? It appears that whatever it is, it is big and it is blocking...
Let me show you 5 steps to way better decision making. Decision making is the basis of all action and in turn of all results. No decision, no action, no result, well except that you missed the deadline or something...
Rejection can feel quite bad. It is one of the three top human fears. The other two are not believing I am loveable and the fear of looking stupid. We are not including fears like of heights or snakes etc....
Little Red Riding Hood (LRRH) said she was going to Grandma’s house. She seemed to be pretty clear on that part of things. Being able to ‘say’ where we are going, some will tell us, is ‘it’, the golden fleece,...
The entrepreneurial figure has magic to it. Many imagine becoming the fabled hero(ine) and to make it big like Mark Zuckerberg or Sophia Amaruso or Larry Page. For most... not going to happen. Yet, there are a great many that...
Introducing Candid Conversations as the center piece of the culture in an organization will take time, money, commitment and, for at least the first while, take too long for many. It is very threatening to most people. So we...
I believe that Simon Sinek is a thought leader for our times. I trust his insights and applaud his willingness to speak out. One of his more recent videos is where he speaks about 'millennials in the workplace' and how...
Leadership with Dr. Seuss I enjoy Dr Seuss stories. They teach and entertain and have fun pictures. One of the Dr Seuss books is entitled, Oh! The Places You'll Go. It is about the usual little Seussian character who is...
When creating powerful teams, once in a while it is very valuable to get the people in the organization back onto the same page. What is our vision, our mission, our greatest challenge, our greatest cause for celebrating what...
They say that working with an A team on a B product will bring far more success than the other way around, with a B team working on an A product. I'd say 'they' are right. In my experience nothing...
Walking in a winter wonderland... Although simply part of a well known Christmas song, this particular phrase has some great messages for people in business. The Christmas season holds many attributes and one of them is that for a lot...
We are all familiar with the upward pointing triangle showing Maslow's hierarchy of human needs. It starts with the basics of survival and safety and works up to personal fulfillment. Makes great sense. Tony Robbins approaches in a different way...
Some say that the million dollar company is the least sustainable of all. Hmmm? In my experience, yes, it was a tricky time. After paying the rent and the equipment loans etc we could only afford so many staff. And...
Growing a culture of accountability sounds great, but how do we do it? One important observation about people is that we almost don't hear or see things that we think we have heard or seen before. So it is actually...
I have come across this surprisingly simple stress breaker. I suppose I could go into how stress arises and provide all kinds of stats about it, but, let's just get to the method. When you walk, we all walk...
What is needed to facilitate enduring positive change includes the following vital elements. Willingness to at least honestly consider real change Resolve to implement change(s); embrace it Patience to allow the components of the change to be installed and set...
There are new articles on Leadership every day. I read some of them, but less than I used to. The reason is that they are starting to sound increasingly same, same. What is your experience with this? I agree with...
Yes, who cares about accountability? In my experiences Coaching many business owners and Executives, that answer from them is 'not many'. What is it? Accountability includes responsibility, liability and answerability. When someone stands up in the face of some kind...
How is it that we continue 'this' action, so obviously unhelpful to us when we look at others doing it or at our own history? How is it that we seem to, in the moment, forget all of our...
The famous eleventh century poet, Rumi, advises us to say yes quickly, to start with yes. The context is about that moment an aha comes to us, when we feel an inspiration, an intuitive hit, an invitation, when we feel...
One might ask why even bother to offer Coaching to the already successful Executive. Here are a few big reasons. The already successful know there is more available. They also have willingness to increase their own self awareness and...
Reinventing Organizations, Frederic Laloux We are offered a self management model of running an organization where people decide what they want to do and what they don't. Job descriptions don't exist, as what a person contributes to the organization is,...
As the baby boomers enter retirement age, there is a sea of succession in the landscape of the leaders of our businesses. This could be a dangerous time if the transfer of authority and power is less than smooth. Succession...
Getting people to engage is a common concern. As a Business Coach I often have clients ask how they might arouse more engagement from their direct reports and teams. Some common phrases they tell me that they use include...
[caption id="attachment_343" align="aligncenter" width="300"] OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA[/caption] What I focus on expands. When I look for red and white trucks on my drive to work, I see way more than if I don't look for them. So too if I...
I was recently honoured to be invited to help teach/facilitate how to Coach classes for a group of about 30 people in China. The five days of sessions was their third of four installments toward attaining the ACC (Associate Certified...
What is the Big Deal About Workplace Engagement? The big deal about workplace engagement is that it is, reportedly, at an alarmingly low level. The negative impact that workplace engagement has on effectiveness, productivity and the bottom line makes workplace...
Our school system conditions us to know. The wisdom of 'I don't know' is rarely, if ever, mentioned. We learn that knowing is the best and most rewarded place to be. We are taught to know first and fastest and...
To move straight forward is to move without deviating from the shortest route, in this case, to the best results possible. Lots of advice out there on how to get those best results. OK, what about the role of 'being'...
It is said that we all see the world a little bit differently. This can get in the way of an Executive's success. We have our filters, crafted from our prior experiences, prejudices, aspirations, fears and more. Your filters are...
I once posted an article about the triad of thoughts that many people carry with them upon graduation from High School. Those three are: I'm not good enough Everyone else is better looking, smarter or more popular I'm the only...
Understanding the Internal Critic (the Gremlin) We all have an internal critic, that judgmental little voice that just can't seem to find anything about us that is 'good enough'. Relentlessly nasty. Carson, in his landmark book Taming Your Gremlin (he...
Getting things done, lots of things, and done well, seems to be one of those holy grail kinds of pursuits. Images of long lists of what needs doing, moving fast, directives, many directives, activity, plans, mind maps, nerve centers, almost...
Loose change is the coins that represent money less than an amount to be represented by a bill. In Canada, that is from the nickel up to the $2 coin, the so called toonie. Loose change can be found in...
Scientific American magazine recently published an article Your Thoughts Can Release Abilities Beyond Normal Limits The main idea is that abilities are most limited by our own thinking. Thinking we are limited indeed limits what we can do. Expecting beyond preconceived...
Navigating Beyond High School There is a fable of a highly successful executive returning to address the graduating class on the 20th anniversary of their own graduation. This person had had a fabulously successful 20 years and was asked to...
Performance reviews are dreaded by most, whether the one being reviewed or the one delivering the review. There is a reason. Most performance reviews talk mostly about the performance of a person, less about the results delivered. The results get...
Calling We call all the time. I receive calls and send calls out. There are many types of call. For instance, what is it like when I ‘call you down’? Like that? Which form do you like more, to be...
The group is attempting to resolve a difficult set of choices and at least a clear majority agreement is the outcome that everyone wants. Sometimes things can go ballistic. Someone raises their voice, OK they scream. Someone says something regrettable,...
Imagine Coaching Elon Musk, who, reportedly, knows it and does it and exceeds it and is way up there already, according to many of the usual measures of success. How are you reacting to this idea? Musk styles himself as...
An excerpt from the upcoming book Candid Conversations – what and how Part III What is your relationship with the word ‘candid’? This reminds me of the parallel conversation we could have about the word Coach, as in the kind...
An excerpt from the upcoming book Candid Conversations – what and how Part II Having crossed that line, to have spoken against ‘candid’, our ego goes to work to erect walls against finding any new understanding (different from the understanding...
An excerpt from the upcoming book Candid Conversations – what and how Part I When we don’t understand something, an untrue statement about it could be taken as true, simply because we don’t know. When we suspect an incorrect...
It is just so easy to default to judgment in almost any human interaction. I say default, because that just seems to be true. Check in with yourself. Walking down a street how often do you notice the shape or...
A good colleague of mine engages annually in a bit of a ritualistic meeting with his business colleagues. They meet in early Spring and reserve the whole day to be together. Their topic is their business/career. Here is how the...
Dr Seuss has provided us with a wonderful story explaining the realities of life in the book, Oh The Places You’ll Go. He makes a critical error though. Throughout the story his little dude guy is on a journey, could...
Little Red Riding Hood said she was going to Grandma’s house. She seemed to be pretty clear on that part of things. Being able to ‘say’ where we are going, some will tell us, is ‘it’, the golden fleece, the...
Everyone is Coachable ... when their day comes I believe, because I have seen it so many times, that anyone, literally anyone, can benefit from working with a Coach. And… Until one is ready to change, in order...
… does the Body have a mind of its own? We are not talking about instinct here but about direct relationships between thoughts and actions. Deliberate stuff. If I accidentally put my hand on a hot stove element, as soon...
Doubt. What is that? To me it feels like a wall, sometimes a big one. The feeling of doubt is one that stops us, maybe not forever, but at least for a while and it can really get in the...
What are some of the most common attributes about this place we call the top? For one, it is a place of power, so people who may not have the same power, may be wary and thus stay away. This...
We have all had the experience of ‘being listened to’ in a variety of ways. Some are staring in another direction, some are fiddling with papers or rearranging their desk. The variations are many. Few feel truly present and...
Execution (Bossidy, Charan) is a straight shooting, candid read. Of course. These authors worked with Jack Welch. Definitely, refreshingly to the point and it is all about the business succeeding as big as it can. (go Jack) Although seemingly a...
The Ultimate Question (Reichheld) addresses the customer referral, expansion and retention issues faced by almost any business. Although I found it a bit of a slow read (a lot of time justifying the topic) there is a simple elegance in...
Turn The Ship Around (Marquet) is a summary of the experiences of the USN Captain of a nuclear submarine in turning the performance of his 135 person crew from worst to best in the fleet. He changed the organization from...
Wikinomics (Tapscott, Williams) Operating your company like a Wikipedia??? A gold mining company that was not doing too well opened its geology files to the public (unprecedented) inviting solutions and in no time at all was unable to keep up...
Are we willing to ‘look’ at our health, the state of our home, our business, anything for that matter? Two important points here. Willingness is the gate keeper without which nothing happens. To LOOK is the verb. One would not...
In a relationship, the lens I choose to use in ‘seeing’ you will affect our every interaction. How I see you is evident to you no matter how brilliantly I believe I have hidden it. Scenario: You are new in...
#leader, #potential, #leadership, #Coaching A stallion is notoriously independent, smart, jealous and a strong fighter. Most really successful stallions start with a large ego which they used to climb the corporate ladder and which they then tamed to achieve what...
The very big new contract A significant new contract had just been awarded to the company which specialized in design and manufacture of complex electronic measuring devices for use in harsh environments. Challenging. The new work represented about a...
One of the most embarrassing questions one can ask a business owner/Leader is, “may I see your Business Plan, please?” Most don’t have one. Those who do, haven’t looked at it in ages Hmmmm? Answer 4 questions, What do you...
SHOW MORE ARTICLES