Care Enough to Put the Fish on the Table and Start the Conversation It’s so tempting to ignore conflict at work. After all, it takes energy and effort to start the conversation. Sometimes it just feels easier to pretend everything’s good, keep the conversation light, and vent when you get home to anyone who will listen. But here’s the thing. You can’t improve collaboration if you don’t start the conversation, WITH the actual people involved. Or as one of our favorite Courageous Cultures clients in Switzerland tells us, “sometimes you just have to put the fish on the table and talk about what’s ..read more

Have you ever wondered what the most essential leadership competencies are and how they can be learned without taking up too much time? Whether you are in a formal leadership role or are a rising leader, entrepreneur, or changemaker driven by a desire to use your voice to create change, in this conversation with Reiner Lomb, you will get tips on how to positively influence key stakeholders, build trust, lead with optimism, ride the waves of negative emotions, mobilize people to take action and choose resiliency in the face of setbacks.     Essential Leadership Emotions 15:13 The mo ..read more

Vulnerability is the New Black: How to Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve (Without Getting Stains on Your Shirt) at Work “Hey Karin, I’ve read the research on being vulnerable, I’ve listened to Brenè Brown and all that stuff…I’ve watched some of your “Asking for a Friend” videos on authenticity. I believe it CONCEPTUALLY, but it’s NOT MY JAM. What should I do?” #AskingForaFriend (from Dijon France). This came up in one of our leadership programs last week. One of our participants raised his hand and said almost exactly this. He disclosed his concerns about being vulnerable with his colleagues ..read more

Powerful Conversation Starters Get a Distracted Co-worker to Pay Attention to Your Great Idea You have a great idea. You’re confident it’s game-changing. Maybe it will reduce a big frustration for your customers, or save you and your co-workers a ton of time. So what do you do when a co-worker won’t listen? How do you get them to take your idea seriously? Why You Should Try First, inertia is real. It’s quite possible your team is tired. And even if your idea will make life easier, it still takes energy to consider doing something different. It’s worth trying because you can make life bett ..read more

How to Rally Your Team When Leading Through Change You’re a human-centered leader, leading through change that you know will have a positive impact on your team, your customers, and your results. You know how important it is to get your team rallied around an exciting vision for the future.  If this sounds like you, today’s article is for you. Today, I bring you a very special edition of Demander Un Ami (Asking for a Friend) from various angles of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Here’s the question that prompted this production of #askingforafriend… “Hey Karin, I have a really excitin ..read more

If you aspire to embody authentic leadership across all spectrums of your life, this episode is for you. Sean Georges and John Buford, are two former marine officers with a combined 80 years of leadership experience in military, business, nonprofit, and education. Sean and John share a simple but powerful servant leadership model with a focus on mission, and practical, fundamental, and timeless leadership concepts designed to help you understand what it means to lead in an authentic way. Get the tools and perspective needed to navigate and shape your individual and unique developmental journey ..read more

Stop that Credit Stealer and Get the Recognition You Deserve “I was in a meeting the other day, and one of the executives thanked my boss for the success of a project I’ve been working on all year. And you know what she said next? Thank you. I was sitting right there. She took ALL THE CREDIT! The really infuriating thing is that she had NOTHING to do with that project. It was 100% me. I wonder how many times she’s done that? Who wants to work for a credit stealer?” “I can’t believe it. I shared my idea with a co-worker last night. And today, when our manager asked us for our ideas, that credit ..read more

Is there a risk involved in creating stronger human connections? Great leaders know that deeper human connection fosters more engagement and better performance and that investing in people boosts results and increases retention. Leaders accomplish more by asking powerful questions than by commanding and controlling. In this episode, Chad Littlefield gives you practical tools and questions to use to help you connect with your team more effectively, build better relationships and results, have more influence, and work better together.   10:08 What is the risk of asking questions that wi ..read more

How you respond during times of distress can make or break your leadership brand If you’ve Googled, “what to do when you’ve been screwed over at work” and landed here, I’m sorry. Not that you found this article, of course. I want to help. But because it’s terrible to feel betrayed or disappointed, when you’re working so hard. Most high-performing leaders feel this way at some point in their careers. Perhaps it’s an unexpected layoff. Or, getting passed over for the promotion you were promised if only you did THE THINGS. And, you’ve done ALL THE THINGS and more. Or, you’ve invested a huge ..read more

How to Increase Trust in Your Remote Team When You’re Rarely in the Same Room “Hey Karin, I have a great team, but they’re spread out ALL OVER THE WORLD. I wouldn’t say we have a trust issue, but I would like to find some additional ways to INCREASE TRUST. What do you suggest? Today on #askingforafriend I’m taking you on a road trip to Virginia, on my way to give a keynote and talk about how to increase trust in a highly dispersed remote or hybrid team along the way. If you’ve been hanging around Asking for a Friend for a minute, you know that so much of the trust research really comes down to ..read more