Part 2 of our 3-article series on coaching leadership. In our ever-evolving business landscape, one leadership style continues to stand out as a game-changer: the coaching leader. Building on my previous article about the immense value of being a great coach to your team, let's delve into the essential qualities and strategies that make a coaching leader extraordinary. Active Listening: As a coaching leader, listening is your superpower. Pay close attention to your team's concerns, ideas, and aspirations. Show them that their voices are not just heard but deeply valued. This builds trust and ..read more

Part one in a three-article series on the power of coaching for leaders. In an era marked by rapid technological advancements and a dynamic global marketplace, the traditional 'command and control' style of leadership has found itself increasingly out of step with the needs and aspirations of today's workforce. This antiquated approach, characterized by top-down decision-making, rigid hierarchies, and strict supervision, once held sway over many organizations. However, its limitations have become apparent in the face of ever-evolving challenges and changing employee expectations. Why 'Command ..read more

Delegation, much like feedback, is often hailed as a cornerstone of effective leadership. When done right, it allows leaders to empower their team members, foster growth, and achieve higher levels of productivity. Unfortunately, I find that for most managers, it is the skill that most often holds them back because rather than delegate well, more often than not, they don't delegate at all. Many managers I speak with think of delegation as handing work off to someone else, relinquishing control, and/or dumping their work on someone else, rather than considering delegation as a development tool ..read more

I often say that feedback is a gift but, let’s face it: that isn’t always the case. When feedback is given with clarity and specificity, as a two-way conversation, and with the intention to help the receiver succeed, it’s invaluable. But too often, people get feedback that they don’t know what to do with, lost in terms they don’t understand, terms such as executive presence. Read more about demystifying executive presence ..read more

Have you ever left a meeting with your boss more confused than when you went in? Or perhaps you’ve been the one giving direction to a team member, to find out later they got it totally wrong. What about participating in a Zoom meeting where the host doesn’t allow space for anyone to comment, interject, or express their views? There are countless examples of poor communication from leaders who lack the self-awareness to realize they are failing to get their messages across and it results in missed deadlines, failed projects, and frustrated employees. Read More ..read more

As a business leader, you know that your team's performance is crucial to the success of your organization. But even the most high-performing teams can hit a plateau and struggle to take their performance to the next level. That's where executive coaching comes in. By working with a coach, your team can gain valuable insights, develop key skills, and unlock their full potential. One of the key benefits of executive coaching is that it helps individuals and teams identify and overcome obstacles that are preventing them from reaching their full potential. For example, a coach might help a team ..read more

An Interview with Doug Noll It’s hard to be a good listener. We are programmed to want to talk, and to share. It takes effort to stop and to listen. But anyone who has achieved great success will tell you that listening is such an important quality to have. What are some ways that influential people have learned to listen, to succeed both personally and professionally? As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Amy Kan. Amy Kan is an executive coach, leadership development trainer and advocate for women’s leadership. She is the founder and lead coach at The Workplace Initiat ..read more

Organizational leadership is changing. Gone are the days when most organizations embrace strict top-down hierarchies. These days the focus is on collaboration, agility, and a greater reliance on teams. For teams to be successful, the way we think of team leadership must also change. The singular team leader as ‘stage director,' assigning roles and calling the shots, needs to make way for a shared team leadership model, in which each member of the team is responsible for leading when the business need and the team member's strengths align. To encourage greater leadership among members of your ..read more

According to countless articles on social media, half of the US workforce is doing the minimum required of their jobs. Dubbed "quiet quitting", it should come as no surprise to anyone whose been following the plethora of research data on workplace burnout. People are disillusioned, overwhelmed, and stressed out. They are seeing their worlds through a changed lens and asking big, meta-questions. Instead of delving into the whys and hows of quiet quitting though, let’s reframe what is happening in the workplace in terms of energy. When we see disengagement and burnout statistics like we’ve been ..read more

The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting every part of our lives—health and well-being, finances and job security, family, and community—in every part of the world. When we are living in a period of deep uncertainty, without context or precedent, it can be easy to make bad decisions. In fact, studies show that faced with stress, our ability to make balanced decisions is compromised. Instead, we make decisions primarily based on positive rewards, while overlooking negative consequences. Given that we make decisions all the time, how can we ensure, even during this time of crisis, that the decisions we ..read more