Agency is focusing on the end result you want, not the potential or actual obstacles to that result. When you think of a potential goal, it’s easy to think of all the reasons why it will be hard or even impossible to get to that goal. — You don’t know how to get started. —…
Author: admin
Show the strain of the work.
Show the strain of the work. I’ve had several clients recently who are struggling with situations where they want to be a team player and avoid conflict, but are slowly sinking into burnout. And they feel stuck, because they don’t see how to change the situation. When I suggest they could challenge the behaviors that…
Questions are a trap.
Questions are a trap. Questions come embedded with assumptions and once you accept the question, you accept the assumptions. The famous version of this is “Have you stopped beating your wife?” There’s no way to answer this question without implicating yourself. But all questions include subtler versions of this phenomenon. “When will this feature ship?”…
How can you make your language more exciting?
How can you make your language more exciting? At a coaching retreat last weekend (thanks ProjectNext Leadership!), we did a story telling activity with one crucial twist. You had to “tease” your story with three words to whet the listener’s interest. The person leading the activity demonstrated it by using the words: cornered, speed dating,…
Ownership means taking responsibility for the results, not just your own efforts.
Ownership means taking responsibility for the results, not just your own efforts. People that think they deserve a promotion because they worked hard have taken the wrong lesson from growth mindset teachings. Effort isn’t the point. Results are what businesses need and what company leaders are measured on. I used to think this was unfair…
In the post below, Victoria Kirst challenges the inevitable supremacy of AI and the assumptions embedded in its rise:
In the post below, Victoria Kirst challenges the inevitable supremacy of AI and the assumptions embedded in its rise: “So much of tech – generative AI included – has been built under the assumption that efficiency is king, and as a technologist, I feel exhilarated by the opportunities that await us if we reexamine all…
Your life will change when _you_ change your life.
Your life will change when _you_ change your life. You have limited control of your circumstances. You can’t change the past, you can’t change other people, you can’t change a lot of the events happening around you. But you can control how you respond to those events and to what other people do. That’s where…
What would it be like to do one thing at a time?
What would it be like to do one thing at a time? My kids’ school was closed last week, so I took time off work to take them to a couple museums then go skiing together over the weekend. I enjoyed it far more than other kid-centered vacations over the past few years. Part of…
Doing something hard and scary can put things in perspective.
Doing something hard and scary can put things in perspective. My son skied his first black diamond (expert) run a few weeks ago. He was scared and cautious and took it very slow, but he made it down. The interesting part was that when we went back to the blue (intermediate) runs we had been…
Charlie O’Donnell has been one of the best networkers I know since I met him almost twenty years ago, and his tips below on how to break into a new community are unsurprisingly excellent.
Charlie O’Donnell has been one of the best networkers I know since I met him almost twenty years ago, and his tips below on how to break into a new community are unsurprisingly excellent. I especially like the “become friends with the organizers so they can introduce you to other people” suggestion, as it’s much…