I have heard and used the phrases company culture and customer service numerous times in the past few weeks. In one instance it was helping an executive coaching client choose among potential employers. In another situation, listening to a client’s fear her firm was losing its culture of emphasizing customer service, and finally, listening to an NPR interview on the subject, through the eyes of a highly successful internet entrepreneur. [Read more…]
Rob Henderson is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Cambridge. In his recent article “Everything I Know About Elite America I Learned from ‘Fresh Prince’ and ‘West Wing’,” he discusses, with a good amount of humor and self-deprecation, how a boy born in poverty, raised in foster homes, naïve to many of the most obvious ways of middle and upper income class life, learned about wealth (particularly the value of quality education), and how it was measured, by watching enormous amounts of television throughout his life. [Read more…]
I had a phone conversation with my good friend Doris. Doris has an interesting and rich life. She was one of the founders of the Food Network, is on the Board of a large University, earned a PhD later in life, traveled the world, and is politically active (for a time she called the White House daily). She is a daily tennis player, lives in three places in the US, and has such a busy social schedule you must book her well in advance. Did I mention she’s 83 (and her husband is a robust 93)? [Read more…]
Everyone is in a life transition, particularly during these challenging times.
In my last Competitive Edge Report; I introduced the research of Bruce Feiler, the bestselling author of “Life in Transition — Mastering the Change at Any Age.” I studied his work, which involved the interviewing of people who had made significant changes in their lives, how they coped with the life transition process and flourished in the outcome. Feiler showed how non-linear our lives can be and that “disruptions” (which occur, on average, every 12 – 18 months) can be voluntary, involuntary, personal, or community-wide. For most of the interviewees there was a “lifequake.” These are dramatic, chaotic, even catastrophic, occurrences in our lives that cause upheaval and bring about change, a new sense of self and renewal. [Read more…]
Life transitions — those voluntary or involuntary changes we make, personally or as a community, is the basis of the book “Life is in the Transitions – Mastering the Change at Any Age.”
Some of you know the work of Bruce Feiler, a New York Times best-selling author, who made his mark with a book called “Council of Dads.” (It later became a highly respected television program.) Bruce was diagnosed with a serious, potentially terminal, illness. He assumed he was not going to see his twin girls grow up. He gathered six key men in his life and asked them to form a group that would guide his children into the future. It was a brave, insightful, and creative project embraced by many worldwide. FYI — he survived and thrived. [Read more…]
In challenging times, it is not hard to imagine many peoples’ stress levels being high, some extremely high. Everyone is talking about it. The media is relentlessly analyzing it and there are times you are probably having a conversation with yourself that goes something like this, “I really need to get a grip on my stress.” You are not alone. [Read more…]
In another career, in a different decade, I worked as a mental health clinician serving a diverse group of adults. Many of them were unable to articulate what they were feeling, though a good number of them acted out their emotions in less than productive ways. One of the tools we used was the feelings chart. [Read more…]
We know all the phrases, “look for the silver lining,” “there are opportunities in a crisis,” and “leaders are born in wars.” There is truth to all of these, maybe even some motivation and solace.
Not to diminish or deny that much has been lost, changed, or left open in this pandemic. Many people have suffered unthinkable amounts of pain and suffering. We respect and honor their courage and resilience. I do think there can be a silver lining, opportunities, and leadership emergence for many of us. [Read more…]
In past issues of the Competitive Edge Report, I discussed many aspects of leadership: Leadership in Times of Chaos, Leadership Advice — Leadership Not Management, and Leadership Lessons from Captain Sullenberger (“Sully”). Recently several of my executive coaching clients have been faced with extraordinary challenges — layoffs, regime changes, downsizing, employer realignment, illness, natural disaster, and now this pandemic. [Read more…]
Is it the time of the year a mood we are in, or are we constantly being pushed to move forward? I’m not saying there is anything wrong with eyeing the future, only asking if we are depriving ourselves of some important information and sense of satisfaction that might be essential to our professional or personal growth and happiness? [Read more…]