For a long time in my life, I had a hard time looking too far ahead into my future. I lost my mother when I was in High School; she was only 39 years old when she died. This life cut short and my own grief made it hard for me to imagine the future. This realization and the counsel and meditation that helped me move forward opened my eyes to the importance of creating a vision for myself. [...]
In our rapidly evolving corporate landscape, effective leadership has emerged as the linchpin for sustainable success. But what is effective leadership? It’s leadership that gets results. That is sustainable and strategic. Leadership that is building a better future for the organization and its stakeholders. In simpler terms, it is also well prepared leadership: agile, adaptable and responsive to changing needs. […]
What’s in a word? I don’t think it can be overstated how important the leadership capability of effective communication is – and even more so when it comes to change leadership. And yet, it’s a skill that is rarely focused or developed which really is a missed opportunity. Or should I say, an opportunity still to be taken. That subtle reframing is what I’m going to focus on as we consider the power of positive language. […]
High performing teams are at the heart of organizational success. Creating and maintaining a high performing team is still elusive for many managers and leaders, in part because organizations often award promotions based on technical skills and tenure and leave the team building to chance. […]
I spoke recently at an executive summit on the subject of organizational resilience. After I’d shared my insights and experiences I gave the audience key prompts and they worked in groups to discuss their organizational resilience. There was a great buzz about the room as we connected the dots between purpose and performance, weaving in emotional intelligence and the ability to spot and act on opportunities to create a picture of what organizational resilience looks like in action. [...]
We work our bodies – we push them to achieve more, to be stronger, faster. Sometimes we are able to do more than we can imagine, especially when we surround ourselves with a great team of trainers, nutritionists, doctors and so on. Not so for our mind. When was the last time you intentionally gave your mind a good workout? […]
What’s your leadership style? In my experience, leaders can fall into two broad camps: transactional leadership and transformational leadership. But before we dig into these two styles, if you’re not sure of your style here’s some actions you can take for more clarity: […]
Barely a week goes by without a headline exposing a corporate culture gone bad. Beloved brands and household names turn out to be hotbeds of bullying, burnout, harassment, unreasonable expectations, blaming and shaming – these cultures are truly toxic. According to MIT research, about one in nine Americans think their workplace is toxic; and toxic work culture is the number-one reason people cite for leaving their jobs. […]
There’s an ongoing and overwhelming burden on black people to drive DEI efforts in organizations. This is part of the problem – not the solution. […]
As Black History Month comes to an end, I wanted to share an important resource for advancing equity and anti-racism in organizations. The Conversation, by social psychologist Dr Robert Livingston, is a guide to jump-starting dialogue on racism and bias, and to ultimately transform well-intentioned statements on diversity into concrete actions. In his book, which is based on decades of research and lived experiences, Dr Livingston advocates for a powerful combination of facts and feelings (empathy) based on the three [...]
