Today is our day. A day to celebrate girls, daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, grandmothers, girlfriends and the list goes on. As I reflect on my life and how I want to lead my daughters into this world, I struggle with the desire to completely go full-metal jacket and teach them to kick some proverbial butt. […]
Tag Archives | Patterns
Cognitive Dissonance at Work
What if your job is to conquer 3rd world problems globally, yet you walk by the same homeless guy every day who’s camped outside your local (U.S.) office? It’s a clear reminder that you have your very own 3rd world problems at home, but the minute you enter the safe haven of a beautifully and expensively designed office […]
Better Human, Better Leader
Ever since a Syfy Network T.V. series came out, “Being Human”, I’ve thought a lot about that theme in life, at work and in leadership (without ever watching the series, sorry Syfy!) Those two words together are poetry to me, synchronous with kindness and humility in the world today, and something in its meaning is lost in the way […]
Countering Negativity in Leadership (and Life)
What makes a great leader? I am a constant student of leadership, from being a company leader myself, to working directly with company leaders (at every level) as a consultant to help them find solutions and set culture. Of course there are hundreds of articles and blogs on the topic, and entire sections in book stores (online and […]
About those Start-Ups
Consulting is a funny industry. And I suppose it’s especially funny, or fuzzy, for folks who like to give away advice like handing out free coffee and donuts at rest stops. What’s even funnier is when we are helping individuals who want to be paid consultants, by giving our services to them for free, and […]
Perspectives
We all have our own version of the truth – good or bad. And sometimes it takes a little nudge to get over any hang ups if your own version has its baggage. My mom had held a grudge for years and years about her mother. She was out of touch and extremely angry when […]
Holiday Realism
As I was shopping late with my mom this evening, she insisted we check out JCPenney’s for a pink dress for my daughter. I haven’t stepped into a JCPenney’s since… I can’t even remember. I was curious to see what has or hasn’t changed, based on the de-throned CEO Ron Johnson’s vision for a more […]
Making Positive Change
I ran into an old acquaintance today – somebody whom we had considered among our “coopetition” within a specific industry back in 2003. He recently (within a year) experienced a tragedy when his wife passed away from cancer. I could tell he was still bereaving. And I couldn’t imagine how this unexpected change effected his […]
Introverted in an Extrovert Role
The other day I was explaining to Kay why I needed time to process content. Although I am seemingly extroverted, highly social and in “sales” for much of my career, I am actually an introvert. In fact, Myers-Briggs reported back when I first took the test, that I am a HIGH introvert. I was in […]
Annoying Business Partners are OK Sometimes, right?
Today some of my business partners were writing a proposal for a job that we can totally do, but that is not core to our current business direction. I was that annoying partner… you know the one! The one saying “but what about X?” and “How does this relate to our mission?” and “… but […]
