ChoinqueCast

This past week we held our annual Academy Leadership Conference in south Florida. A lot happens over three full days, and we usually leave very energized. One of the reasons for this is that we share knowledge with each other. This brings to mind   Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton ’s The Knowing-Doing Gap , in that we frequently seem to focus much more on knowledge than doing, exemplified...

Just received an email from a client this past week: We’ve stayed connected since she first attended an open enrollment leadership course about three and a half years ago. She is an accomplished and talented HR director. She will be leaving her organization very soon. The message wasn’t a surprise and in fact, she should be very proud of her decision. We had a long phone call a couple months ago....

Twenty-four books were reviewed this year: Work Without Walls Working With Difficult People Disrupt Yourself Counter Mentor Leadership The Genius of Opposites Pacing for Growth Out of Our Minds Violent Leadership Thinking in Bets The Introverted Leader Career Leap Crash Radical Candor Five Stars Brave Leadership the culture engine Let There Be Water Build An A Team Creating Things That Matter Why...

During a recent executive coaching session, our primary focus was reviewing organizational changes made over the past 90 days. You see, the client is restructuring several groups, with the specific objective to improve operational results, eliminate redundant work, and vastly increase team accountability. The beginning of the presentation would please any executive interested in measuring operatio...

Day three of the new 2019 Academy Leadership Advanced Leadership Course took place this past week. Our Advanced Communications and Effective Decision-Making workshops were fantastic, each covering well over two hours. The contest winners in the Effective Decision-Making workshop received copies of Counter Mentor Leadership , The New IT and Lead From the Heart which was a lot of fun. Having two lon...

Day two of the new 2019 Academy Leadership Advanced Leadership Course took place this past week. The client and I decided to switch days two and three allowing our group of eight to launch the Core Values Alignment Workshop as soon as possible. At the beginning of the workshop we watched a short video clip by Jim Collins describing Core Values & Company Culture featuring Jim Collins , Tony Hse...

Last year at a conference in Australia I was asked to participate in a debate. The topic to argue for or against was: “Co-located teams are always more productive than remote teams,” or something like that. Our team of three argued against the point and won the debate. However, the topic keeps coming up in leadership courses and coaching sessions. This brings to mind the definitive work on workpla...

During a recent in-house Academy Leadership Excellence course, the topic of feedback came up. One of the attendees mentioned Kim Scott ’s recent book Radical Candor . More specifically, the client wanted to bring up the behavior Ruinous Empathy. Several in the course mentioned that not enough helpful feedback occurred within their organization, in particular coaching. One specific attendee, during...

In a recent coaching session, the client shared a revelation which occurred after attending an Academy Leadership Excellence course. She realized her everyday work rhythm was an exhausting attempt to get as much done as possible, often performing multiple tasks at the same time. That’s right - multi-tasking. We all do it. And it’s a really bad habit we should avoid as leaders. A quick exercise wil...

In a recent coaching call, the client, who is in a senior leadership role in her company, shared her desire to elevate herself, and to learn to breathe. One of the improvements listed in her action plan is learning to say no more and to avoid low payoff activities and interruptions which take away from time she is trying to block off. How many of you also struggle like this? In our Academy Leaders...

This week afforded time for an extended discussion with a Chief Information and Innovation Officer, starting with 360 survey results for a key direct report we’re using to set up executive coaching sessions. It’s always fascinating how different groups in a single organization rank organizational priority of six leadership competencies and six leadership characteristics. Recall, leadership compete...

This choinquecast was scripted while on a morning flight from Denver to Tampa, after we finished a three-day Academy Leadership Excellence Course in Colorado Springs. A common theme during our several days together was the desire to occupy a leadership role, but the tendency to stay in a management, or task-oriented mode most of the time. One of the more courageous in the group admitted exasperati...

Executive presence. What it that? This has come up several times during coaching sessions recently, including a one-on-one with the advocate for a director who will soon move to the C-Suite. In both sessions, the discussions included meetings, and how performance could be improved during them, along with increased executive presence. Here’s a couple ideas to consider. Try the 2 + 2 Rule, mentioned...

One of my coaching clients is eager to implement numerous improvements in a rapidly changing information technology organization. Among the targeted improvements is more open and candid communication, especially in meetings. Over lunch, we discussed techniques and ideas worth trying. Three topics came up. First, use of our personal leadership philosophy . Setting expectations, which may include ho...

During a “catch-up call” with a client, my colleague shared that her prior company was acquired by a larger one. During the acquisition, despite a generous offer, she made a decision to seek a new opportunity at another small company rather than stay with the larger one. The new firm sounds technically sophisticated, hip and rapidly growing - overall a fun place to work and develop at the same tim...

During a recent in-house Academy Leadership Excellence Course , we shared ideas at the end of day one to improve the second and third days of the course. The first suggested improvement was that we share more with each other. Well, by day three the group really took the comment to heart. One attendee was struggling with an underperforming subordinate meeting a critical deadline during the course,...

During an Advanced Leadership Course with six attendees, we found ourselves repeatedly comparing development-driven decision making with time-driven decision making. For some in the group, the whole idea of a development-driven decision may have been a brand new idea. This should be no surprise. Imaging you are a project manager. Most metrics are tied to fundamental criteria such as cost and sched...

By the third follow-on executive coaching session after a three-day Leadership Excellence Course , a chemistry usually forms between coach and learner. It is important to understand that the best coaching relationships are two-way: for sharing, for learning, and for continuously improving. Two positive indicators of substantial learning and ongoing chemistry from a recent coaching session come to...

In Episode 19, we turn the tables on the host, Jim Emerick . Rather than have Jim interview an author, leader, or influencer, we’ll learn a bit more about the choinquecast host, and how this all started. Our interviewer today, Amy Coppola , attended Jim’s first Leadership Boot Camp over seven years ago, and has stayed in touch with Jim ever since.

August is time for vacation, and it’s also time for the fall semester for college students. After a successful two-day drive returning our daughter to her apartment and roommates, we had a day together before leaving Tori to begin her senior year. It was a gorgeous morning and we found ourselves at Buttermilk Falls State Park, just southwest of Ithaca, NY, for a discovery hike. After just a few mi...

In Episode 18, we meet S Chris Edmonds , founder and CEO of The Purposeful Culture Group . For nearly three decades, industry-leading executives have sought Chris out to help them build and sustain values-aligned cultures that are purposeful, positive, and productive. When it comes to improving workplace cultures, Chris cut his teeth in the trenches, through 15 years of leading and managing teams....

A recurring theme this past week is staying healthy and energized. During an executive coaching session a client shared that a key personal goal is better health for increased energy. Turns out this is a good idea since eight more people were just added to her team. In an Academy Leadership Excellence Course follow-on coaching session, a client shared they are waking up an hour earlier to exercise...

In Episode 17, we meet Kimberly Davis , author of Brave Leadership . Since 2001, Kimberly has been leading development programs world-wide, around authentic leadership, purpose, presence, influence, presentation skills, communication skills, engagement, and customer experience. In March of 2009, Kimberly launched OnStage Leadership , which has received rave reviews and has made an impact on leader...

Earlier this week, an Academy Leadership Energize2Lead Workshop was held for the administrative team of a private high school. It was a fun, informative, and of course, energizing workshop - a favorite to facilitate. At the end of the workshop, the head of school asked me a question: “Jim, do you have any advice for us now that we have finished this workshop?” That’s a pretty good question, and th...

While facilitating a Leadership Excellence Course this week, we separated attendees into three generations during a motivation workshop: Baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 Generation X born between 1965 and 1977 Generation Y born between 1977 and 2000 Baby boomer group perceptions of Gen Y included: Sense of entitlement, digitally connected all the time, did not pay their dues, sought equalit...