SmikleSpeaks

Just about anybody can spot a problem. It doesn’t often take a whole lot of skill. The real skill comes in creating a solution focus. And that’s what this podcast is about…creating a solution focus and solution generation.

Diane Huey will help us understand what it means to detox and the reasons for making that decision. She’s a wellness expert, acupuncture practitioner and health coach. She founded Huey Health to help people like you and I get a grip on our wellbeing.

I want to quickly focus your attention on listening. It is, in my opinion, one of the most essential competencies of skillful leadership. It’s certainly an integral component of communication. It’s also often the most overlooked. My question for you is this: Do you most often listen as an Ally or as an Adversary?

Most of us use deficit-based approaches to change. Another way to describe what we’re most accustomed to is problem-centered change. This approach is so deeply engrained that we don’t even know that there are other ways to approach change. Appreciative Inquiry gives us a totally different way of dealing with our issues, dilemmas and situations. It offers what’s called a constructionist-based appro...

Strategic planning helps the organization move towards its most powerful, positive potential. Of course, the process is entwined with mission, vision, and core values. However, there’s something obvious that I need to say: Any plan that’s developed should be one that can actually be implemented. It shouldn’t just be a document that sits on the share drive. Develop a plan with methods for on-going...

This is the first podcast that I was initially reluctant about recording. Let me tell you the backstory and then I’ll tell you about my reluctance. In the Fall Rev. Virgil Hammett, pastor of Saint Andrew’s AME Church in St. Andrews, South Carolina asked me to be their Women’s Day speaker. I was sure that he’d bumped his head! While I am a woman of faith, I am not a scripture quoter. In Bible study...

Most of us need a quick refresher on how we can stay on track on our personal improvement path. And that’s what we’re going to do in this short podcast. Years ago I was introduced to something called LUTIE. I can’t tell you who created it, but it wasn’t me. I love LUTIE because it’s easy to remember. It’s also a practical framework for focusing on our never-ending development. It’s a way to handle...

This podcast focuses on communication checkpoints that can help you develop acceptable, effective tools for dealing with conflict. We all face big and small battles in our lives. The struggles may be at home with a thoughtless spouse, at work with a divisive colleague, in church with a know-it-all deacon, with an incompetent internet provider or with the hairdresser who messed up a dye job…skirmis...

Diane Huey will move us beyond the fad-of-the-week to guidance that will help us focus on core principles of wellness. She’s a wellness expert, acupuncture practitioner and health coach. She founded Huey Health to help people like you and I get a grip on our wellbeing.

Most leaders don’t want things to stay the same. They want to see momentum and progress. Most leaders recognize the need to lead with a forward focus. This is all about developing a simple, clear innovation action plan that you can actually implement…no point in having a grandiose plan that you can never use. Lots of innovators just need a framework for moving forward. That’s what I’m here for…to...

This podcast, Leading the 7 Dwarves, is a bit different from what you’re used to hearing from me. Many years ago a client asked me to develop an unusual keynote for senior leaders struggling to move the organization forward. This is what I came up with… First things first, do you remember Snow White? Don’t confuse her with Cinderella and her lost shoe, or Little Red Riding Hood with the wolf chasi...

We all face problems, issues, annoyances, dilemmas. That’s just part of life. And if we’re honest we admit that there are times when we can’t figure out exactly how best to overcome the hurdle. This podcast is going to provide you with tools to test on your next problem.

I wrote an article titled Diagnosing an Allergy to Innovation . This podcast is based on that article. Ultimately what I wanted was to help leaders begin to think about whether they were getting in the way of improvement, innovation and ingenuity in their organizations. I wanted to get leaders thinking about the role they play in creating and keeping ruts in the organization. Inertia and stagnatio...

Innovation can be a major reboot, a radical redefinition, a phenomenal transformation. Innovation can happen at the individual level, at the team level, at the organizational level…even in communities and our larger world. In this podcast I’m going to give you a few tips for sparking innovation.

We’re going to spend time on making meetings more meaningful, especially since most of us are drowning in them. Let’s save ourselves from being slayed by meetings. You’re in a leadership role, take responsibility for preserving time and energy by having purposeful gatherings.

Leaders in every industry sector have so many pressures. Those pressures undoubtedly impact their health on many levels. Diane Huey guides us in exploring how leaders build and maintain optimum health. She is a wellness expert, acupuncture practitioner, and health coach. Diane founded Huey Health to help people find practical strategies for managing their wellbeing. She facilitates workshops for b...

Most, if not many, of us like to think that not only are we imaginative, creative, innovators, but that our teams are too. A lot of us also like to think that our organizations are really on the cutting edge making new, exciting contributions to the world, at least to our industries. This podcast provides several statements for you to consider about your own ability to be an innovator, your team’s...

This episode is all about strategies to build the courage to try again. This courage starts in our minds and moves to intentional action. This podcast is for anyone interested in dreaming new dreams, interested in building the resilience and courage to try again.

Teresita Britton is back with us on the SmikleSpeaks Podcast Channel! She’s one of my favorite special guests because she’s a colleague and a friend. Teresita Britton is an ICF certified Professional Coach. She has more than 20 years of experience guiding leaders in their career development. She helps them understand what it takes to have a well-devised career trajectory.

I spend a lot of time working with one-on-one leaders who are moving on up and committed to their individual development. They are taking on larger roles, moving to bigger organizations, accepting more complex responsibilities, entering the C suite. One of the common mistakes I encounter is this: they come into the new role ready to set the world on fire. But that’s not quite how you want to start...

Have you stopped to reflect on your career trajectory? I mean seriously reflected on where you are, how you got here? Have you stopped to think about your path, your journey, where you’ve been? This podcast is overflowing with questions that will guide you in reflecting on and potentially re-evaluating your trajectory. Full disclosure, this episode came about because I’ve been thinking a lot about...

In Part One of this series on strategic planning we laid the foundation for a pretty good process. Let’s move forward to formulating your plan. Like the process, your plan is very unique to your organization. That means that I’m not giving you a boilerplate structure for a plan. I’m not giving you a cookie cutter because they don’t work. I will give you elements of a sound plan.

I’ve done podcasts on elements of strategy. I think it’s time that I address strategic planning. It’s so important in making an organization maximally effective. I know some people think that in chaotic times strategic plans should go out the window. I don’t agree. I think that even in the most tumultuous times a plan can help steady the course and maintain some degree of alignment. This is a two-...

This whole idea that people burnout is real! It’s not just people whining, moaning and groaning. We’re going to talk about how we beat burnout. I wanted to tackle this topic because I see so many people who seem like they just don’t have any more gas.

Teresita Britton is an ICF certified Professional Coach. She has more than 20 years of experience guiding leaders in their career development. Terry coaches executives all over the world. Her clients are leading in some of the most notable organizations around the globe. She provides services to the World Bank, federal agencies and lots of other well-known organizations. We're focusing on coaching...