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You’ve asked one of your direct reports to see you in your office. It’s about a recent mistake they’ve made and you want to provide some feedback and maybe a little coaching. They enter the room sheepishly and slump down in the chair opposite your desk. You don’t want to beat around the bush, so you ask, “What the heck happened with the Smith account?” They remain quiet and then softly reply, “I t...

You’re in a meeting with your team and you have a great idea. You share it with the group. Everyone loves your new idea. A little bit later in the meeting, you have another great idea. You share that one with the group and they like that one too. The meeting continues and you have yet another great idea and you share it with the group. They go along with this one as well, and you feel like you are...

You’re thinking about your work over the past week, or the last challenging conversation you had with your child or your parent, or maybe you’re thinking about the future and how to achieve your most audacious goals. You’re probably also thinking is, “Why do I keep making these same mistakes? Why is this so hard all the time? Why don’t I know what I want and how to get it?” These are great questio...

You find yourself in a heated discussion with a close colleague, a direct report, or maybe even your spouse or partner. You’ve been going back and forth about who is right and who is wrong. And it appears things are not going to get better any time soon. We’ve all been there, and it stinks. We want to settle things amicably. We want to keep the relationship trusting and healthy. And yet, we can’t...

We all have something that we are really good at. Some of us are excellent innovators, others are fantastic connectors, and some are amazing producers. All of us have specific skills and strengths to do what we do and do it well. But what is your superpower? What is that one thing that you do better than anyone else? That thing you can’t easily describe, but you do it effortlessly when you’re in a...

Have you ever wondered how you started the bad habits you currently have? Whether they are smoking, drinking, sweets and snacking, or doom-scrolling on social media, they all started innocently enough. But after some time with them, you begin to realize, they are not moving you in the direction you desire. In fact, they may very well be moving you away from what you want and where you want to go....

Honey! Do you know what time my dentist appointment is? No. It’s your appointment, not mine. Don’t you keep a calendar? Well, no, not for everything. Just the important stuff. And your dental health is not important? Well, it is, but… Sound familiar? I hope not, but many of us go through similar experiences daily. Maybe not with dental appointments, but as humans, we think we are smart enough to r...

You’re at the end of your day and you’re feeling pretty low energy. Not necessarily exhausted, but just run down and lackluster with your performance today. Sure, you completed that tough task, finished that punishing project, or successfully navigated that complicated conversation. But at the end of the day, all you can think about is how you blew it in that meeting with your direct report. You c...

You’re traveling across Europe with a friend of yours, and you’re engaged in conversation about all the wonderful sights you’re seeing and the places you’re going next. But after a couple of minutes, you see your friend is playing on his phone. You decide to let it go and continue talking. Soon enough, your friend is back in the conversation, but he is clearly not up to speed on what you’ve brough...

You’re about to step on stage to speak before five hundred people. You’re nervous. You’re sweating. You’re not feeling very confident in your ability to deliver to this many people from the bright lights of the stage. And so you pretend to be violently sick and rush off the stage hoping people will understand. You blew it. You choked. You just didn’t have what it takes to close the deal. You lacke...

You’re thinking about doing something new or different. You want to start a new business, you want to produce a new program, you want to write a book, or you want to have that super difficult conversation with one of your employees or you partner. Whatever it is you want to do, one thing is almost certain. Fear will pop up and show you all the ways you’re not going to be successful. And then Fear...

When are we getting back to normal? As the COVID vaccine continues to rollout here in the United States and the rest of the world, we hear this topic come up over and over again. First, we heard it from people who needed to get back to earning a paycheck. Then, we heard it from people stuck at home with their kids and their spouses who needed a break from the home-schooling, the constant parenting...

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower. – Alexander Den Heijer What a profound statement. Listen to the wisdom in these sixteen words. When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.  As leaders, we need to take these words to heart. And we need to put this concept into practice.  Why? Because your team is a fi...

Seeking perfection is an act of pointlessness. When we seek perfection, we spend (read “waste”) so much time trying to squeeze one last drop of innovative content to create the most amazing, never to be duplicated, unconquerable product, service, or idea. Whether it is a gadget, a widget, a product, or a program, the more time you spend trying to make it absolutely perfect is a waste of time. It’s...

You’re reading the latest novel and suddenly, out of nowhere, you’re completely blindsided by the way the hero in the story behaves. What the heck just happened? Why did she do that? Doesn’t she know better? Well, maybe she does and maybe she doesn’t. It’s hard to say with the limited information you have. So you keep reading and you come to learn that she does know better; she’s just lost her way...

Life can sometimes feel like just a string of routines that we do over and over every single day. You hit the alarm, you get up, brush your teeth, take a shower, or do thirty minutes of exercise and THEN shower, shave, makeup, get dressed, devour a quick breakfast, and then go to work. Once there (even if it is just to the living room, the second bedroom, or the garage), you begin another set of r...

Most leaders employ an open-door policy. I’m not sure if they do this because they want to or because HR tells them to or if they heard or read somewhere that it’s a “best practice.” What do you think? HR directive? Best practice? Or it seems reasonable and shows you are an approachable boss? I’m not buying any of it. We all know what the “open-door policy” means. It means, my office door is alway...

We’ve all got a load of tools (or skills) in our leadership toolbox. And each of them serves a specific purpose. We have communication skills, relationship-building skills, problem-solving skills, influence skills, listening skills, and so many more. But there is one skill that many leaders have easy access to but just don’t put into practice very often. Really, it’s not so much a skill but a beha...

In a recent podcast I mentioned the phrase, “To meet people where they are, as a leader, you have to learn where they are.” In that episode, we explored how important it is to meet your people where they are by acknowledging, validating, and supporting their dreams, goals, and objectives. Today we are going to look at a different perspective of meeting your people where they are. Today we examine...

I was listening to another podcast yesterday because that’s what I do in my spare time. It’s called How To with Charles Duhigg, and you should definitely be listening to his podcast. Each week is another opportunity to learn how to do something difficult. Sounds like another podcast I know…hmmm. Anyway, during the interview, Charles’ guest, Samantha Power, made the following comment, “To meet peop...

Today we look at a subject that is easy for some and brutally difficult for others. I’m talking about small talk. You know, that little dance we do to either pass time, please someone, or put them off so we can plan our escape. Now I suspect some of you may consider tuning out because you don’t have a problem with small talk. You’re probably somewhere in the extrovert scale and you rather enjoy ch...

It’s the first week of January and that means new year resolutions and big, beautiful goals to be set and met. So what are you striving for this year? Weight loss? Improved health and wellness? Higher income? Better work/life balance? Greater peace and calm? More time with family? Maybe you want a little of each of these. Whatever it is you want, if you want to be successful, you’ll need to set a...

If you’re a procrastinator like I am, you might find To-Do lists pretty annoying. I mean, they stare at you just daring you to cross one off one item. And you stare back like, yeah, I’ve got all day to complete that list. I’m good at what I do. I’m quicker than most people, so I’ve got plenty of time. Plus, there’s all this other cool stuff I could be doing that I’ll never remember to do if stick...

Today we complete our journey to boost your mental fitness. Of course, this is not really the end of your journey – it’s just the beginning. And the knowledge you gain today will catapult you into a realm most people never experience. Yeah, it’s just that good. Now, since this is the third episode, I strongly recommend you go back and listen to the first two in the series, so this all makes perfec...

Welcome to part two of our three-part series on boosting your mental fitness. Before we dive, if you haven’t listened to the previous episode, I strongly recommend you do, so you can follow along more smoothly. Alright, let’s get to it. Today, we are going to explore the second muscle required to boost your mental fitness by first looking at some colorful characters that keep us from being our bes...