Do you have your own personal advisory board? If this isn’t a term that’s familiar to you – or you instinctively understand the concept but find it odd – you’re certainly not alone. We all have a wide variety of people who provide input into our lives, including colleagues, family, friends, and acquaintances, but ourContinue reading “Cultivating Your Own Personal Advisory Board”
Category Archives: Feedback
“It’s All in the Debrief”
What comes to mind when you hear the word “debrief”? If you watch spy movies, it might be James Bond passing by Miss Moneypenny on the way to let M know what transpired on his latest mission. In your work environment, it may look more like a closed-door meeting following the end of a projectContinue reading ““It’s All in the Debrief””
Watch Yourself on Video – It’s Painful! And Super Helpful!
How often do you hear a recording of your voice and think “That doesn’t sound like me!”? Or see a video of yourself and just cringe and turn it off? Perhaps you even remember the first time you heard your voice on a recording and realized that your voice sounds different to other people thanContinue reading “Watch Yourself on Video – It’s Painful! And Super Helpful!”
One Simple Action for Any Difficult Conversation
How many times have you sat with someone face-to-face – maybe with a desk between you – to have a challenging conversation? For many of us, the answer might be in the hundreds, or even thousands. Perhaps you’re someone who handles difficult conversations with ease – through a combination of training and real-life experience, youContinue reading “One Simple Action for Any Difficult Conversation”
What’s Your “Tiffany Problem”?
If you were reading a fantasy novel or watching a show set in medieval times, and a character was introduced as “Tiffany,” what would your reaction be? Chances are, it might stick out like a Starbucks cup in Game of Thrones. This is because Tiffany is thought of by most people as a modern-sounding nameContinue reading “What’s Your “Tiffany Problem”?”
What is Triple Loop Learning?
Image source: Alex Atkinson Recently, my high school junior son co-founded a robotics team at school. After months of budgeting, securing sponsorship, building, and late-night coding (my son’s specialty), the team took part in their first regional competition. What they demonstrated was a perfect example of kaizen. Their early matches went well for a rookieContinue reading “What is Triple Loop Learning?”
Solving for Now or Solving for the Future?
When was the last time someone shared a frustration with you? How did you respond? Were they looking for help/advice, or did they just want to be heard? Sometimes it can be hard to know without asking. Working with groups on practicing difficult conversations, many facilitators start with the skill of acknowledgement. Acknowledgement focuses onContinue reading “Solving for Now or Solving for the Future?”
Avoiding Selective Moral Outrage
I showed up to register for my first set of classes at Harvard Graduate School of Education on the morning of September 11, 2001. The World Trade Center attacks played over and over on the small TV screens in Gutman Library with large crowds gathered around, but we all registered for classes without acknowledging whatContinue reading “Avoiding Selective Moral Outrage”
Using Your Team’s Previous Work Cultures to Build a Better One
During a series of team building activities with a client this week, it was noticeable that one newer member of the group shared ideas that were shut down or ignored by the rest of the group – including the director of the department. Rather than point that out in the moment, I let the groupContinue reading “Using Your Team’s Previous Work Cultures to Build a Better One”
Kaizen and the Art of Talk Show Maintenance
Are you familiar with the term “kaizen”? We’ve mentioned it on this blog a few times over the years and it comes up in my work with clients on an almost daily basis. It’s a Japanese word (in which it is written “改善”), with a literal translation of “good change,” or “change for better,” butContinue reading “Kaizen and the Art of Talk Show Maintenance”
Building Bridges Leadership 