I had a client whose boss told him he wanted him to think more strategically. He was engrossed in the grindstone of managing the risk department, not giving much thought to what was next for the future of risk management. His remedy was to hide away for a couple of days and to re-emerge with a...Read More

Learning how to delegate is nothing short of an existential-crisis for some leaders. Upon being pressed to delegate more, leaders’ minds can flood with fear-fueled questions: What if they do it wrong and embarrass me? Conversely, what if they do it better than me? As leaders, we worry an employee’s failure will reflect poorly on...Read More

Like professional athletes and actors use visualization to improve their performance, senior executives can also benefit from visualization to sharpen their leadership skills. To be clear, visualization is not to be confused with manifestation. I’m not talking about the ability to make your dreams come true by envisioning them. Visualization is the act of rehearsing...Read More

Executive coaching can be a life-changing experience for leaders. It’s an opportunity to advance to the next level of leadership and to improve the quality of your life. That is, if leaders can let go of resistance to change and come prepared to grow. To make the most of your coaching experience, your mindset matters....Read More

As an executive coach, I can honestly say I have never seen my clients so scattered. Social distancing is melting the boundaries between home and work. Zipping from one Zoom call to the next while simultaneously tending to family has subsumed that much needed quiet time executives used to have on the train. It’s no...Read More

IQ gets you a leadership position, but emotional intelligence (EQ) helps to ensure you keep it, as I recently explained in the introduction of the T principle. According to a MHS study, EQ is three times more likely than IQ to predict career success. Yet, most executives new to leadership are thrashing about in the deep-end of...Read More

As a successful executive, you knew exactly what you needed to do to get where you are today. You acquired degrees, mastered the needed skills and accumulated the relevant experiences. Hard skills often come easy to executives and carry them far. But, at some point, IQ alone is not enough to ascend to leadership. Emotional...Read More

As an executive coach, I’ve watched my fair share of TED Talks. Have you ever noticed how integral the audience’s reactions are to creating the whole TED Talk ambiance? TED Talkers must rehearse for hours on end to trigger those perfectly spaced responses from the audience. All the laughs, oh’s and ah’s emanating from the...Read More

The art of speaking up is a skill that a lot of executives struggle to master in ordinary times, let alone when everyone is trying to adapt to the cultural mores of videoconference calls. Saying the wrong thing at the wrong time to the wrong group of people can carry heady consequences for executives. Fear of how others...Read More

Why do some leaders seem to possess a natural knack for putting people at ease in unsettling times? When everything is up in the air, leaders who excel in a crisis use compassion as a grounding force and guiding light. Compassionate leaders have high emotional intelligence and display a combination of empathy, integrity, forgiveness, kindness...Read More