Several years ago, I had the luxury of being coached by Val Wright, author of three award-winning books for leaders. One of her development exercises was to have me articulate my unique value, distinct traits, proudest achievements, and finally, ten leadership soundbites. I was doing great until the soundbites. I had...
Your Stakeholders are Aging – Can You Keep Up?
I recently had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Alan Weiss - consulting guru and author of more than 60 books - speak to an audience about thriving in the age of “no normal.” And I’m not joking when I say he copyrighted the phrase “no normal.” At 77 years of...
Reveal the Pain Now or Later?
Toxic positivity. Dr. Jen Frahm kicked out this term during a webinar on change and it resonated immediately. Some people are overwhelmingly positive when they shouldn’t be. I coach leaders to demonstrate high energy (if they are not excited by a new direction, why should anyone else be?), but with an...
Are you passing it on?
Ten years ago, I brought my son to the gym and got him started lifting weights with an empty bar – the lightest weight possible. Now he goes five times a week and can lift a lot more than me (because I don’t want to show off!). Lately, I’ve noticed...
How to Keep Them Coming Back: More Work, More $$
“Jeff, you’ve been working with us for six months. You know us. We would like to continue this relationship.” Isn’t that a great note to receive? It just came in this morning, and now we are discussing the next piece of work. Many of you are internal or external consultants, but even...
A New Approach to Change: Ship it
In the 1700s, Britain claimed Australia as a colony, and to occupy it they sent prisoners to the island - more than 162,000 of them. As you can imagine, it dramatically impacted the indigenous people living there. It still happens today, with southern US states shipping immigrants to the north to...
