A letter to the boss
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What do you do when you can’t lead...
I took my partner, Karl, to Kauai for his 50th birthday. We celebrated by standing at the top of a 800-foot waterfall. Fabulous!! Yet hiking to that spot, and on a slippery trail on the Na Pali coast, I had a chance to observe some of my quirky high-achiever behavior.
While hiking, when I am in front I tend to hike at a fast clip, maybe too fast since I'm pretty
How to Stop Worrying
Lately, the topic of conversation has been discussing how bad the economy is going to get and debating when the sky will surely fall. So why do we worry so much more than spend time being grateful for what we have? It's primal, and men worry differently than women.
THE TENDENCIES: In my last post, I told you that women use both sides of their brains more than men when they
The physical difference in the brain of ...
While listening to the conversations around the table at Thanksgiving, I was reminded that there is one physical difference in the brain between men and women that affects our conversations. The bridge that connects the right and left frontal lobes is much thicker in women than in the brain of men.
THE RESULT:
Women multitask better than men. Not only can we work on one thing at a time, we can
Time to be recognized
Thank you to all the coaches who showed up in my session at the ICF conference to hear about my research on the current generation of high achieving women in the workplace. My heart pumped wildly as over 200 women raised their hand declaring they are a part of this somewhat misunderstood and mostly mismanaged generation. When I defined who they are and how they differ from the generation of
Turnaround vs. Transformation
In the Future of Management, author Gary Hamel said, "A turnaround is a transformation past due."
Certainly, this statement has rung true as so many businesses are failing and laying people off, showing a lack of resilience. Our leaders are strategically challenged. They focus on improving current processes for short term gain instead of continually making the changes that prepare their organizations for the future.
Yet this statement also rings true for
Your vision is your anchor
While teaching in Chile this week, one of the women asked me how to deal with her boss who treats her like a child. I asked her what she does now. She said she ends up arguing with him even when the issue is not worth her time.
I remembered a time when I was complaining about a similar situation to a friend when I was still working for someone else.
Quit Fixing to Get Results
Recently, a very frustrated client complained, “I tried my hardest to help my team. They just don’t get it. I only want them to succeed.”
I know her pain very well as a painful lesson I had to learn. It wasn’t until I fully experienced the power of true coaching that I understood the distinction between serving and fixing those we live and work with.
As a high achiever, we
How to Change the System
One of the greatest pains for achievers is the length of time it takes to change inefficient processes, if they get changed at all.
Gary Hamel gives some suggestions for renegades to make changes in his book, The Future of Management. Here are some ideas:
Instead of launching a major change program, design a couple of low-cost, low risk experiments
What drives your need to achieve?
I love the feeling of knowing I just delivered a great class or a powerful coaching session. Yet how I define "great" and "powerful" has shifted for me over time.
For years, I said that learning was my highest value. When I received a good evaluation for a class, it meant that I had created a good product. I was proud that I was able to transfer my knowledge, which I
Perfectly authentic
One of the facts about many high-achieving women that boggles me is around the concept of perfection. I generally see high-achievers as risk takers. Yet if you are a true perfectionist, you will probably avoid doing things you can't do well. Or if you discover you can't do it well, you give up trying.
This might work for a few things like biochemistry or extreme sports. But what about dancing? Or
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