May 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Welcome Conflict with 3 Resilient Leadership Practices

I don’t like conflict. Sometimes it angers me, and at other times I come away feeling depressed. I am not always clear as to who owns the blame, or who is in the right or wrong within the conflict — but I have come to understand that conflict can be a good thing.

Close up of a couple arguing

Conflict can arise in any relationship, and relationships are intrinsically woven into the fabric of lives. They are hardwired to purpose, and they bring a richness and depth to our meaning. A life without relationships would know nothing of love, encouragement, laughter, or celebration. Even solitude, as enjoyable as it can be, would lack its attractiveness and beauty without the contrast of relationship, being relegated to boredom and monotony. There is no part of our personal or professional lives that is not affected by relationships.

There is also a vital connection between relationships, commitment and our growth,  Please Continue Reading …

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April 29, 2014 by 2 Comments

3 Ways to Stop Being Lonely at the Top

If you are, or ever have been involved in a leadership capacity, you may relate to feeling lonely. It’s not a simple social-disconnect loneliness, it’s more about carrying a weight of responsibility that you feel the people around you can’t relate to.

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Worse than unrelatable, at times it would be impossible – even inappropriate – to share your concerns with the people you lead. These concerns may be about the business at hand and include potentially negative impacts to your employees and/or others that they are connected with, such as the need for corporate downsizing or behavioral correction.

Delivering loneliness in epic proportion, is the fear of vulnerability and weakness – especially  Please Continue Reading …

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March 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment

The Wholehearted Journey: Standing as Partners for each other’s success

Who would have thought to be afraid that the commercial airline ticket you bought for your next holiday could hold the potential for you to disappear into thin air?

Two airline boarding pass tickets isolated on white
Now we can add mysterious commercial airline disappearances to the list of things to fear, along with tsunamis, tornados, food-borne illnesses, invasions & wars, random acts of violence and school shootings, unemployment and bankruptcy…the list goes on and on…and it grows.

Researcher Brene Brown, in her latest book Daring Greatly,  gives us some insight  Please Continue Reading …

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November 3, 2013 by 3 Comments

Vision – The promise of great things to come!

I recently went for a backcountry hiking trip in the Rockies with a couple of good friends. One of these good friends happens to be a master rappeler, extreme race, eco-challenge veteran. I am not. Needless to say, I draw a whole bunch of confidence and courage from him for my backcountry exploits! The picture below looks beautiful to me – it is one of my favorites from the trip. What you don’t see in this picture is the 15-20 kms of hiking with a full pack to get to this point, and you don’t feel the pain in my knees or the ache in my back!
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The picture above is beautiful, and the climbing was difficult, but when I reached the top, this is what I saw next… Please Continue Reading …

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November 22, 2012 by 3 Comments

Assumptions

If you are old like me…you ight remember a baseball coach lecturing his team at the start of the movie “The Bad News Bears” (not the remake)…wherein he wrote the word “ASSUME” on the board…exhorting his team to never assume…for if they did, they would make “an ASS out of U and ME”.

Since that time, I have heard many people use a similar philosophy…referring to how dangerous assumptions can be. No doubt, there are instances where caution is wise…but not in every instance. Let me suggest that, in the context of team and partnership, it may be more beneficial to assume. To assume Please Continue Reading …

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March 26, 2012 by 4 Comments

Partnership – Standing for each other’s success

I read somewhere that every employee has the right / need to know whether their leadership is for them, against them, or for themselves.

We all wrestle with our motives at times, consciously and sub-consciously. It is difficult to understand our “shadow mission” (a whole of the blog topic), whether we are truly for others, or simply for ourselves, and hoping that others will help us get to wherever we want to go.

Imagine a team where everyone is simply there for their own agenda. Engaged in their, sure…but for the ultimate end of furthering their self…all straining to gain one more wrung on the corporate ladder…one more digit in the personal bank account.

 Please Continue Reading …

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