Successful leadership requires the ability to make good decisions, day in and day out, whether done individually, or as part of a larger group that may or may not report to you.  Research has shown that individuals and groups in any organization, no matter how simple or sophisticated, are...

Too many leaders focus only on the problems at hand, or what still remains to be done, rather than step back and acknowledge how much their teams have already accomplished.  In addition to avoiding a reputation for being a complete slave driver and no fun to work for or...

Tuesday’s national teleconference with the ABA’s Woman Advocate Committee discussing the survey data on the retention and advancement of women in law firms was every bit as discouraging as I thought it would be.  NAWL’s 2012 Survey confirms what every annual NAWL survey since 2006 has shown – that...

Today we celebrated the San Francisco Giants winning their second World Series in three years time, so it’s a fitting tribute to them to focus of resilience.  Trailing badly in the first two rounds of the post-season playoffs, they came back to dominate the Detroit Tigers with unselfish team...

I’ve been traveling a fair amount and a little preoccupied with the presidential election and San Francisco Giants (on to the World Series!), so blogging dropped down on my priority list for the past two weeks.  In allowing that to happen, I was in a way practicing my own...

I’m back from a terrific conference put on in Minneapolis by the National Legal Mentoring Consortium in Minneapolis.  I enjoyed the chance to speak about mentoring circles to the conference attendees, and will be posting my remarks shortly.  Earlier this week, I attended this fall’s meeting of the Professional...

Know why it’s important for girls to experience adventure in the out-of-doors? Author, mother, and peakbagger extraordinaire Patricia Ellis Herr shared three reasons this morning during her keynote talk at the annual GirlVentures Empower! Breakfast in San Francisco. Thanks to the generosity of my good friends Judy and Bruce...

Many otherwise solid leaders struggle when it comes to delivering “constructive criticism.”  They become tongue-tied, too busy to talk, and often times avoid saying anything at all, until written performance review time rolls around, and then the bad news comes as a surprise to the employee.  Yet one of...

Once you know what you want to achieve, it’s time to get on to doing it.  Success does not come to those who sit back and wait, which is why great leaders are always taking initiative to think about what they can do to get what they want.  In...

To get where you want to go, you first must decide where that is, which is why you need goals and objectives for your business.  Sounds easy, right?  Not so fast.  According to Staples’ Annual National  Small Business Survey, a whopping 80% of small business owners surveyed said they don’t...