The Four Disciplines of Execution, by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling Let me start by saying I love this book!  I’m a fan of simple, common sense pointers, and 4DX doesn’t disappoint.  The First Discipline is that beyond keeping the day-to-day business moving forward (the “whirlwind”), leaders...

I had the privilege of meeting Maurice Bloem Tuesday night.  Maurice is the executive vice president of Church World Service, a cooperative ministry of 37 Christian communions born in the aftermath of World War II, working together to eradicate hunger and poverty and promote peace and justice among the...

I had the opportunity to spend Saturday with the Board of Directors of the Saint Vincent’s Day Home, facilitating their annual board retreat.  If you don’t know about the great work of the Day Home, you should.  They are a child development center in West Oakland, where they have...

Several of the mid-career leaders I coach have said that they cannot expand their role because what they do “is not scalable.”  Translated, they mean that while they have mastered the ability to lead their departments or the teams working on their projects, they don’t have bandwidth for greater...

 Join an eight-week virtual Confidential Coaching Circle limited to only six mid-career women attorneys, and master the skills and strategies you need to succeed in your legal career.  Starting April 30, 2013, and led by former law firm partner and certified executive coach Nan Joesten, the group will engage...

I fell off the blogging wagon over the last two weeks, and resolved that I would resume regular blogging once April rolled around.  It seemed a bad omen to resume on April Fool’s Day, but there’s no reason not to post today. I generally like to blog – it...

The questions that you ask yourself, and others, changes things.  As an easy example, thinking about what is best in your life, or your work, rather than what you don’t enjoy about your life or work will take you in entirely different directions.  Appreciative Inquiry grew out of the...

Did you grow up reading and loving the Curious George books by H. A. Rey like I did?  Curious George got into and out of more interesting scrapes with the eventual assistance of the Man With the Yellow Hat, and to me he symbolized enthusiasm, curiosity, and courage.  I...

It’s March 8th, so Happy International Women’s Day!  I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to this special day.  The United Nation’s theme this year is “A Promise is a Promise:  Time for action to end violence against women,” which is something everyone should be...

There was a great post yesterday on the HBR Blog about how leaders can become chemically addicted to being right, and the dangers that poses.  When we’re in a tense meeting and trying to make a decision, or deal with opposing points of view in some way, our higher...