Hank and I attended the Navy Cross ceremony yesterday for United States Marine Corps Sergeant Matthew T. Abbate, who received our country’s second highest medal for valor in combat as a result of his service in Afgahnistan.  Sadly, the award was given posthumously, for six weeks after Sergeant Abbate’s...

I’m back from several weeks of travel connected with a short vacation, the ABA Annual meeting, and client work in Colorado.  In between I’ve been enjoying snippets of the Olympics, and contemplating the relationship of coaches to competitors in individual events like gymnastics, diving, and track and field. But...

One of the keys to success is knowing, and leveraging, your strengths, rather than obsessing over how to improve your weaknesses.  The same is true for organizations, and their people.  Too often professional development focuses on programs and individual interventions designed to help the people who are struggling, rather...

My husband Hank and I walk our two dogs, Kona and Bogart, through our neighborhood every morning.  It’s one of my favorite rituals, although it’s a little bittersweet these days.   Kona turns 13 in August, and she has visibly slowed down — a foreshadowing of the wrenching loss we...

I was away in Puerto Rico at the ABA Litigation Section’s Spring Leadership meeting when the 40th anniversary of Title IX occurred earlier this week on June 23.  Title IX is the landmark legislation that outlawed discrimination between men’s and women’s educational programs, and perhaps its most well-known benefit...

I enjoyed Pat Gillette’s presentation this week at the Bar Association of San Francisco on “Staying on Track,” focusing on the tools that 4-8th year law firm associates (or comparable level in-house counsel) need to stay on track in their legal careers.  Pat used the analogy of pigeonholes to...

Ron Padgett’s book of poetry, How to Be Perfect, contains all kinds of nuggets that are worthy of sharing this morning: Get some sleep. Eat an orange every morning. Be friendly. It will help make you happy. Hope for everything. Expect nothing. Take care of things close to home...

A recent column in the New York Times by Jane Brody on the power of optimism brought me back to my training in appreciative inquiry and positive psychology at the College of Executive coaching.  Brody shared the research that optimists had lower death rates than pessimists over a 30-year...

I’ve been traveling quite a bit in the past month, and dealing with family illness, so it’s been a challenge keeping up with the email that lands in my in box every day. And truth be told, in the best of times I find efficiency with email to be...

If you want to become a better leader, the first thing you need to do is understand how you are currently leading.  How well do you know your leadership strengths and weaknesses?  What would others say about your leadership style, and how you go about leading your team?  If...