There’s an old line about every journey, even the ones of thousands of miles, beginning with a single step. Leadership, as a concept, really isn’t any different. It all begins from a single place — but oftentimes, getting to that initial step can be hard for many leaders. Bob Dunham, the CEO and Founder of...
What do you get paid to do? Don’t be too quick to answer this question. Most everyone I ask this question of answers by describing some function that they carry out in their organization. You may have initially answered by saying that you develop strategy, make decisions, plan, set direction, sell, work in fundraising, do financial analysis...
One critical skill a leader can put into place is the ability to listen powerfully. As represented by the title of this book, Stop Controlling, Start Leading, when the going gets tough, some of us (I am guilty of it, too)try to impose control and structure. When this happens, a major way that control shows...
In Yoga we aim to unite or integrate the body, the mind, and the spirit and create a balance. In asana and pranayama practice, we observe the flow of energy (prana). Balance is a state that is ever moving, if you look at the Yin and Yang symbol or the concept of Shiv Shakti as...
It’s a deeply personal question and the answers are as unique as the person contemplating it. And yet, for many of us, the question is not one that we’ve engaged with very much. I was with a group of friends recently and our discussion turned to what we would do if we won a lottery...
One of my clients recently told me that after 27 years of marriage her husband has just asked for a divorce. Apparently he had been miserable for the last 15 of those 27 years. ‘No’, she didn’t see any signs of his unhappiness but then again, she admitted that she’s been pretty caught up in...
The origin of the word “Coach” “Coach” can be traced back to the 1550s from the Middle French coche , the German kotsche, and the Hungarian kocsi (which literally translates “carriage of Kocs”, from the name of the village where carriages were made.) The meaning for a coach as an instructor or trainer first came...
Over 20 years ago, this quote inspired Carol Courcy, MCC, to study the ways in which people think and behave in different emotional states. She wondered if she could make it easier for her clients and herself to be in the “right emotion” more often. She discovered how different emotions redirect us to a more...
My awareness of leadership began when I was nineteen years old. I was a lost teenager, hanging out with a rough crowd, getting into trouble and barely graduating high school. It was the late Sixties and early Seventies in Boulder, Colorado, during a time of “make love not war,” hippie beads and fingers raised in...
Entitlement: “That to which I have a right” In recent years, this has become one of the most pervasive limiting assessments that I see when I am coaching. Although it is rarely spoken – people do not often go around saying:” I am entitled to do / not do that” – it is a very...
