Blog
Turning Potential Into Results
Take the keys away!
The Abilene Paradox refers to a situation in which a group of people make a collective decision that is counter to the preferences or interests of everyone in the group. The paradox was first described by Jerry Harvey in his 1974 article “The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement”. Here’s the story: “On a hot…
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Communication: Not a piece of cake
Something has been bugging me for years: What’s with calling communication a “soft” skill? Does soft mean communication is mushy, delicate, fragile, easy as falling off a log, that it’s not hard to do? Anyone who has ever admitted a mistake, repaired trust, listened to feedback that rocked their world, or said what others were…
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Liar!! Liar!!
“We’re all liars.” That’s how Pamela Meyer begins her entertaining, 19-minute TED talk, substantiated by scientific research and filled with examples you’ll recognize. Watch this video to … Understand how lying is a cooperative act, Identify the gap that lying attempts to bridge, and Get a glimpse of what non-lying looks like. What you…
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A leader’s job is simple, just not easy.
The summer of my sophomore year in high school I had a job at RCA Rubber in Akron, Ohio, where my Dad was the controller. My boss was Miss Phelps, the finance manager, a small, trim woman who always wore a jacket or sweater even in summer when the heat from the rubber plant below…
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Mirror, Mirror … in my head
On a recent family outing to Santa Cruz’s Museum of Art and History, I played in front of a mirror designed to distort. One side of the mirror gave me super long, thin legs. The other side showed me shorter, rounder. I jumped back and forth to see different images. Walking away from the mirror’s…
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Don’t let length limit depth
In a recent workshop coaching people to successfully transition from peer to supervisor, I was asked, “Why did you go into teaching?” I thought, then answered “I don’t know.” My professional-self (the self that mimics the conventional wisdom of what I “should” do and say) was shouting inside “Make something up!” My Self-self (the Self…
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Conflict: A bug or a feature?
There’s an assumption that conflict always involves anger and is always negative. That friction – opposing views, misunderstandings, differences of opinion – between people is to be avoided at all costs. The trouble is that avoiding friction in our relationships is not cost-free. Avoiding friction often erodes and diminishes the very relationship that we seek…
Read More5 Holiday Gifts
For the past 15 years since my parents passed, a friend of theirs has sent me a picture of the Christmas wreath she’s placed on their graves in Bath, Ohio. This has always touched me deeply because it reminds me of the sweetness of friendships unbound by distance or circumstances. I’m sharing a story from…
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Can you help me with my homework?
(I know you just got a blog from me yesterday, I hope this post won’t be bothersome.) 3 months ago, 2 colleagues invited me to take an online workshop they’d design. Near the end of the workshop, Everyone A Leader, we were asked to create and then share with other participants a statement about what…
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Express Yourself
Work is one of the ways we express ourselves in life. My thanks to Leslie Tucker of Roundstone International, Inc. I’ve worked with Leslie and always been amazed at her insights and brilliance. Most of this blog is directly from her recent posting; I added the action steps. Watch her video about the opportunity that work is…
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