Introversion as an Obstacle Matt had been an officer in the Air Force before joining a publicly held manufacturing corporation. He’d risen steadily and was now enjoying his role as a vice-president in charge of a busy division. His background as an engineer gave him the knowledge to understand the work at a deep level, […]
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Networking + Elevator Pitches Pavni had plans for her future. In a year or so, she wanted to leave her leadership role in a global corporation to become a chief officer at a mid-sized company. She worried that a major roadblock would be her distaste for networking. We spent an entire coaching conversation exploring her
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“Plant, Don’t Hunt” Pavni was thinking ahead. She was in year two of a three-year project. When the project ended, she wanted to leave her giant multi-national corporation and leverage her momentum to get hired as a chief officer with a mid-sized company. She’d mentioned this during our coaching conversations, but today she lingered on
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Danger in connections Amit was uneasy. He had read article after article saying that, during the pandemic, managers need to connect with their people now more than ever. The articles were urging managers to ask about people’s lives, show interest in them, not just as workers, but as people, to create personal connections.
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Flooded by words Renée didn’t like to complain. A senior vice-president in the finance division of her bank, Renée had an orderly mind, a tidy office and a positive outlook. Even when managing problem performers, she exuded kindness and warmth. ‘Sunny’ and ‘optimistic’ were words from her 360-degree feedback report.
The Talky Executive Read More »
“Is that clear?” Arlen worried he wasn’t making his points clearly with his direct reports. When I asked him to tell me more, he said, “I’m always asking them, ‘Is that clear?’ and they say yes. But later, it becomes obvious it wasn’t clear at all. I don’t know how much is me and how
Not tuned in My friend and colleague, Mindy Danna, and I were talking about our coaching practices. So much of our work revolves around thinking deeply about the people we coach, it’s helpful to have a thought partner.
“Nice” won’t get the job done When Gregory first called me, we knew about each other—I’d coached his boss off and on for several years—but we’d never worked together. Now he reached out to me, wondering if I could help him with a task force he was leading. “This task force has the potential to
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Merciless executioner No one was neutral about Cary. In a global company that often moved slowly, Cary got stuff done. The chief executives to whom he reported loved that Cary could push projects to completion. His peers, on the other hand, were cautious. Cary was a beneficial ally, but when he started driving for results,
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Resistance is the norm Soraya leads a team of programmers who work at client sites for weeks at a time. When her vice-president asked for feedback from the clients, she had only a few anecdotes. He wanted hard data. Soraya and her team decided to create focus groups. The goal would be to bring clients
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