leadership

Discomfort with disagreement is not a character flaw!

Thumbnail image for Discomfort with disagreement is not a character flaw!

The power of disagreement and conflict – Part 2 Accept that your discomfort with disagreement is not a character flaw – it is just your brain doing its thing. Rather learn to use the discomfort as energy to hone your ability to engage skillfully in such conversations. It is easy to explain why conversations involving [...]

Read the full article →

Conversations that leverage the creative power of disagreements

Thumbnail image for Conversations that leverage the creative power of disagreements

The power of disagreement & conflict – Part 1 “In great teams conflict becomes productive. The free flow of conflicting ideas and feelings is crucial; for creative thinking, for discovering new solutions no one individual would have come to on its own.” Peter Senge. How do you feel about conversations that involve disagreements, difference of [...]

Read the full article →

Leading with intention and compassion

Thumbnail image for Leading with intention and compassion

In a previous post I referenced Tony Schwartz’ post (here on HBR.org) on leaders cultivating mindfulness to deal with their crazy busy world. One of these leaders is Bill Ford, Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company. The video offers some powerful leadership lessons – on how to stay on purpose in the face of challenge, [...]

Read the full article →

Leaders using mindfulness to manage their crazy, busy world

Thumbnail image for Leaders using mindfulness to manage their crazy, busy world

Frenetic. Chaotic. Relentless busy. Pressured. Words like these describe the outer world many of us work and live in. In many cases the forces combining to create this world are outside of our control. The best we can do is to somehow engage constructively with the seemingly impossible. That is, if we cannot change the [...]

Read the full article →

Conversations can create climate shifts

Thumbnail image for Conversations can create climate shifts

During team coaching sessions and leadership development workshops I often get a close-up look at the dynamics of the interactions and conversations in a team. Sometimes the team is a shining example of respectful, appreciative connections and collaborative conversations that create learning, new solutions, and focused action. Just recently I was fortunate to work with [...]

Read the full article →

Behaviours that discourage conversation

One of the key themes that emerge without fail when I work with leadership groups on the quality of their conversations is quite simple:“If we have more conversations, we will work better together.” In feedback to leaders, this is also one of the persistent themes: “Talk more with us. Have more conversations with us.” With [...]

Read the full article →

Mastering the Big C Shift

When talking to leaders and leadership teams about the ways in which the world of work and leadership have changed, I like to play with the idea of the “big C-Shift”. Quite simply, you can capture the essence of the change many leaders and organizations are struggling with by using only words starting with the [...]

Read the full article →