So, what makes a great coach great?
This week we are looking at the idea of self-coaching and then teaching others to self-coach themselves. According to Dr. Daniel Friedland, author of Leading Well from Within, it begins with asking inspiring questions.
What is the desired outcome? What am I here to learn? How can I best serve?
Learning to ask ourselves questions is at the heart of self-coaching. Doing so elevates … continue reading
“The most important decisions that business people make are not ‘what’ decisions but ‘who’ decisions. Life is people. It’s not about achievements and awards. It’s about who you spend your life with.” – Jim Collins… continue reading
So, what exactly is leadership anyway?
Let’s agree to skip the boring text book definitions. In one ear, out the other…
Not management. Not being a manager. That’s an important skill. But, management is not leadership.
Ready?
Leadership is about the ability to influence others.
I like it because it’s simple. And true. Think about it at a gut level. Who do you consider a leader and why? Think of a … continue reading
The answer is neither, according to the research of Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert.
In his popular TED talk, Dan tells us that if it happened over three months ago, major life traumas have little impact on our happiness.
In fact, his research shows external circumstances predict only 10% of our overall happiness.
This week we’ve been looking at some of the lessons from Shawn Achor’s book The Happiness Advantage… continue reading
When faced with adversity, we can:
1. Get stuck (scientific term…) and circle around where we currently are
2. Make it Worse (we’ve all been there…)
3. View the setback as an opportunity for growth
This third path is one of life’s great success strategies. Instead of being paralyzed by obstacles, we are energized by the challenge and seize the opportunity to grow.
This week we are looking at some … continue reading
In his book The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor shares the research of Daniel Khaneman that shows us we don’t always act in rational, logical ways.
When threatened, we are hard-wired to “fight or flight,” also known as “emotional high-jacking.” This instinct serves us well when our house is on fire and we need to make a quick escape. But not so much when our spouse makes a comment and … continue reading
One of the key learnings from the Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor’s terrific book on positive psychology, involves the dual nature of the brain.
The newest part of our brain is the pre-frontal cortex or PFC, also known as “the thinker.” The PFC provides us with the ability to think logically, to make decisions, to plan for future, to regulate our emotions, and to connect with others via our social skills. For … continue reading
What’s more important? What we do each day? Or, how we think about what we do each day?
The research is clear. How we think about our daily activities, much more so than the activities themselves, defines our reality.
In the Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor shares a 1979 study conducted by Ellen Langer in which a group of 75-year old men spent one week at a retreat center living … continue reading
“I want to discuss why a company exists in the first place. In other words, why are we here? I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money. While this is an important result of a company’s existence, we have to go deeper and find the real reasons for our being. As we investigate this, we inevitably come to the conclusion that a group of people get together and exist as … continue reading
Getting up an hour earlier will change your life, says Hal Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning.
That’s been my experience. No BS. Big thank you, Hal!
Let’s look at my current morning routine and the thinking behind it.
Step 1: Make my bed (5-minutes). Start the day with a check mark – done! (Thank you, Admiral McRaven!)
Step 2: Push-ups and sit-ups (5-minutes). The physical benefits are great but the … continue reading
