24 Jul 2018

Values and Purpose
Two happy and powerful blond women
I am waiting inside the large conference room; in front of me at least 15 rows of chairs, every seat is empty. It is 10 minutes past the official start of the workshop and nobody has yet showed up. The Firm hired my services to provide a non-mandatory resilience training to the sixty or so redundancies caused by the closure of a non strategic division. The venue is at a good distance fro...
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26 Feb 2017

Courageous Conversations, Feedback, Values and Purpose
secret of influence grooa
Not everybody is skilled in providing constructive and respectful feedback. Even with the best of intentions, many managers are unable to give useful feedback without judging, patronizing, or somehow acting superior, while making the other person feel small. When faced with this type of “feedback” (which sounds like criticism), it is natural to feel bad, but we can learn to stay calm and...
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01 Dec 2016

Feedback, Priorities / Trivial and Toxic Work, Values and Purpose
Grooa Being Present
If you are like me, you are probably very busy right now, juggling the additional work and private demands that seem to make most of us a bit more frantic than usual as we approach Christmas. Every year I try very hard to plan for additional buffer time to help me cope with the inevitable year-end urgencies; and every year I end up filling up all my buffer time and a little more. Yet t...
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29 Feb 2016

Values and Purpose
Top 2 tips for successful job interview Grooa article
Harvard Social Psychologist Amy Cuddy has been called the highest priestess of self-confidence for the self-doubters. She gives two important tips to help prepare for one of the toughest challenges that any self-doubter can face, a job interview: use power positions to boost your self-confidence and remember to show your warmth, not only your competence. First impressions are definitel...
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29 Feb 2016

Courageous Conversations, Feedback, Priorities / Trivial and Toxic Work, Values and Purpose
Sometimes we tell we are very busy with a sense of pride; if we are busy, it means we are probably important, wanted and successful. Some other times we truly suffer, we are tired, exhausted, and overworked. We truly wish we could learn to say no. This is often a trap, a form of self-deception; and we may not need to learn to say: "no", we may actually need to learn to say: "yes, and.....
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16 Dec 2015

Courageous Conversations, Engagement and Transformational Leadership, Values and Purpose
How often do we hear statements like “I do not know what it takes to convince him, I have tried everything”? Perhaps we may also ask ourselves: “I wish I knew how I can explain it so that he can understand!” Whenever I hear these statements during a coaching session, I enquire back: “so did you ask him? do you understand his concerns?” This usually brings about blank stares... It is...
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16 Dec 2015

Courageous Conversations, Engagement and Transformational Leadership, Feedback, Values and Purpose
No matter how many conflict management courses you have taken or how many negotiation books you have read, you may still find yourself in confrontational situations where tools and tactics are not as effective as they promised to be. The real issue is in our mindset. The key question to ask ourselves is: do we see disagreements and conflicts as time-wasting issues or as opportunities ...
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16 Dec 2015

Engagement and Transformational Leadership, Feedback, Mindful Leadership and Mental Safety, Values and Purpose
As managers and leaders we can do very little to motivate others. Unfortunately, we can very easily demotivate (e.g. by unfair and abusive behaviors). But we can do a lot to create something more important: Engagement and Satisfaction, which have a more sustainable effect on positivity and productivity. The true responsibility of a leader is to engage others around a common compellin...
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07 Sep 2015

Courageous Conversations, Engagement and Transformational Leadership, Feedback, Mindful Leadership and Mental Safety, Values and Purpose
During my 40 years in management, I steadily held a belief: that when you follow your passion, work will be your hobby and everything will go well; business challenges and personal frustrations can be swiftly overcome; it is easy to consistently make the sound choices that add value to the business; and you achieve happiness and satisfaction. Now, as a consultant, I realize that individu...
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20 Mar 2015

Engagement and Transformational Leadership, Feedback, Mindful Leadership and Mental Safety, Priorities / Trivial and Toxic Work, Values and Purpose
We see evidence of it every day, research supports it, and deep inside we know it to be true: happy people are more productive and tend to be more successful than sad people. But wait a minute: don't we usually say that we need to work hard to pursue success, and only then shall we be happier? Well, it seems like we got it backwards. Does success bring happiness, as many say, or is...
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