NEWSLETTER  ARCHIVES Missed a copy of our newsletter? On this page you can find the most recent editions we've published. Click on the date of the issue you'd like to read.  If you're not on our subscriber list click on the link below to sign up. Join our Mailing List! Do YouUse Humor as a Way of Being Serious? April 2014 Newsletter Humor is a leadership competency, but many people in leadership positions are unskilled at it. They may be too serious, have problems telling a joke, don’t know how to use humor appropriately, or maybe just appear humorless. Those who are skilled at using humor tend to have a good sense of humor, can laugh at themselves and with others, and use humor appropriately to ease tensions. Is Being "Lonely at the Top" a Way of Leadership? March 2014 Newsletter Being personable is a leadership characteristic and strength. It means being able to put others at ease and relate to a variety of people. Being skilled at being approachable means relating well to all kinds of people – up, down, sideways, inside and outside of the organization. It means building constructive and effective relationships. Importantly, it can also mean using diplomacy and tack, which can be beneficial in defusing high-tension situations. With Finite Resources and Infinite Needs, Do You Navigate Your Time Wisely? March 2014 Newsletter Being personable is a leadership characteristic and strength. It means being able to put others at ease and relate to a variety of people. Being skilled at being approachable means relating well to all kinds of people – up, down, sideways, inside and outside of the organization. It means building constructive and effective relationships. Importantly, it can also mean using diplomacy and tack, which can be beneficial in defusing high-tension situations. How Do You Handle Situations When the Solutions Are Ambiguous? January 2014 Newsletter As a manager or leader, we don's always have all the information we need to make critical decisions. In many cases we face ambiguity. Ambiguity is about doubtfulness, uncertainty, or vagueness/ Many times leadership is about not knowing yet making the best of the moment without assurances about what the outcome might be. Do You Say What You Relly Think or Always Try to Keep Things in Harmony? November 2013 Newsletter This issue focuses on Enneagram personality Type 9, The Peacemaker. Peacemakers are the most basic or undistorted personality type. They have a problem with priorities and find it difficult to change directions or shift attention to what is most important. Peacemakers are the most basic or undistorted personality type. They have a problem with priorities and find it difficult to change directions or shift attention to what is most important. Are You Annoyed by Whiners but Protective of the Noble Weak? October 2013 Newsletter This issue focuses on Enneagram personality Type 8, The Challenger. Challengers enjoy taking on challenges themselves as well as giving others opportunities that challenge them to exceed in some way. Eights have enormous willpower and vitality, and they feel most alive when exercising these capacities in the world. Do You Lighten Up Unhappy People and Get Them to See the Bright Side? September 2013 Newsletter This issue focuses on Enneagram personality Type 7, The Enthusiast. Enthusiasts crave the stimulation of new ideas, people, and expectations. They also avoid pain and create elaborate plans for the future that allow them to keep all their options open. Before You Act, Do You Focus On What Can Go Wrong? August 2013 Newsletter This issue focuses on personality Type 6, The Loyalist. Loyalists are motivated by their desire to alleviate risk. They are also tenacious in their loyalty, defenders of their faith, and protectors of their traditions. Sixes are the most loyal to their friends and to their beliefs, as well as to ideas and systems. How Do You Communicate With the Intellectual, Innovative, Quiet Type? July 2013 Newsletter This issue focuses on personality Type 5, The Investigator. Investigators thirst for knowledge and use emotional detachment as a way of keeping involvement with others to a minimum. They tend to be introverted, needing time alone for reading and thinking. Are You Seen As Difficult and Contradictory - and You Like that About Yourself? June 2013 Newsletter This issue focuses on Ennneagram Personality Type 4, The Individualist. Individualists are motivated by the need to experience their feelings, to be understood, to search for the meaning of life, and to avoid being ordinary. Do You Engage Only in Activities You are Good at in Order to Avoid Failure? May 2013 Newsletter In this issue I will discuss personality Type 3, The Achiever. The Achiever is a motivator, a status seeker and one who is driven and image conscious. Achievers feel the need to succeed, and they are energetic, optimistic, and self-assured. Are You Meddling or Just Trying to be Helpful? April 2013 Newsletter In this issue, I will discuss personality Type 2, The Helper. The Helper is the Caring, Interpersonal Type: Demonstrative, Generous, People-Pleasing, and Possessive. Helpers are primarily motivated by the desire to meet the needs of others. They take pride in being needed by the team, and in helping make others successful. They are the most people-oriented of the Enneagram types, focusing on relationships and feeling best about themselves when they are meaningfully engaging with others. Do You Think The World is Imperfect And Needs Attention? March 2013 Newsletter In this issue, I will discuss personality Type 1, The Reformer. The Reformer is the Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and Perfectionistic. Reformers have a strong sense of right and wrong and are ethical and conscientious. They are well organized and have high standards, which can make them critical perfectionists. Why Do You Behave the Way You Do? February 2013 Newsletter When we are born, we possess the essence of who we are, and as life happens, we find a way to relate to it. Early in life, we learned to feel safe and to cope with family situations and personal circumstances. We did this by developing a strategy based on natural talents and abilities. AreYou Flexible in The Method You Use to Handle Conflict? January 2013 Newsletter Conflict is inevitable, that’s the bad news. The good news is that no meaningful change can take place without it, making it a powerful motivator for change. Therefore, it is important for us to learn the basics of conflict so when we face it, we can make it constructive instead of destructive. What is the greatest gift you can give yourself? December 2012 Newsletter I tell my friends and clients that it’s not bad being self-employed, if you have a good boss. That has to be one of the best advantages of being self-employed, along with being able to resolve staff conflicts quickly, never disappointing your co-workers when arriving late or leaving early, and being able to put an end to office gossip. Does Being In A Position Of Leadership Make You A Leader? November 2012 Newsletter Now that the election is over, we can settle into a more normal routine without the constant bombardment of negative ads, false accusations, and hyperbole. Regardless of your political affiliation, you have to ask yourself if the elected officials actually possess the skills and traits to call themselves leaders. Being in a position of leadership does not make them leaders. Can Emotional Intelligence Make Us Smarter Than Intellect Alone? October 2012 Newsletter To the ancient Romans sensus communis meant common sense, humanity, and sensibility, which included the full use of the senses, the heart, and intuition. Today’s business runs on brainpower, but to compete effectively it must incorporate another important aspect of intelligence often untapped. Is It Conflict or Constructive Discontent? September 2012 Newsletter Managing conflict in the workplace is an important leadership skill. People often think of conflict as fighting. It might be, but fighting is only one way of dealing with conflict. Conflict is the condition in which people’s concerns appear to be incompatible. A concern is anything people care about. In an organization, people’s concerns might center on such things as Can You Outwit Your Demon? August 2012 Newsletter In 1938 Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, wrote the book Outwitting the Devil. It was kept from being published, until recently, because his family and advisers considered it too controversial. It offers a look at how we turn our fates over to the forces that become our self-made obstacles to reaching our goals: fear, procrastination, anger, and jealousy. In the book Hill conducts an interview with the Devil, and given it was written when we were emerging from the depression, it has a relevance to our current economic and political uncertainties. WHICH SIDE OF YOUR SELF WILL BE DOMINANT Think Small, be small. THINK BIG, BE CONFIDENT! July 2012 Newsletter Most people, at least those I know, want to be successful in their marriage and family life as well as their job. It does not take intelligence or innate habits, but it does require us to learn how to think and behave in ways that get us there. One way to do that is to build confidence and destroy the fear that holds us back. Thinking is about thinking that you are what you think you are. If You Lead Them They Will Follow June 2012 Newsletter When I left my last real job (one that pays you every two weeks) over seven and one-half years ago, some fellow employees came to my office to wish me well. They expressed their well wishes: "good luck, " "well miss you," "it won't be the same without you," etc. Effective Communications Reduces Workplace Stress May 2012 Newsletter One of the contributing factors of workplace stress is ineffective communications. We may not realize it, but the way we communicate is one of the chief causes of stress related problems. Consequently, one of the ways to reduce uncertainty in the workplace is to improve our communication skills. Cinco de Mayo Message: Ubunto! Ubuntu is derived from the African Bantu language and roughly translates as "I am because of what we all are together." Enjoy the richness of celebrating not just your culture,but those of others'. Embrace cultural diversity. April 2012 Newsletter Thrive or die On Your Company's Culture Organizational culture has been defined as "the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization, and that control the way they interact with each other and with outside stakeholders and/or customers. March 2012 Newsletter How do you deal with ambiguity? The word "ambiguous" has its origins in the early 1520's from the latin word imbiguus, "having double meaning, shifting, changeable, doubtful." Does this sound like some of the people you've been around or have worked with? People who are ambiguous are typically not comfortable with change or uncertainty. February 2012 Newsletter Many executives and business owners tend to focus on the day to day operations of the organization, forgetting to take the time to look in the mirror to reflect on what behaviors they have developed and what changes they can make to improve their overall well-being and performance. They sometimes find that they have stopped growing in their roles and struggle to get help for their own self-development. Sometimes they have been successful and need to take on larger challenges or roles. Other times they simply need a sounding board or someone to help them hone their skills in the talent they already have. January 2012 Newsletter An important part of leadership development is the ability to maintain a healthy body and mind. Leaders who stay physically and mentally healthy can avoid burnout and maintain physical and mental well-being. Just as exercise and proper nutrition are essential for optimal health, so is sleep. A good night's sleep is often the best way to cope with stress, solve problems or recover from an illness. Yet many individuals try to sleep as little as possible, even bragging about how little sleep they can get by on. December 2011 Newsletter Every day we communicate. We talk with the intent of conveying information to a person or persons. But are we getting our point across? Are there more effective ways of communicating that give us the advantage of accomplishing what we want to get out of the conversation? Being an effective communicator is a strong trait of an effective leader. We should learn to understand our communication preferences and learn to adapt it to the different styles of those we communicate with. November 2011 Newsletter A critical role of leadership is to recognize the dreams of those you lead and inspire them to achieve their visions, their dreams. October 2011 Newsletter What's really important about the work you do? How will others remember you? The question is not whether or not you are leaving a legacy, but what kind of legacy you will leave. September 2011 Newsletter What's your personality style? Your personality style has a big influence on where you want to go. If you know who you are you can create a foundation that gives you focus and strength in challenging times. August 2011 Newsletter Have you met your gremlin? It's always there, your inner critic, negative voice and disempowering entity. It's sole purpose is to rob you of your vibrancy and competitiveness, to make you miserable. July 2011 Newsletter Many people confuse management with leadership. Each is distinct and different, but not necessarily better. While both are necessary, it seems like more companies are over managed and under led. June 2011 Newsletter Leadership development is the focal point of organizations today. A changing environment and a desire to understand results and what motivates people makes Action Learning a preferred way to develop leaders. May 2011 Newsletter As we go through life we carry six suitcases with the possessions we need on our journey. Of all of them the most important is the sixth, which contains everything we need. This sixth suitcase is essential in order to effectively use the contents of the other five. April 2011 Newsletter Occasionally we have to go beyond our traditional five basic senses and go with our "gut feeling." This 'gut feeling" is really the powerful sixth sense called "intuition", which is about connecting with your heart as well as your head. March 2011 Newsletter The willingness to change oneself or one's organization for the better is an important leadership characteristic. February 2011 Newsletter Change is necessary to become better. Overcoming challenges in golf and leadership requires us to accept and make change. January 2011 Newsletter Character is not about personality. character is about what we stand for when our public persona is stripped away. It takes physical and mental skills to be a golfer as well as to be a leader. December '10 Newsletter Effective leaders must have good leadership skills, just as good golfers must practice good course management skills. Good judgment on the course and in leadership requires that we know our strengths and weaknesses and that we continue to increase our knowledge. November '10 Newsletter Keeping accurate score is essential in golf and leadership. Can you lead effectively without adequate and accurate information? Perhaps, but you will be a much stronger leader if you have the right information. Golf and leadership are numbers games; both leaders and golfers are interested in numbers. The golfer is interested in the golf score, the organizational leader is interested in data. To be useful the numbers must be kept accurately. October '10 Newsletter Leading in a different way and not always following the status quo shows a leaders ability. The difference between managers and leaders is that managers manage a process, leaders look for better ways to get the same result. September '10 Newsletter Communication is important in motivation. In golf we use a variety of clubs, depending on the situation. In leadership, motivation requires a wide array of communication skills. August '10 Newsletter What drives us to embrace vision and alignment in golf and leadership? Motivation. The ability to motivate is a significant difference between a manager and a leader. July '10 Newsletter In business it is difficult to align to the vision. In golf and in leadership, vision without alignment won't achieve par on the course, nor achieved the desired results in management. June '10 Newsletter Developing a leadership vision is essential in leadership as well as the game of golf. The first challenge of our golf course focuses on VISION. May '10 Newsletter There are many parallels between life and golf. How we react to our game on the golf course can be very similar to how we react to challenges in life. This issue discusses the parallels to leadership and golf. April '10 Newsletter Studies show that an overwhelming number of people leave their jobs because they do not feel appreciated. How we give positive praise is important. Do it in a way that benefits your employees the most. March '10 Newsletter An organization's culture guides the way employees and employee groups in an organization interact with one another and with its clients and customers. February '10 Newsletter My clients occasionally ask me what I consider to be the most important leadership characteristic. There are many, but perhaps the one thing leaders must have is authenticity. This month's article is about this important leadership characteristic. January '10 Newsletter It seems like every year at this time we can't help but wonder where the time has gone. This month's article is about how to get a better handle on this precious resource. Join our Mailing List!