Our Company Blog
Winter 2013
I recently had an opportunity to speak with a handful of CEOs who run San Diego's most successful companies.* There were seven common actions among these enlightened, high energy CEOs that have helped contribute to their success, innovation and rapid growth, despite the tough economic challenges of the past several years. More...
Fall 2012
"If you want to know why your people are not performing well, step up to the mirror and take a peek."
-Ken Blanchard
I started a recent talk to a group of CEOs with this quote. I told that them that even though they would find the information I was going to share with them interesting and helpful, the real growth and ability to take the company to the next level would come from being open to changing themselves. More...
Summer 2012
As an organizational psychologist, I'm always searching for innovative ideas that will support and encourage people in living at their most creative and fulfilled peaks, both personally and professionally. Recently at a Room to Read San Diego event, I was delighted to meet someone who does just that -- publisher, Bettie Youngs. Her work is centered on helping people creatively express their life stories. I instinctively knew that she would have many pearls of wisdom to share – and I was right. More...
Spring 2012
I went skiing recently and as I was (mostly) swooshing down the mountain, it occurred to me that our approach for mastering sports often coincides with and is a metaphor for how we achieve our life goals. We can be cautious or reckless, hopeless or hopeful, confident or self-doubting, too easy or too hard on ourselves. Whether learning to ski or achieving a life goal, we go through a similar mental process – it starts with a learning curve, followed by challenge, risk, pain and sacrifice…until we're skiing from the top of the mountain. My experience learning how to excel in skiing helped me see that there are life lessons that we can apply from sports – especially as we work our way through the awkward beginner stage of any endeavor. More...
Winter 2012
Each new year, many Americans resolve to change something that will help improve their lives in some way. These well-intentioned resolutions start out positive enough. "I want to spend more quality time with my kids," "I want to lose weight," I want to be a better leader..." And the list goes on. You've all heard it in January; and then we don't really hear about the resolution again… More...
Fall 2011
Earlier this year, I wrote an article about Running Toward the Lion's Roar and Preparing to Face our Biggest Fears. Well, I recently met a San Diegan who did exactly just that and for a wonderful cause. On August 5, Blair Cannon swam 21 miles across the Catalina Channel to raise money for Monarch School, our country's only public K-12 school for homeless children and the Great Friends Foundation Scholarship Program for children of the military in San Diego. More...
Summer 2011
“You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.” — Jack London, American author, journalist and social activist.
I recently facilitated a workshop on time management and one of the challenges my participants shared was that there is too much to do in their day-to-day lives to have the downtime that is required for getting into “creative mode.” Since so much of our planning and innovation and thus effective time management, comes from brainstorming ideas then putting them into action, I thought this was a worthy topic to explore.
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Spring 2011
I recently came back from a business trip and was so surprised to find that my formerly green Texas Lilac plants had bloomed into a beautiful lavender color. There they were, greeting me in my driveway, inviting my inspiration, just in time for my Spring blog. I started thinking about how many things we nurture that actually turn into the outcome we had envisioned…and how nice it is when the ideas we plant today do actually bloom tomorrow. More...
Winter 2010
As we wrap up 2010 with parties and planning for 2011 projects, it may also be a good time to consider what you really want to accomplish in the New Year. I’m not talking about the typical list of well-intentioned resolutions that are often forgotten by February. I’m talking about reflecting on where you would like to be more effective in your life, but aren’t, for fear of trying new behaviors. More...
Fall 2010
A client of mine recently told me he had had it up to here with his colleagues’ complaining. Though he was able to commiserate with the colleagues, he felt exasperated about having the same “vent sessions” over and over again. “What do I tell these guys when they keep complaining about the same issues? I don’t want to turn into one of those people who just doles out advice, but it’s also becoming a waste of my time to sit there and continually listen to the same messages.” More...
Summer 2010
I’ve observed that one of the most common challenges among people is difficulty asserting themselves. This applies to college students in the classes I teach all the way to senior leaders of organizations. A leader may want more from an employee; an employee wants more equity on group projects; a college student wants more peace and fewer visitors from his roommate. More...
Spring 2010
Leaders agree vehemently that their behavior and communication sets a tone for their employees and they really should pay attention to the messages they are sending...yet they often forget to. More...
Winter 2009
In our American culture, people want things done yesterday. The thing about change is that if you want to create new ways of doing things in your organization with behaviors that become part of the culture (and not a passing phase) you must invest the time and resources into the process. I can’t tell you how many employees I have spoken to over the years who looked at me suspiciously and wondered (sometimes out loud) what “flavor of the week” corporate was serving now. More... |
