Stop Being Perfect at Work

I’ve been coaching executives for about six years now. Recently I was working with a leader who proudly identified himself as a perfectionist. He considered it a badge of honor that he routinely works ten to twelve hours each day. Even now, in his sixties, he has his company cellphone on him at all times…

Worried Your Coach Will Betray You? Ask Madeleine

Dear Madeleine, I am an EVP of strategy and shareholder value for a billion dollar global conglomerate. I have been working with a coach for the last six months and she has made a huge difference in terms of helping me prioritize, focus, and develop more powerful relationships. Things have been going so well that…

The Power of a Leader’s Apology

Yesterday, I was re-watching the movie Star Trek Into Darkness, and I arrived at one section toward the end where the crew of a crippled USS Enterprise was facing imminent destruction. Despite all of Captain Kirk’s pleading, the enemy continued to charge up their weapons. Faced with defeat, Captain Kirk turned to his crew and…

Are you only half the leader you could be? See if you have this limiting self-belief

In their latest post for Fast Company online, management experts Scott and Ken Blanchard share that, “One of the big mistakes we see among otherwise promising managers is the self-limiting belief that they have to choose between results and people, or between their own goals and the goals of others. We often hear these people say,…

Employees Not Accountable at Work? They probably have a good reason—3 ways to find out

Accountability, accountability, accountability.  It’s an issue that comes up time and again as leaders and HR professionals think about the one underlying challenge in their organizations that holds performance back.  It’s a silent killer that operates below the surface in organizations and it’s tough to address. A best-selling business book (and one that I had…

Does your company culture resemble this classic arcade game?

The way an organization responds to mistakes tells you a lot about its corporate culture.  In an article on innovation for Fast Company, Scott and Ken Blanchard look at the different responses they’ve seen in working with organizations. Some organizations see mistakes as opportunities to learn.  These are the organizations that create innovative environments where…