Dansby Swanson: Experiencing the Full Range of Emotions

Brené Brown has changed the way we think about vulnerability. She has numerous best-selling books, one of the most popular Ted Talks ever, and even has her own Netflix special. Almost single-handedly, she has sparked a revolution about how people process painful emotions like shame, grief, sadness, and anger.  She is the modern-day face of vulnerability. People around the world look to her for…

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Feedback Is a Funny Thing with Gerard Coops Ph.D.

On a recent visit to our N2Growth EMEAA headquarters in Rotterdam, Netherlands, I visited with my new friend Gerard Coops, Managing Director of HuReMa Consulting, to discuss his views on leadership as it relates to giving feedback and providing coaching. Interview Summary JH: Leaders providing proper feedback to their team members has been a topic of conversation for endless amounts of time. Why…

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Failing Forward: Brad Smith, Board Chair of Intuit Shares His Perspective

Let's face it; we all fail from time to time.  But how come some people seem to "fail forward" even when times are tough?  Brad D. Smith has a unique perspective. During one of the most turbulent times in Silicon Valley history, Brad D. Smith was the steady-handed, innovative, and always resilient President and CEO of Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU).  During his decade long tenure, the stock price…

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The Engagement Secret of Great Leaders

Show me a great leader and I'll show you a talented storyteller. Leadership and storytelling go hand-in-hand. In fact, leaders who lack the ability to leverage the power and influence of storytelling are missing the very essence of what accounts for compelling leadership- the story. Give me a few minutes and allow me to share this message with you - it may just change your life. If you’ve ever…

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The Difference Between Great Leaders And Posers

What is the difference between great leaders and posers? This may sound harsh, but the truth is I’ve witnessed far too many people in positions of leadership that wouldn’t recognize an opportunity if it hit them squarely in the face. If you cannot recognize, attract, and acquire opportunities you should not be in a leadership position. Just this week I’ve observed people in leadership roles who…

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6 Communication Habits of Extraordinary Leaders (and How They Manage Conflict)

Like him or not, in my view President Obama is the epitome of a master communicator. Next time you see him on television notice his use of communication strategies including body language, voice inflection, gestures, and the intuitive ability to establish and maintain trust. Communication is critically important for personal and professional effectiveness. In my experience as an executive coach…

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The Language of Leadership: 5 Actions To Transform Performance

Our organizational world is constituted and shaped by language. It is also accessed and made available to us through language. Language acts as the lens through which we can see and understand the challenges presented, and subsequently, make sense of and provide solutions for. In 1973, Salvador Allende, Chile's democratically elected president, died in a bloody coup. Fernando Flores, who was then…

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Clear Counsel – How Sweet the Sound

When you want to know how your leadership is working--ask.  Years ago, I learned this lesson when I received some unsolicited advice that challenged my professionalism, served as a wakeup call, and changed the arc of my career.  The counsel came from a subordinate as I was leaving an important leadership position but it would have come earlier if I had only asked. I was very interested in my…

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Stop Negotiating – It Doesn’t Work

Negotiation isn't all it's cracked up to be. In fact, I believe this to be an inherently flawed business practice. Negotiation is not an art to be mastered, rather it's a sloppy approach to be avoided. While many consultants, authors, and trainers have made personal fortunes teaching the finer points of negotiation, it is my belief they have accomplished little more than to create legions of…

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First Impressions

Do first impressions really matter? While they shouldn't, the reality is that they most certainly do. As the old saying goes "you only get one chance to make a first impression," and often times it is the perception of appearance that determines whether or not you are even afforded the opportunity to get up to bat. The truth is most people when first meeting someone will quickly attempt to size…

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5 Communication Tips for Leaders

Regardless of your station in life, both what you say, and how you say it matters. It matters to an even greater degree for those in positions of leadership. They simply don’t have the luxury of choosing their words in a cavalier fashion, so I'd like to offer five communication tips for leaders. Heres the thing- whether in a written or oral form your vocabulary matters. Few things make an…

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10 Communication Tips for Leaders

Want to lead more effectively? Communicate more effectively. Communication skills are so essential that it's simply impossible to become a great leader without being a great communicator. While developing an understanding of great communication skills is easier than one might think, being able to appropriately draw upon said skills when the chips are down is not always as easy as one might hope…

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Great Leaders Leverage Great Messaging

Great leaders understand the power, influence, and leverage created by great messaging. Do you ever find yourself sitting back and marveling at those leaders who always seem to have the right thing to say? Contrast this with the feelings you have when you hear an awful sound-bite that makes a leader look either uninformed or unintelligent. The difference between the two aforementioned examples is…

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Buzzwords Aren’t All Bad

Here's an "out of the box" idea - buzzwords aren't all bad, and when used properly in business-speak, they can actually be valuable. The problem is that many people tend to tune out anyone who chooses to use them immediately. The vitriol is so intense that many have taken to trivializing anyone who utters these buzzwords as an incompetent, uneducated, and completely inferior corporate citizen.…

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You Can’t Argue With Crazy

Do your workplace communications ever feel as if you're spending most of your time attempting to assuage the concerns of the irrational? Over the years I've simply come to the conclusion that many otherwise savvy business people have yet to grasp - you can't argue with crazy. We've all heard the saying "pick your battles," and in my experience, one of the most futile battles that can be waged is…

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5 Steps to Better Communication

While it would be nice to have the oratory skill of Winston Churchill or to possess the ability to write like T.S. Eliot you don't have to be a polished public speaker or a prolific writer to be an effective communicator. It can take years of training to master the art of weaving together great word pictures in either written or oral form. While I suggest to all my clients (regardless of position…

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