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Good day, team, Next to champagne and fireworks on New Year’s Eve, one of the most revered rituals of the turn of the year is to set new goals. Maybe it’s the time off around the holidays that gives us a chance to stop, reflect and resolve to improve the things we ignore when we […]

Good day, team, Knowing that this is the last coach’s challenge of the year, I’ve spent the past week trying to think of what has helped me the most in my coaching practice and my life in 2007. When all is said and done, “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz offer me the most […]

Good day, team, Many of my clients are going through organizational changes. Needless to say, it’s a difficult time of year for people to undergo changes that affect their jobs. However, many companies want to reposition themselves for the new year to increase their competitive advantage and revenue share. To do so, they institute structural […]

Good day, team, This week’s challenge comes at the request of a technology manager I work with who wanted guidance on an all-too-common scenario: How to make decisions and communicate appropriately during times of crisis and high stress. When something goes wrong—a major server outage, a system failure, or a missed deadline—how does one explain […]

Good day, team, I am especially pleased to offer this week’s challenge because it’s been written by my colleague Colleen Sullivan. Colleen is a writer and editor who lives here in Portland. She’s been my editor for the past few years and has given me much sage advice about my writing. Many thanks, Colleen! Here’s […]

Good day, team, This week’s challenge is about the power of storytelling. Consider these two scenarios. In the first, a group of people arrive at a business meeting to talk about the company’s results in the last quarter. One of the managers stands up and introduces the subject by clicking through a PowerPoint presentation showing […]

Good day, team, Here’s a challenge written last year that a client asked to see again. In a recent off-site meeting, I was working with a team that made a commitment to each other. The commitment comes from an old Italian proverb that we translated to say: Honor when present. Praise when absent. Assist when […]

Good day, team, Your challenge this week is about innovation. In a recent meeting, the guest speaker quoted a well-known retailer in Great Britain: “If you do something first, your customer thinks you do it for them. If you do something second, they think you do it for yourself.” The speaker went on to say […]

Good day, team, A quote from Pema Chodron, a Buddhist nun, has stayed with me over the past week. She writes, “The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.” The quote reminded me of a situation in which I had greatly deceived myself. I was working for a high-tech company in Silicon Valley as a […]

Good day, team, I received some requests last week to re-send this challenge that was originally sent out in January of 2006. It seems timely. Kathleen Good day, team, The challenge this week is about realizing that we are not indispensable and working to cultivate backup and support. At this time of year, we are […]