This week brings the winter solstice and I am reminded of the importance of light in our lives. During this solstice, try bringing more light into your life and someone elses. This can be accomplished in many ways. Here are some suggestions: 1. Light a candle. 2. Offer someone a ...

One of the great benefits of traveling to places you’ve never been before is that it gives you the chance to see things for the first time. I remember traveling to Israel for a business trip. I During my week there, I was able to visit the city of Jerusalem ...

Each Labor Day reminds me that there are just a few months left until the year is up. It’s a good time to review what I’ve accomplished in the past eight months and what’s left to do. It’s a curious time of year. We are in full harvest, reaping the ...

One of my favortie books is entitled, “The Man Who Listens to Horses” by Monty Roberts. Roberts is a real-life horse whisperer, an American original whose gentle training methods reveal the depth of communication possible between people and animals. A few years ago, my fellow coach Kate Dwyer (who’s also ...

Albert Einstein was a Nobel Prize-winning scientist whose theory of relativity changed Western concepts of time and space forever: No small accomplishment by any means. Einstein remains one of the greatest scientists who ever lived. However, many people do not know what a sensitive man he was and how, as ...

I’d like to consider the act of forgiveness. This subject came up for me just this weekend. My husband and I attended a large family celebration, and I was given opportunities to forgive some family members with whom I have had difficult relationships in the past. In one case, one ...

One of the more common illusions that people who are high achievers experience is the idea that they are indispensable. They often have a hard time working to cultivate backup and support. It’s a challenge to delegate to someone when you already know how to do something and can do ...

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 ...

This post is about 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 ...

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 necessary. Last week I talked with one of the managers on ...

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 charts and numbers. He talks about the ...

I am especially pleased to offer this post because it was written by my previous colleague Colleen Sullivan. Colleen is a writer and editor who lives here in Portland. She’ was my editor for many years and has given me much sage advice about my writing. Many thanks, Colleen! This ...