No is the new yes: Workplace communication must-have

Nancy Reagan just say no

When I see something three times in three days I figure it will be useful to say something about it. What’s dropped by so often? No. It started Friday. I was talking with a dear friend and colleague I lunch with regularly for peer coaching.  (BTW, if you lead anything – including your own life […]

Soul of wit, etc.: A brief-but-mighty workplace lesson, learned at home

It is not in my nature to be brief. Fortunately, I have a dear friend and colleague who does a much better job.  After hearing me describe in detail a big, hairy change challenge my partner and I are taking on together, she grew silent. “This isn’t a coaching conversation,” she said, “but two questions come […]

Leadership development: Listening like Robert Redford (and how it makes you taller)

Floating down Utah’s gorgeous Green River about 10 years ago, I learned something about listening that has stuck with me. Our boatman had brought his wife along on the trip with him; they were celebrating their 1st anniversary. She was standup-comic-calibre witty, and worked at Sundance. When I asked her what it was like to […]

Speed PLUS depth: Action inquiry, leadership that transforms

A few weeks ago, I promised to return to explore Bill Torbert’s radical, useful thinking about fast and slow, speed and substance – and how to use a few seconds of conversation to propel deeply substantive action. Here’s part II of that series.  I’ll start with a story well-worth repeating, from the early pages of […]