360 Feedback? Ask This First

Most collaborative efforts have some kind of feedback process. These range from informally reviewing what worked and could be done better to sophisticated lists of qualities against which your team and your bosses score your recent behavior. We have conducted...

Pathology Versus Self-Emergence

I often get asked, “What is the difference between coaching and therapy?” 
Typically—in the medical model at least—the word therapy suggests correcting an imbalance or ailment. I realize there are countless forms and methods, many of which have a strong positive...

Personality Bias Can Hurt You

You want to work with high-performing people. The data predicts that certain personality types produce better results. So why not just test everyone? Hire the ENTJs (or whatever) and be done with it. You may have seen the recent HBO special, Persona: The Dark Truth...

Self and Team Aligned

My colleagues and I often get called in to help with team or organizational dynamics that have become difficult for the players involved. Unresolved tension, ebbing creativity, a backlog of undelivered communication, overwhelm…a thousand ways in which the smartest and...

How To Inspire Your People To Believe

People tend to create what they believe in. While we say “seeing is believing”, the reverse may be even more true. What we see happen will reflect what we believed was possible. As Carl Jung put it, “Believe it can be done, believe it can’t be done. Either way it’s...

Transforming The Authority Issue

In any kind of leadership, you will soon discover how sensitive some people are around authority. One CEO, for example, reported getting feedback that he was too dictatorial. Even though he was right most of the time, his people felt stifled by his brilliance. Another...