Power Intelligence:
Insights on Power and LeadershipTo Be Powerful, You Have to Feel Powerful: The Critical Components of Personal Power
One of the most important things we can do in a position of power is to develop our personal power. Without it, we’re at risk of misusing, or even abusing, our power. Have you ever: Avoided giving critical feedback because it felt awkward and hard? Been asked a...
How to Make Working from Home Work For Everyone
Building trust, creating inclusion and fostering collaboration on virtual teams. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 1 in 5 worked remotely (20%). Now, an astonishing 71% of all workers work from home. And very likely, that number will remain high as many companies—and many...
Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity: 4 Ways to Make Them Stick
Inclusion is more than a policy or promise. It’s a set of behaviors that must be enacted daily, moment by moment, in all of our interactions. What does this mean? It means treating inclusion not as a stand-alone issue, but as a key competency vital for creating a...
5 Challenges to Effective Leadership
Effective leadership requires the ability to use power effectively. And most ineffective leadership stems from a leader's misuse of power. Why? Because power comes with the means for its own misuse. And this makes it easy to fall into its traps for personal gain. Yet...
When is it Time to Walk Away?
While some changes are hard, they are also obvious: we definitely want to quit smoking, or eat healthier food, or start exercising more. We want to learn a new skill, change jobs, or show up more boldly at work or in relationships. But some change is less obvious. And...
Using Your Power for Good
Last year, I was invited to facilitate a day of learning for a learning organization that had been together for close to 40 years. I was set to walk into a room of people I had never met, who have known each other for decades, had already been together for a whole day...
It’s Gossip, Even if You Don’t Know it.
What workplace behavior rates as the most annoying and distressing? Gossip. Gossip comes up, again and again, as a central contributing factor to workplace toxicity. Gossip is corrosive to workplace culture. It eats away at trust, undermines teamwork, and...
Leadership Isn’t a Role, It’s a Series of Behaviors
We know there is a deep connection between culture and organizational outcomes. When culture is done right, it unleashes tremendous energy, harnessing a diverse set of talents towards shared organizational goals. But a culture that is hostile and dysfunctional...
Building Trust Means Breaking It First
I am often asked by leaders how to build greater trust on their teams. Like any coach or facilitator, I know a lot of tools and methods for building trust. But the truth is, nothing builds trust better than what happens after you break it. Trust develops over time,...
How Flat Organizations Become Toxic
Six months into her new job, my client was frustrated, depressed, and debating whether to leave. It was a stark contrast to how she felt just six months earlier. At first, Alicia had jumped at the opportunity to be part of the marketing team at a dynamic and promising...