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Power Intelligence:
Insights on Power and Leadership
The Surprising Truth About Feeling Powerless
“I sit here all day trying to persuade people to do the things they ought to have sense enough to do without my persuading them. ... That's all the powers of the President amount to.” Although this quotation is attributed to Harry Truman, any President...
Helping Leaders Manage in the #MeToo Era
Last week I was coaching Mike, a Senior Vice President, and someone known throughout his company as a diversity champion. He’s managed and mentored many women and minorities, and played a central role in advancing their careers. In the middle of our conversation, he...
3 Lessons We Learned About Power in 2018
The ugly side of power was on full display in 2018. In fact, it was a banner year for the misuse and abuse of power. We witnessed a parade of powerful men resign or being fired over sexual abuse and misconduct. We saw the popularity of the “strong man autocrat”...
Power Dynamics: Why the Open Door Isn’t
Several years ago I coached a leader and her team regarding insider-outsider power dynamics. They had hired two new team members and thought everything was going well. The new hires had great skills and good attitudes; they were easy to get along with and seemed to...
Power Perception: Seeing Through the Lens of Power
The hardest part of leadership is understanding that you are not what you are, but what you’re perceived to be by others. In the classic fable “The Emperor’s New Clothes” no one dares tell the King that he is naked, except for the lowest ranking person in the...
Building A Better Workplace Culture
Healthy workplace culture is vital to an organizations success. But whether in the form of subtle hostility or overt rudeness, sarcasm, gossip, or inappropriate jokes, incivility continues to be a major challenge in the workplace—and in society in general. Research on...
5 Ways to Cultivate Your Personal Power
When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everyone will respect you. –Lao Tzu As an executive coach, I’ve had plenty of experience helping clients deal with ineffective leadership in the form of an insecure boss. This isn’t just a boss...
Power Intelligence®: The Link Between Compliance and Commitment
As the workforce gets more diverse, and as awareness of workplace problems such as harassment, discrimination, and exclusion expands, compliance training has exploded. Workforce magazine quotes an employment lawyer turned HR consultant who says she has witnessed a...
Building Your Base of Power
In the 2018 Winter Olympics at PyeongChang, there was a wonderfully unexpected moment when Ester Ledecka from the Czech Republic, ranked 43rd in World Cup standings, stunned the world and herself by winning gold in the Women’s Super G. Ledecka, skiing on a pair of...
Mind the Gap
Humans are often irrational. And why shouldn’t we be? After all, reason is just one of our many cognitive abilities. But sometimes irrationality is troublesome. Consider this foible: what we feel, we tend to think of as real. For instance, if I was on a subway and the...