Decision Making
Why decision making is so effective when it is located where the knowledge and expertise lie, rather than where the pay grade is appropriate.
I come from a lineage of hand-standers.
I come from a lineage of hand-standers. My grandfather could still do a headstand when he was 93. My father was a Canadian national gymnast in the 1940s. He used to walk around on his hands when he was 50. I didn’t think there was anything particularly unusual about this until my friends came over. […]
Psychological Safety: It Starts With Self-Awareness
Your first and most important responsibility as a leader is to create a safe environment where people can bring their whole self to their work. So how do you know if people feel safe? How do you know whether people fully trust you? How do you know if people are secretly looking for a job […]
Engagement and the Four Human Needs
To get your team inspired and engaged, to foster loyalty, and get the most out of people under your care, you need to work with them to meet four fundamental needs. People need to feel safe. They need to feel physically and psychologically safe. They need to know it’s safe to tell the truth, be […]
There’s a principle in boxing that timing beats speed and speed beats power.
There’s a principle in boxing that timing beats speed and speed beats power. Whenever I’m up against my sparing partner and I feel less power, and I “try harder” to be more powerful it never ends well. It weakens my power, decreases my speed, and throws my timing way off. I’ll never outpower someone who […]
SAGE Forum
After thirty years of requests from people who want to go deeper with my teachings and find support in an authentic community, I have helped to co-create the SAGE Forums. These Forums go beyond the benefits gained from a presentation or Academy. A SAGE Forum creates a community to support authentic difference makers and help […]
Pruning: Growth Depends on Letting Go Of The Unwanted Or Unessential
We have a thirty-foot rubber tree growing in the middle of our living room. About every six months we have to get up on the ladder and cut back the branches that push into the ceiling and the window. Leading is akin to gardening, where we co-create an environment around us that enables the flourishing […]
The Law Of The Echo
Years ago, when I was first teaching about accountability, a young, enthused leader approached me. “Your philosophy of bringing an ownership, self-responsible mindset to work reminds me of the Law of the Echo.” “What’s the Law of the Echo?” I asked her. “It means that whatever you bring to the world will come back to […]
How to Fix an Accountability Problem
“We need more accountability on our team!” It’s easy to turn to this all-too-common refrain when numbers are down or team members aren’t meeting expectations. But when you announce, “we need more accountability,” your team actually hears, “We’re failing, and it’s your fault.” No one is inspired by being blamed. While there may be times […]
How to Attract and Retain Talent in a Labor Shortage
After a recent team meeting, I realized I have not been practicing what I preach. We have been so busy these days taking care of clients, filling programs, training SAGE Forum facilitators, keeping our website current, developing marketing initiatives and more – that I have neglected to ensure that we are achieving the authentic alignment […]
