Think about your family, organizations you volunteer with, the company you work for. How would you rate communication in each of these groups? Do the members of each of these groups communicate effectively with each other, or is something lacking? We learn to communicate from a very early age, learning to listen and speak as an infant and later on learning to read and write. However, even though we learn to communicate very early in our lives, many people have difficulty communicating effectively. As an HR professional, one of the complaints I hear most often from employees and leadership within
This past weekend the pastor from my former church in Virginia stepped down from his position due to health issues. As I watched the Indoctrination Ceremony to install the new pastor online, I was overwhelmed by my pastor’s grace and gratitude. I was inspired by his authenticity regarding his circumstances. As he spoke of his need to step down, he also spoke of his calling to step up into a supporting role for the new pastor, someone that has been a part of the church and supported him for many years. He spoke of saying “no”, so that he could
Long about mid-December when you couldn’t turn on the news without hearing about the next case of pervasive sexual harassment in every facet of the working world, our phone and inbox started blowing up with requests for sexual harassment training and training resources. Almost every HR leader was given direction from the C-Suite and/or self-directed to try to take the bull by the horns and “train” people on sexual harassment before they got hit with a claim in their workplace. Whereas I think driving a culture through behavioral actions is the best way to keep sexual harassment or any other
If you missed my “Authenticity, Gratitude and Leadership” blog, check it out here. Forbes published an article titled: Great Leaders have an Attitude of Gratitude – Do You? Here is an exert that resonates with our theme: Gratitude Practice Close your eyes. Focus on a blessing in your life… something you are thankful for. See an image of this blessing in your mind’s eye. Offer a silent “thank you” to the person or object of your blessing. Relax into the feeling of gratitude. Take a deep breath. Feel more gratitude. The latest brain research shows that six doses of feeling
As I facilitated coaching sessions with several individuals the past couple of weeks, one question I asked each person was their opinion of what makes a great leader. The answers varied. However, I noticed one theme – leaders should “lead by example.” We have been talking about “authenticity” on the blog. With that in mind and reflecting on the sessions I mentioned, what is the connection between authenticity and being a great leader? In my previous blog, I focused on gratitude in relation to authenticity. So, what does that look like for leaders? These things come to mind: Leaders lead