New Years Resolutions 101: Don’t put the cart before the horse

It’s a new year. Have you set your resolutions or goals?  Most of us do, but then give up on them by the end of January. One key reason I see people fail at goal setting in the leadership and career coaching we do (and for myself as well) is because we put the cart before the horse.  We set a goal and don’t have any method put in place for measuring progress towards it or achievement of it. Maybe a couple of examples will help: 1.  I’m so guilty of this, so I’ll use myself as an example first.  

Passion + Productivity = Give Back (Real Estate)

As I walk into Micor to talk with their Vice President, Dave Ponegalek, about how they demonstrate passion + productivity = give back in the work that they do, there are signs on every door in the building that say “Thank you Ms. Lydia for your 5 years of service.”   When I arrived, I saw “Ms. Lydia” as most affectionately call her, walking over from the other building with a huge cake in her hand.  Her anniversary cake.  Everyone in the company has been over at the building celebrating her five years of contribution to the company. Although Dave never

October Leadership Carnival

Welcome to the October 6, 2014 edition of the Leadership Development Carnival! Enjoy these great posts from 29 of the best leadership bloggers. Every quote is a link to tweet. Feel free to share with your networks! Lolly Daskal from http://www.lollydaskal.com/ presents Take a Hard Look in the Mirror “When the life you lead reflects your inward self, you can then truly lead others.” @LollyDaskal #leadership #leadfromwithin John Hunter from Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog presents Take Advantage of the Strengths Each Person Brings to Work   “Take maximum advantage of people’s strengths while minimizing the impact of weaknesses.”@curiouscat_com Joan Kofodimos from

3 Introverted leaders and the leadership lessons we can learn from them

We used to think leaders were born, not made. Now we know through training, coaching and mentoring the skills needed to be an effective leader can be learned.  However, there are certain leadership situations, company cultures and team dynamics lend well to certain types of personality traits (“born” characteristics) that individuals possess that make a person more effective in their leadership role.  One of the most common personality continuums discussed today is introversion/extraversion. A rundown of the dynamic can be seen here:  Orientation of energy E     EXTRAVERSION Energized when you are with people  Talk out your ideas First

3 Tips for Growing Your Career

Career growth and transition is an area that I’m not only interested in discussing, it’s something I’m personally invested in as well. I have had some great experiences, and many of the career growth opportunities at first seemed to be due to chance. As time goes on, I have become more strategic about seeking and selecting opportunities for growth and transition. Today we’ll look at both sides of the coin and some strategies you can implement to improve your own results. Growing Your Career My career started at the ripe old age of 12. I was working for my parents’