Experts Blogs

What prevents us from making the changes we know will make us more effective leaders? Great question. I may be the only executive educator who actually measures whether the participants in my leadership development courses actually do what I teach--and then measures if they are seen as becoming more effective leaders. At the end of my sessions, I ask leaders (who have received 360-degree feedback) to follow up with their co-workers and ask for ongoing ideas about how they can continue to become more effective. A year later, about 70% do some version of this recommended follow-up (as reported by...

You (and I) make assumptions many times each day. Even though some of them may be backed by factual science, most of the time, those assumptions are just plain wrong. Don't let your assumptions limit your possibilities. "Assumptions are the death of possibilities." James Mapes Humans can't fly to the moon.The human body can't run a mile under 4 minutes.Women are too emotional to be leaders.The sun revolves around the earth (which is flat).Telephones are only for talking and listening.Animal species never change.Black people are inferior to white people.I (Margie) can never run 10 miles. Never ever. Some of these assumptions...

If I had 6 hours to cut down a tree, I'd spend 4 sharpening my axe." Abraham LincolnVery successful people are those who think about what matters to them and take the time to be purposeful about their actions and vigilant about their emotions. What about you? Are you living today by default or design? Recently, just after I'd sat down to work on my next book, I heard a rumble. I initially thought there must be someone (a really BIG someone) walking on the floor above me. But then, as the rumble continued and the entire house began to shake,...

People don't intimidate you. You allow yourself to be intimidated by people. There's a distinct difference. It all boils down to the assumptions you make about what they are thinking, most of which are untrue and born from self-doubt. Are you ready to leave the doubt behind and give up ever being intimidated again? Growing up on a small farm in rural Australia, I often found myself intimidated by people particularly those who came from "the city."  I made all sorts of assumptions about what they thought about farm girls like me often feeling intimidated and inadequate in some way. It was...

Roman philosopher, Seneca, wrote “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.”  Learning a new skill, balancing work and family, or transitioning to a new industry is rarely celebrated as stories of courage. Everyday courage has been relegated to the mundane. Isn’t that a shame? We should be in awe of the heroes of amazing stories of courage…and of our neighbor’s everyday courage as well! Over the years I have gathered examples of what I call "amazing courage." These types of stories are the antithesis of my extensive fourteen years of research. I focus on the footnotes of everyday people. The word courage...