Brenda's Blog

It’s just the sheer nature of the beast. At your level, everyone you turn to for advice has a hidden agenda. No matter how hard they may try, their perspectives cannot help but be “biased.” This includes your spouse, your children, your boss, your Board of Directors, your subordinates, and your peers. So, where can you go for an impartial viewpoint? Who can you turn to for a truly objective discussion?

These are common scenarios in these days of inexpensive and easy connections via e-mail, mobile phone, and video conferencing. But, this often means your holiday becomes more of a temporary office set up in a faraway location rather than real time off.

What would you say is the most critical success factor for business growth in your company? If you’re like 91% of the respondents in a recent study of CEOs in North America, Europe, and Asia, you would say “developing leaders.” In this article, we’ll explore why leadership development has become more vital to business success than ever, and why companies are now overwhelmingly choosing a previously-untapped resource – Executive Coaching – as a key part of the solution.

The Starbucks brand of coffee can teach you a lot about your own brand as a leader. How? Well, consider this for a moment … When coffee is in its natural coffee bean state, it’s a commodity that sells for just 1-2¢ per cup. When you add packaging and a brand name to it and place it on a grocery store shelf, the price of that coffee goes up to 5-25¢ per cup. Throw in service and personality by offering that coffee at, say, Dunkin Donuts, and the price rises to around 75¢ to $1.50 per cup.

Many years ago, a mentor of mine told me something very profound. I asked him what it was that kept certain managers moving up the corporate ladder while others stopped. What he said has never left me. He told me that those leaders who did not progress to the top stopped being coachable. A mindset that cripples some senior executives is the belief that they have made it to the top and are somehow beyond the need for feedback. They no longer feel that they have anything to learn, so they remain in a static place without growth. As a result, their careers also cease to grow.

Most senior leaders use negative language on the job without even realizing it. It may come from destructive phrases used unconsciously, the use of cynicism in your language, or simply from an unfortunate choice of words. When leaders use negative language, it can have destructive power on others.

As a busy exec, you’re constantly pulled in many directions. Headquarters wants your profit projections for next quarter a week in advance of when you planned, there’s a line of direct reports at your office door waiting to meet with you, your inbox is filled with 200+ unanswered emails, and a not-for-profit organization wants you to give the keynote speech at an upcoming charity dinner. In the meantime, your son needs help with his math homework, your spouse complains because you haven’t been home for dinner in a week, and your ailing parents’ financial situation needs your attention. Something has to give, right? But the question is: What?

As a leader of an organization, let’s face it: You can’t do it all yourself. So, you know you have to delegate, and you do genuinely try. But lately, you’ve found your to-do list getting longer… you spend most of your time in back-to-back meetings… your normal workday has extended to 12+ hours… and you’re working weekends just to catch up. If this is the case, you’re probably not delegating enough.