One of my COO clients is a consistent champion for positive organizational culture. He invests both time and money in hiring strong people and supporting them to do their best work. But he’s facing a significant challenge in the form of a longtime incumbent executive who consistently behaves badly toward him and her colleagues. Not long after the COO started in his job, he became aware that this executive was trying to challenge his authority and lording her clout over more junior employees. He recognized that this pattern of behavior was likely to continue because she’d had a close working r ..read more

“You’re in here every day! Why didn’t you know we weren’t on track?!” This was the accusation a project head launched at a founder when she spoke to him about his insufficient performance. “There’s too much going on in here for me to keep track!” the disgruntled employee continued, throwing the responsibility for his underperformance back at his boss. Shortly after this exchange, the relationship collapsed completely and the founder had to let the employee go. But things hadn’t been smooth for a long time, as their conversation makes obvious. It’s a real problem when a midlevel manager can’t ..read more

This post originally appeared on Forbes. Some people seem to know instinctively how to get along with others at work: how to make other people comfortable yet get their own points across without friction. This skill can seem elusive to most of us. But Charles Duhigg, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author of Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection, believes that anyone can learn to be a supercommunicator. “It’s not that people who are supercommunicators are particularly charismatic or are uniquely extroverts,” he says in a recent conversation. “It’s j ..read more

“Can’t they tell I’ve changed? Why don’t they give me credit for it, or at least acknowledge it?” Sometimes when I’ve worked with a client for a while and they feel they’ve made a real change to their behavior, they get frustrated when people treat them the same old way. Other people seem to view them as if they’re still how they were pre-coaching—not listening enough, not kind enough, not decisive enough, or still indulging in whatever troubling approach or behavior we’ve been working on. It’s very hard to hear that people don’t perceive you to have changed, particularly when you’re a good p ..read more

This post originally appeared on Forbes. No matter how much we complain about meetings, one-on-ones are “the meeting everyone wants,” says Dr. Steven Rogelberg, Chancellor’s Professor and professor of organizational science, management and psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the author of Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings. A one-on-one isn’t just another meeting; rather, it’s “the one meeting that should not be an email,” says Rogelberg. “It’s a very special opportunity to truly see and hear from your directs. It is that predictable moment ..read more

Recently, several people have asked me for help with the following situation: They aren’t the appropriate decision-maker on a tough issue, but they can’t convince the relevant leader (whether it’s their boss or a colleague with power) to do anything about it. Because the leader is hesitating or deferring, the team is unable to take any necessary next steps, so project deadlines are being missed, progress is stalled, and the team is wasting time or going in circles. Reluctance to make decisions often happens with good people who actually care about the issue, but also worry that their decision ..read more

This post originally appeared on Forbes. Recent polling shows that 1 of every 4 adults globally is experiencing significant loneliness, and the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has warned of an “epidemic of loneliness and isolation.” There are many ways for individuals to try to mitigate their own loneliness, but given that we spend so much time at work—for the average person, it’s 90,000 hours over their lifetime—doesn’t it make sense for leaders to address the human need for connection and belonging? Jerry Colonna, venture capitalist-turned-executive coach and author of  ..read more

Most of us formulate notions about leadership based on the bosses we’ve had and the leaders we’ve seen in action, both in real life and the media—even if they were bad role models.  Our beliefs about leadership may include expectations of wisdom; knowing how to navigate various challenging situations; and envisioning what an organization should accomplish in the world, holding fast to that vision, and motivating each employee according to their needs so that they can see it too. But leadership can also include exercising raw power, making demands, riding roughshod over everyone, moving f ..read more

It amazes me how many talented people say they have imposter syndrome. Recently, I’ve been hearing about this in both coaching calls and social situations. It bothers me because the term has become a catchall for not feeling worthy or good enough, yet it’s the kind of shorthand that leaves no room for people to help themselves feel or perform better.  Do you think of yourself as suffering from imposter syndrome? If so, let’s take that apart and look at what happens when people apply the term to themselves. By labeling themselves as imposters, they categorize themselves as being anything ..read more

This post originally appeared on Forbes. Most corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts have been focused on representation of differences in the workforce, but those efforts are failing: They’re not sufficiently tied to corporate profit and C-suite support for DEI roles has fallen significantly. Plus, DEI efforts may have been focused on the wrong things, according to a recent conversation with Justin Michael Williams, an award-winning author and Grammy-nominated recording artist and Shelly Tygielski, a mindfulness meditation teacher and the founde ..read more