*As originally seen on Forbes.com Don’t Be Duped—Know These 8 Logical Fallacies To Boost Your Critical Thinking   How often do you make assumptions? Have a strong position that you can’t exactly back with facts? Hear someone else’s strong position that sounds like nonsense? Welcome to the world of logical fallacies. They’re all around us, daily, monthly, hourly in our conversations with others. Leaders must be aware of these to be more effective. And politicians are the worst offenders—they love love love logical fallacies. Logical fallacies are quite similar to cognitive biases which c ..read more

*As originally seen on Forbes.com In today’s world of intolerance, conflict, and divisiveness we would all benefit from more kindness and emotional intelligence. And some organizations are truly trying to build these skills.   In research cited in HBR a while back, we learned that 20% of U.S. companies now offer empathy training to their managers and leaders. That’s a great beginning. And as a leadership and culture coach, I applaud it.   But it’s not enough.   The same study states that the best skills for successful leadership are listening and responding. Res ..read more

*As originally seen on Forbes.com How did we get to the point where we have a loneliness epidemic?   And how can we help to end it?   This blog will attempt to address both questions, thanks to neuroscience.   Last month I wrote a blog with 12 Proven Cures For Loneliness. I shared the 12 connections humans need and how to get re-connected to each. The blog was read by over 100,000 people in just a few days. So, it’s time to share more methods to cure loneliness. And this one is super-fast and easy. Share it with your colleagues and friends!   It Seemed Like A Good Idea At ..read more

*As originally seen on Forbes.com Are you focusing on the most important things right now? Or are you distracted, stressed, or in panic mode as so many leaders are? As the pandemic continues, I’m seeing many leaders either get sidetracked or get hyper-focused on changing what is no longer working. But the majority, I notice, are getting sidetracked. Why? Cognitive Tunneling. This is a neuroscience-based term for how our focus narrows during times of elevated stress, resulting in blinding us to things in our environment that you would normally perceive. We’ve all had the experience ..read more

*As originally seen on Forbes.com Nearly one in four Americans over 18 say they often or always feel lonely. Wow. That’s why Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says the United States is in the throes of a loneliness “epidemic”. If a leader is grappling with loneliness, it’ll effect not only themselves but of course their team and potentially the entire organization. If a team member is, you’ll see their work quality, creativity, motivation and more, plummet.   Your Brain On Loneliness Fast Facts: Feelings of loneliness are a biological signal designed to remind us that we need other people W ..read more

*As originally seen on Forbes.com It’s a mess out there in the ongoing WFH vs. RTO battlefield… Grindr recently told all 178 employees to return to the office at least two days a week last month…and roughly 45% resigned Deloitte reported that 66% of remote workers would quit their jobs if they had to go back into the office five days a week BambooHR polled 57,000 workers across 1,600 companies and found that employee sentiment dropped 10x faster since January 2023 than in the previous three years ADP Research Institute hit its lowest level of employee motivation in August since June of last ..read more

*As originally seen on Forbes.com Why don’t people want to return to the office? I’ll bet you have a zillion ideas or reasons. I’ll also bet many of them are due to social anxiety. There are many types of anxiety: anticipation of danger anticipation of shame anticipation of rejection … to name only a few. And do you notice that most (or all) involve more than one person? According to research from the American Psychological Association, 49% of respondents said they feel uneasy about adjusting to in-person interaction post pandemic.   What Is Social Anxiety? The ADAA says: “S ..read more

*As originally seen on Forbes.com Words have power. Think about it: words make you look confident or powerful, insecure or weak, reliable or flakey. As a leadership coach I’m constantly noticing the words that leaders use… and the effect they have on their teams. Here are 6 words that diminish your power and diminish the confidence others feel in you. You’ll also see helpful alternatives too: 1. But – this takes the wind out of one’s proverbial sails. It negates or reduces the benefit of what was said before it. “You’re a terrific salesperson, but your reports are often late.” Consider ..read more

*As originally seen on Forbes.com Humans aren’t designed to live with excessive stress. Yet over the past few years we’ve come to normalize stress, some workplaces even condone or—yikes—celebrate stress. Sure, with stress one gets a rush of adrenaline similar to a super sugary snack—but then there’s the debilitating crash. And more than ever, workers worldwide are having a hard time bouncing back from it. The American Institute of Stress estimates the cost of stress to U.S. industry to be over $300 billion annually. WOW. Symptoms Of The Over-Stressed Are you over-stressed? Let’s fi ..read more

*As originally seen on Forbes.com Your business is transforming right, whether you know it or not. What does the transformation look like? What are the signs? Is the transformation being driven by internal forces or external ones? How urgent is the transformation? Now that we’ve answered these essential questions, let’s unpack what to do next. As a leadership and culture coach, I find our clients are in a near-constant state of transformation. And that’s a good thing. Because the organizations that aren’t transforming and likely to get left behind. What’s Causing Your Transformation? So ..read more