May 22, 2015

Renewing Our Belief in the Power of People

“I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance.” Pablo Casals   The more I see others from my heart and not my judgment, the more compassion I have for my fellow human beings.  Admittedly, this is a work in progress. There’s something poignant about pilots reporting their final passenger count as having a […]
May 13, 2015

Conscious Communication – It’s All About Us

Beneath every commuication is a feeling. This feeling drives your communication. How conscious you are of your communication will have an effect on others. All of our clients tell us that they want better, more effective communication at work. Most people are hungry for communication that is real, honest, clear, conscise and most important – respectful. Communication is suffering in […]
April 28, 2015

Why Do We Have To “Promote” Kindness at Work?

 “I now realize I have been working with my eyes closed. I appreciate even more a professor with whom I work occasionally: he always makes the point that leaders, managers — everyone in fact — should never underestimate the importance of kindness at work.” Gill Corkindale, Harvard Business Review An article in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) by author Gill Corkindale,  “The […]
January 26, 2015

The "Management Model" You Can’t Manage Without – Part 1

In his book, Your Brain at Work, author David Rock gave organizational leaders an essential model for understanding human dynamics at work.  Forget the “toolkit.”  This model is the foundation that holds everything affecting performance in place. Leaders and co-workers entering the brave new world of business in the 21st century who ignore this knowledge face a serious uphill climb.  […]
January 24, 2015

We Need New Models for Workplace Relationships – Part 1

I used to facilitate a three-day seminar I had co-developed for the American Management Association on conflict management. From San Francisco to New York, I heard an endless array of workplace “war stories” over five years.  One woman’s experience remains with me today.  (Sara) was distressed and sought out my advice at the end of the first day of the […]
October 30, 2014

Question The Answers ~ The Importance of Critical Thinking

It strikes me that this is an era of pressing choices – personal and collective.  Conditioned and habituated thinking cannot address the complexities we face. We’re  caught up in old, polarized, binary thinking that is not only an impediment to our growth – but regressive and potentially dangerous.  How do we make complex decisions in the face of such pressure?  […]
October 13, 2014

Why Do So Many People in the Workplace Still Believe that Self-Development is Therapy?

Beliefs are powerful things. They persist even in the face of evidence – even in the light of experience. The world of business – that is, the world of commerce,  is still largely under the impression that feelings have no place in the workplace. In light of what we now know from a wealth of neuroscience – that’s just dead […]
February 25, 2014

Becoming More Empathetic – (Bringing Down Some of the Barriers)

Most scientists agree that we are born to cooperate with others.  In other words, we are born to be more “WE”  than “ME.”  Sometimes we wonder. The mounting research continues to paint a much rosier and more positive picture at least for the potential of a kinder, gentler workplace, society and planet. According to Dr. Thomas Tomasello, author of “Why […]