Last week I attended a global conference for coaches held in Prague, Czech Republic. I knew it was going to be one heck of a learning journey when my head was already popping with new ideas from the conversations I had at the opening reception, before attending any learning sessions! My own talk on day … Read more
Five Simple Things You Can Do Every Day To Build Trust With Your Team Practice Humility. Admit when you don’t know. Own it when you’ve made a mistake. When you let others see how you can embody confidence even as you confess fallibility, you give permission for them to take bigger risks, fail, and feel … Read more
Talking About Death and Happiness Death—and its relationship to life—has been pushing onto my agenda in the past month, so much so that when I sat down to write this month’s post, I found it impossible to not write about it. “But Jim, “you are possibly thinking, “isn’t this site about happiness and leadership?” Well, … Read more
I love to play with tight language, which is why Haiku has always been my favorite poetic form (17 syllables and rigid rules, yet infinite possibilities). I also love the brutal simplicity of six-word essays, a format over which I obsessed in high school (see https://www.sixwordmemoirs.com for more) Since January I have attended 28 … Read more
Yes, You Can Get Ahead Without Losing Your Mind! I got this question from one client, but it’s a question I hear frequently. If this resonates for you, please share! Q: I want to move up in my organization, but in this culture you’ve got to move fast and always be producing. It’s very stressful! … Read more
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? When I was a kid, this question always pulled me into a philosophical mindset, and I can remember many conversations and/or debates working it from both a logical and emotional point of view. What I most remember about those sessions is that we’d often end in either … Read more
Case study. Client is Director, 15+ years experience. She is smart, decisive, gets shit done… and is perceived as “demanding.” She wants to shift her leadership style from Command & Control to a Coaching approach. We discussed in a coaching session different ways she can use both language and her physical presence to shift the … Read more
Recently I was guest on the Leadership Hacks Podcast with my esteemed colleague, Jill Windelspecht, a fellow executive coach and organization consultant. Jill invited me to bring my best hack (shortcut/workaround) to the conversation, so I showed up with the most basic tool in my box: Breathing. You’ve heard me say it before: if you … Read more
Reflecting on a Transition In January I will celebrate my 20th anniversary as a business owner. Before becoming a solopreneur and The Executive Happiness Coach(r), I spent 20 years as a leader in the corporate space, so I’ve called myself “a recovering corporate executive.” As I shift toward having more time OUT than IN the corporate … Read more
Happiness is Noticed for its Absence… Picture this: I am sitting in a room with a leadership team who are frustrated with high levels of behavior often associated with employee disconnection: turnover, absenteeism, gossip, backbiting, lack of discretionary effort, cliquishness, zero input during meetings, constant griping about even the tiniest things, and a pervasive sense … Read more