Want to be a better human-centered leader? Watch a therapy dog team at work
As the two-legged member of a therapy dog team, I'm regularly practicing becoming a better human-centered leader with stronger empathy, vulnerability, and humility muscles. I still have a long way to go as I observe MarcelTheTherapyDog and all the other therapy dogs...
Want to be a better human? Use a mirror to look inside your peach pit
Are you more like a “peach”? Or a “coconut”? This differentiation comes from the work of culture experts Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner. In peach cultures, such as the United States, Americans often smile and talk with strangers in public settings, such...
How to practice wise compassion to do hard things that humans respect
Being a good human and being a responsible leader are not mutually exclusive. Compassionate leaders do both. In fact, doing hard things and making hard decisions is often the most compassionate thing to do, according to the authors and consultants Rasmus Hougaard and...
Want to do on-the-job learning? Be sure psychological safety exists
When I was studying the Complete Values Profile assessment earlier this year to use in my leadership coaching work, I wasn't thinking about the challenges I might face regarding psychological safety as a learner. Yet when it became time for me to put my new learning...
Why unlearning the “pronoun test” is helping me rewire my leadership mindset
My latest on-the-job learning? Unlearning a prevalent decade-old concept used in my coaching and consulting practice. And I started the unlearning while writing this blog! Not intentionally, but as a consequence of the need to rewire my leadership mindset to adapt to...
Is your brain to blame if you’re all filled up without room to grow?
“Wow, it’s obvious you’re not working for the Chamber of Commerce,” one of my local realtor friends exclaimed when she heard about the “What it’s like to live and work in Charleston” workshops I conduct for employers. You’re right, I responded. My purpose is to help...
5 ways to create ‘quality collisions’ to meet different people
Are you missing the chance encounters you used to have with fellow human beings at work in the hallways, cafeteria, parking lot, and elsewhere? If so, consider doing something else, such as striving to have "quality collisions" with new people. When you intentionally...
3 actions to close the huge caring, compassion, and empathy gap at work
Any of these statements from managers and leaders sound familiar? “Being compassionate is not in my DNA.” “I respond to facts, figures and logic, not feelings and emotion.” “I wasn’t born with the empathy gene.” “If I show I care, I’ll be perceived as weak.” “I won’t...
Want to improve your well-being and productivity? Work fewer hours!
Would you like to work fewer hours with the same pay and benefits? Yes, you read that right, reduce your standard work week by 8 hours--from 40 to 32 hours--while maintaining the same level of pay and benefits. That was the grand experiment some Perpetual Guardian...