Posts Tagged "leadership connection"
Using Conflict As a Tool for Growth: 3 Steps to Resolution
This blog is an excerpt from Kathleen’s upcoming book Living the Leadership Choice. Join the Leadership Connection community to receive updates and exclusive content. “Whenever you’re in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging the relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.” – William James One of the greatest assets in a conflict is the ability to recognize that if people are fired-up enough to be angry there must be something they care a great deal about preserving and/or fear losing. As a leader, this is an opportunity to not only move past the conflict, but also to strengthen the existing...
Read MoreNew Domesticity: Leadership Begins in the Home
As a Gen X woman who has spent a vast portion of the past 20 years, training, teaching and coaching women to play a more robust role in governing, I find the current discussion about the “new domesticity” an interesting one. As the younger generations are coming into early adulthood, many women are looking at once forbidden activities like canning, baking, gardening, and even knitting as essentials for a complete, conscious, and healthy life. Driven by a desire to leave a smaller environmental footprint, control the quality of their food, and keeping costs down these women are returning to domestic jobs long ago driven out of daily life by the innovation and...
Read MoreNeed a Job? Three Steps to Take Now
The fact that millions of Americans are unemployed or underemployed is not news. Although we seem to be engaged in Einstein’s infamous trap of ‘doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.’ Policy makers are debating how to entice businesses into hiring more people and the unemployed are angry and frustrated over the lack of available positions. Nearing record-breaking unemployment rates, perhaps it is time to consider a different route to finding meaningful, satisfying, and rewarding work in people’s lives. As we’ve discussed here before, creating jobs won’t help our economy. If you are looking for a job, or know someone who...
Read MoreWeekend Wondering – Thanksgiving, Families and Leadership
With Thanksgiving around the corner, this weekend is our last before the Holiday Season kicks into high gear. How are you feeling about the Holidays? If you are like most people, a host of emotions trailing back to childhood color our experience of the annual festivities. Thanksgiving has become the time when we gather with family and friends and toast the success of brave pilgrims weathering the challenges of a new world. That is until the food orgy, football games and familial disputes run us into the biggest shopping day of the year. One way to freshen our traditional feelings of thanks this year is to look at yourself and your leadership in a new light. Living the...
Read MoreFooling Ourselves and Paying a High Price
While the saga around the Penn State sexual abuse scandal will, and should, continue as people come to terms with the horrifying series of events that transpired, I find myself looking for any good that can come from this disturbing series of (in)actions of those in positions of authority. What happened in Happy Valley is unfortunately a microcosm of the great myth we continue to live in our country—that is, that people in positions of power will do the “right” thing even if “we the people” won’t do the same. For far too long, the American public has wanted to believe that the choices they make in their daily lives have no impact on how our leaders conduct...
Read MoreAre You a 21st Century Leader?
The Occupy movement is raising questions about leaders in business and politics. Motivated by corporate excess and government blundering of our nation’s economic system “occupiers” are expressing frustration and anger by taking to the streets. With a fuzzy message fueled by personal economic challenges and years of feeling powerless against “the big guys,” the unfortunate reality is that what these protestors are for or against is impossible to achieve. There’s only one way things will change. And looking to “leaders” to fix the problem is not the answer. The challenge in the numerous crises facing our country today is that most people can...
Read MoreThe Challenge of Choice
Share By: Kathleen Schafer, Founder-Leadership Connection During coaching, certain preconceived notions emerge around the issues that keep people from becoming all they can be. An idea that usually comes up early in the coaching process is the long-held belief that work is something you do to earn money while doing what you are good at and what you enjoy is reserved for leisure time. Living life through the paradigm of improperly defined work is one of the main things keeping people from great success and even greater happiness. Looking at the history of the western world, when people left the farm for the factory, their day-to-day efforts moved from sustaining self...
Read MoreHow Do We Get Out of This Mess?
Share By: Kathleen Schafer, Founding Principal-Leadership Connection The only thing people can agree on while discussing politics is that our political system is not working. It’s too big for some, too small for others, not responsive, and ill-managed. Everyone can identify what’s not working and we’re not too optimistic about things changing substantively anytime soon. Our challenge is that everyone sees the problems, everyone claims to want things to change; however, too few of us are actually willing to do the work to create the change we want. Many Americans point to the Tea Party as a hopeful sign of change. While Tea Party activists have captured the...
Read MoreLeadership Myth #1: As a leader, I must change other people
Share By: Kathleen Schafer, Founding Principal-Leadership Connection As I work with clients and students, I have come understand some of the things people think about leadership stand in the way of leading. From time to time, I like to discuss these false notions of leadership in order to debunk the myths that keep us from achieving our full leadership potential. In our current social and political climates we hear a lot of talk about getting people to “do the right thing.” Leadership Myth: As a leader, I must change other people Many prospective leaders believe they have a responsibility to make others do something the leader believes would contribute to...
Read MoreIf We Want Quality Leaders, We Need to Focus on Quality Candidates
Share By: Kathleen Schafer, Founding Principal-Leadership Connection Today is the last day of primaries before November’s general election. In every story I have watched, heard or read about these races and for all the other primary days, the focus is on the supposed “quantifiable”… Who is ahead in the polls? What will a victory for a republican or democrat mean for majorities in the House or Senate? What does the outcome say about Obama and his chances for re-election in 2012? What does this race say about the Tea Party and its chances for future success? Is it any wonder we have elected officials whose primary focus is re-election when the only...
Read More