I love checking out personal and professional growth offerings and sharing the good stuff. Here you'll find book, videos, and seminars and other resources that are truly awesome.  I get nothing for these endorsements, it's  just stuff I love!  Free Meditations from Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey If you've been contemplating checking out meditation or want to try again, check out a free sample meditation from Deepak and Oprah. At least twice a year they offer a free 21-Day … [Read more...]

Raise your hand if this has never happened to you: you see a picture of someone from high school online and think, “Wow, what happened to Bob*? He looks like an old dude now!” Maybe this says a lot about my age, some deep-seated shallowness, or an inability to feel social shame. I’m hopeful it says more about perception. Perception is our way of understanding or interpreting something. It's our mental impression and the stories we make up about the way things are. It gets a lot of … [Read more...]

Want to be more influential and a better leader?  Get clear on your purpose. Ready to stop quitting your job all day long while "technically" still working there?  Same answer: find your purpose. Getting clear on your purpose only takes 10 minutes. Ask yourself some questions: What did you especially love doing when you were a child, before everyone told you what you should or shouldn’t like or do? What have been two of your most challenging life experiences. How have they … [Read more...]

I talk to people I don’t know - a lot. You know how some old people just randomly talk to people?  Yep, it’s like that only different.  Maybe that’s not so weird here in Portland but it sure seems quirky after living in California for many years.  Back there it went like this:  get into your own little pod (okay, Mini Cooper, Tesla or whatever) and zoom from place to place until you eventually pull back into the “airlock” of your garage and quickly slip inside.  When this came off … [Read more...]

What's the before and after shot for your team? Lately I've been working with teams going through tough stuff: conflict, confusion, misunderstanding, things not getting done, you name it. I wish I had before and after shots of the teams I work with – you know, like the ones you see in magazines when someone or something gets a makeover? Since I don't have photos (and wouldn't share them even if I did), here’s my take on what's in and what's out when it comes to helping your team with a … [Read more...]

Water plopping out of a bottleneck

It’s 10 PM and one of your direct reports sends you the budget updates you’ve been waiting for. He’s spent all day and into the night working on them, trying to get them as close to right as possible.  You take a quick look at the spreadsheet and frown. It’s not bad but you feel like something is missing or they’re not as complete as you’d hoped for.  It’s not really telling the story you wanted. And the formatting is just ok, even if he did use the standard template.  So you … [Read more...]

750,000 air miles, 9 promotions, 15 bosses, and 11 places called "home."  This is the typical story of most of our clients. It's a story of change, uncertainty, growth, and opportunity. Some might call me a change junkie. As a kid, I was probably the only 10-year-old to check out “I’m Okay, You’re Okay” from the library - multiple times.  I’ve always been interested in what makes people tick. Why do some people get along with just about everyone while others seem to be … [Read more...]

What comes to mind when you think about leadership and creativity?  Both topics have been on my mind a lot lately as I prepare for an upcoming workshop I am conducting. While leadership and creativity are very common attributes, I used to think of them as having very separate identities – like good steak and polka dot sprinkles, they are both good, they just don't go together.  Or do they? Can you be a good leader and not very creative? Probably not.  What about very creative and a poor … [Read more...]

It's early in another new year.  The holidays are behind us and many of are trying to get back in the groove, wondering what's up. Why am I here?  What did I leave undone?  How can I make this year different, better, less stressful, more fun than last year?  The answer: write your own manifesto, your rules to live by for this year and possibly the rest of your life. You can do it solo as a personal expression of who you want to be or as part of a partnership, family, work, community or other … [Read more...]

TRAINING AND CONSULTING Insights DiscoveryTM - more info… Transition and Change Management Strategic Planning Communications and Leadership Custom Retreats and Consensus Model Workshop Facilitation … [Read more...]