Have you noticed that some women seem loathe to receive a compliment? It’s almost like one-upping in reverse: who can denigrate themselves the fastest in a conversation? If deflecting compliments was a sport, some women would be Olympic gold medal contenders. Case in point: in a comedy sketch shown on Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer,…
Building Leadership Trust Requires a Leap of Faith
When I was 17 years old, my family moved across the state to a new life. It was the first (and only) time my parents ever moved us. It was a huge deal. Because of all the unknowns – new school, new friends, unfamiliar town, my parents could have decided to tighten the reins on…
Zen of Jen – Put Yourself in Timeout
When our kids were little, Mr. People Equation and I sometimes gave them “timeouts”. One thing we quickly discovered is that effective timeouts weren’t about punishment. Instead, timeouts helped our kids figure out when they had crossed a boundary that wasn’t OK to cross. When the Miller kiddos were very young, the boundaries were very…
Lessons in Project Failure from Brad Pitt
It takes courage to admit that a project is tanking. Even for big-shot movie stars. When Brad Pitt saw the first cut of his newly released film World War Z, the final third act of the movie was, in his words, “just atrocious” according a USA Today interview. What Pitt said next in the interview…
Zen of Jen – I Have All the Time I Need
This is the first in a new series on my blog called “Zen of Jen”, in which I’ll share ideas for helping you maintain a sense of calm in your crazy work world. Hat tip to Dan McCarthy of the Great Leadership blog – whose comment in an email sparked this idea. Thanks, Dan! The…