Authenticity

Renewing Your Leadership Purpose with Compassion

February 19, 2018

Years ago, when I was a 23 year old assistant human resources manager at a department store, one of our sales associates suffered a heart attack and died while at work. At the time, I was out of town, attending my grandfather’s funeral. Upon my return to work, my boss Mary told me what had […]

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Michael J. Fox’s Life Lessons on Work, Optimism, and Choice

May 17, 2016

“I’m going to a conference next month and the keynote speaker is Michael J. Fox.” “Cool! Although, I just saw on Facebook that his health isn’t very good. I hope he’s able to make the event.” Such was the conversation I had several weeks ago with a friend. I’d seen the post about Michael J. […]

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Huffington Post’s “True North Leaders”

February 1, 2016

When Huffington Post published my article How to Stay Okay with Who You Are and Still Meet the Demands of Leadership, I discovered this great part of the site: their “True North Leaders” section, which highlights the “inner game” that leaders must master: authenticity, courage, values and integrity. I write about those topics frequently, so I’ll be sure […]

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Leadership Truths to Empower Millennial Leaders

August 3, 2015

Are you crystal-clear on your purpose? Jon Mertz is. His purpose is to guide, challenge and inspire people of the Millennial generation to fully realize their leadership potential. Mertz realized this purpose in an unlikely place: a grove of Aspen trees while he was snow-shoeing in the American Rocky Mountain range. At the time of […]

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23 Leadership Lessons About Energizing Yourself and Others

May 15, 2015

How do you derive energy from the task of leading? Many times, being in a leadership role is draining, not energizing. As with many other things in life, one needs to actively seek out ways to overcome flagging energy. This month’s Frontline Festival blog carnival, hosted by Let’s Grow Leaders’ Karin Hurt, assembled 23 stories […]

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16 Stories to Energize Your Leadership

April 21, 2015

Feeling burned out as a leader? It’s a common feeling: work life is hectic and leaders feel especially “squeezed.”  This constant pressure can suck every last bit of energy from you and the people you lead, with unfortunate results. As Chris Edmonds, author of The Culture Engine, writes in the foreword of the recently released […]

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Are You Listening to Yourself? A #soulsparks Story

March 27, 2015

It happened while I was cleaning up the dinner dishes. While I stood at my kitchen sink, scrubbing pans, the thought formed, completely unbidden: I want to be a writer. It was a June night; my family was outside enjoying one of the first warm days of our soon-to-be Michigan summer. And I was inside, […]

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People Are Looking to You for Leadership

March 19, 2015

“Every leader has exponential opportunity for influence,” writes Popeyes® Louisiana Kitchen CEO Cheryl Bachelder in her book Dare to Serve: How to Drive Superior Results by Serving Others. Considering that Bachelder believes that we all have the opportunity to lead at some point in our lives (at home, in the community or at work), this […]

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Leadership and Being a Role Model – 20 Ideas

December 11, 2014

At one time or another, we’re all in a position to lead. We’re parents, teachers, coaches, managers and committee leaders.  As such, we know that setting a good example is an important part of leadership. But it’s not always easy. I wrote a post for Smartblog on Leadership called The Six Saboteurs of Positive Role […]

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Is a Global CEO’s Grueling Travel Schedule Necessary?

November 20, 2014

Is a burned-out CEO the New Normal of the globally connected world? That seems to be the premise of a recent article I read titled, “Death on a Moscow Runway: The Modern, Homeless CEO.” (How’s that for grim imagery?) I take issue with the idea that CEO’s must be this super-human person that “has” to […]

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