We all must face negative emotions from time to time. We might get into a discussion with someone who is angry about an organizational decision or we might find it necessary to mediate a heated disagreement between two team members. It’s also...
Read moreEffective Leaders Know Their Team Members
Building relationships is a skill possessed by effective leaders and it should be utilized first and foremost with the leader’s own team members. Trust and respect are not easily given away by most people, but they are the very relationship...
Read morePress the Pause Button
Dealing with Negative Emotions Maturely We are created with emotions for a purpose. At any point in time, there are a variety of emotions operating in the background. We might have joy about the development of our children, concern about our...
Read moreReact or Respond?
Two words that sound very similar describe how we might reply to things that people around us might say or do – we might react or we might respond. Yet there is a big difference between the two words, both in how we reply and the consequences of...
Read more“The Soul of Shame” by Curt Thompson
“Shame is something we all experience at some level, more consciously for some than for others.” People tend to overlook or underestimate the presence or power of shame; in the process they fail to recognize the loss of a part of their potential...
Read moreI Am the Problem
When working with married couples who are struggling or just want to grow in their relationship, we often encourage them to adopt the mindset of “In this relationship I am the biggest problem.” This is not an attitude of self-condemnation. And it...
Read more“Crucial Conversations” by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzer
If you work or live with or near other people you probably have occasions when crucial conversations need to take place. A crucial conversation is defined as a discussion between two or more people where stakes are high, opinions vary, and...
Read moreDealing with Discouragement
The natural response when we encounter someone that is facing discouragement is often to double down. It is a human tendency to back away from negative emotions. When we interact with discouragement, there are two common responses: the...
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