The Thoughtful Leaders™ Blog
Posted by Lisa Kohn on May 16, 2013
 It is true that many of us sit for hours each day. According to Nilofer Merchant, in this short and powerful TED video, most of us sit for over nine hours in a day, more than we sleep. And it is true that sitting that much can cause a health crisis – sitting has been linked to cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, to name a few.
To address our sitting epidemic, Nilofer offers us her revolutionary idea – schedule meetings over walks. Nilofer shares her personal experience that walking for her meetings helped her to think differently, brainstorm more effectively, and find better answers and better results.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on April 22, 2013
“A good time to laugh is anytime you can.” Linda Ellerbee
I can be very intense. Ask anyone who knows me. I can get caught in the seriousness of a situation, the meaning of a moment, the dilemma of a debate. I can work very hard to find value in each encounter and search for the hidden significance under every comment. And it can bog me down.
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on April 4, 2013
 Why is “no” such a difficult thing to say? We’re great at it when we’re two. “No” seems to be our favorite word at that age (at least it was for my kids). But somewhere along the line we forget that ability; we forget the word. Someone asks us to do something that we long to say “no” to, and yet, perhaps out of guilt or fear or shame, or perhaps out of more positive motivations like compassion and caring, we find ourselves saying “yes.” Agreeing to what we knew we didn’t want to do. So many of us forget how to say “no,” or think we can’t, or know we shouldn’t, or know we should…but still don’t.
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on February 21, 2013
 I have spoiled people’s problems and I know it. At home I’m renovating a kitchen (with roughly 10 decisions to make every day), planning a vacation, shopping for my daughter’s senior prom dress, and making it to as many of my son’s basketball games as possible. At work I’m juggling four significant leadership programs, a large handful of coaching clients, and potential new business with recurring clients and new ones. My assistant sent me an email listing the twenty-plus people I have to schedule meetings or calls with in March, in my already too-tight schedule. All this while trying to practice Thoughtful Leadership™ and maintain my self-care. And writing a blog post. Again, I know these are “spoiled” people’s problems and I’m not complaining, but I am in overwhelm.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on February 18, 2013
“If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.” Joseph Campbell
Recently a client was discussing her upcoming choice between two new jobs. The discussion seemed like a cost-benefit analysis – all head and very little heart. “I should do this,” she said. “This makes the most sense. I really love that idea, but it’s probably not smart.” Now while the more “sensible” option may be the right one for her to pursue, it struck me how quickly we follow what seems “right” rather than what seems wonderful.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on January 22, 2013
 What does the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 mean to you? For some, they are glad to see a difficult year come to an end and look forward to better times ahead. For others, the past year was filled with triumph, joy, and success, and they wonder what the new year will hold. No matter where you fall on the spectrum, the passing of another year is a time for personal reflection – taking stock, appreciating what is, letting go, and planning for success in the year ahead.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on January 7, 2013
“The most wasted day is one in which we have not laughed.” Sebastién-Roch Chamfort
Laughter is free, contagious, and healing, so why don’t we laugh more often? I have seen clients and colleagues break through insurmountable challenges and relationship breakdowns through laughter. I have experienced the amazing results of laughter myself. Why don’t we laugh more often?
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on December 27, 2012
 Balance is a dirty word. It’s become something we all think we should have, yet have no idea how to attain. So we beat ourselves up for being “out of balance” and look to others for the answer, the secret, the golden key. Or we just give up and resign ourselves to a life lived feeling overwhelmed, out of control, and out of balance.
Enough of this nonsense. I’ve decided that balance is attainable, at least sometimes. And especially as leaders – of ourselves, our teams, our companies and our communities – we have to be the ones to lead the way. To find our balance.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on December 3, 2012
“Having fun is about as good a habit as there is.” Jimmy Buffet
We all have a lot of bad habits. Bad habits that we’re constantly trying to get rid of. We go to classes to learn to speak up more, or less. We set New Year’s resolutions to eat less cake (and lose fifteen pounds) or to speak up more (or less), because the class alone didn’t cut it. We decide we will play a more active role in group decisions at work or delegate more. But our bad habits often stay with us, much to our disappointment.
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on November 1, 2012
 Today is Give Up Your Shoulds Day. And I think giving up our shoulds is something we all should do!
Seriously, if you’re like me you have a litany of shoulds running through your brain. “I should work later to get this project done.” “I should get home earlier and get things cleaned up there.” “I should exercise more.” “I should volunteer at my kid’s school.” “I should network more.” “I should learn another language.” Your shoulds might be different from mine, but they’re there.
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Marjorie Cottrell 
Love this Lisa, thanks for sharing. It’s health & fitness week here so yesterday we took a team walk, followed by a healthy potluck breakfast and a team meeting. Everyone was awake, engaged and focused.
Thanks Yuki. It’s great what exercise and movement do for us. Awake, engaged and focused – what could be better?