The Thoughtful Leaders Blog
Posted by Lisa Kohn on November 10, 2011
 This weekend was about college visits. My daughter is a junior in high school, and because of the extremely long list of schools she might be interested in and her intense extracurricular schedule we decided to get a jump on visits and knocked three schools off in one weekend. And I had the greatest leadership epiphany, that some might actually call heresy.
As I watched my daughter slightly agonize over which school was a better fit, and where she might be happier and learn more, and where she should go, I realized (and shared) a very important concept. “It doesn’t really matter,” I offered her. “Pretty much any of them will be great – and you’ll love it and learn once you’re there.” From my outside perspective it made great sense. While some of the schools might be better for her than others, at least at this point it seems that none of her potential schools would be a “bad” choice, and any would be fine, depending on what she does with it and makes out of it.
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Posted by Robyn McLeod on June 2, 2011
Creating, revamping or tweaking an organization’s vision and mission statements is something that we are often asked to help with. Leaders know that – although they are simply words – the right words can bring to life a clear and compelling direction for their organizations and their people. Take what is often referenced as Apple’s vision: “Making tools for the minds that advance humankind.” That’s huge! Or Coca-Cola’s mission to: “Refresh the world, inspire moments of optimism and happiness, create value and, make a difference.” I could easily get behind that!
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on May 30, 2011
“This above all: to thine own self be true.” William Shakespeare
What I love about effective leadership, both in business and in life, is that there almost always is more than one way to successfully do something and more than one answer to any question or problem. Too often we may look at someone as the “expert” or the “best” at a certain skill, and we convince ourselves that in order to be successful we have to do it exactly like them. To say what they say. To act how they act. To do what they do.
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on May 12, 2011
Inspiration can come from so many different places. This online advertisement, from an online content company, was forwarded to me by a friend. It has nearly 8 million views to date. And it’s good.
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Posted by Robyn McLeod on May 5, 2011
Show me a happy employee and I’ll show you someone who is most likely using their existing talents and strengths in their work and also is probably developing additional skills and strengths in the process. Unfortunately, that is not the experience of many, many people working in organizations today. A few weeks ago I spoke to a room of HR professionals about what they are seeing in their workplaces. We talked about how the economic climate had created the need to cut back on benefits, eliminate training, and in some cases, layoff staff.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on May 2, 2011
“Listen to everyone. Ideas come from everywhere.” Tom Peters
I have a client whom I challenge to listen more fully to people – even people, and especially people, in whom he has no interest. “Go ahead,” I urge, “See what you can learn from them, especially since you expect to learn nothing.”
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Posted by Robyn McLeod on April 22, 2011
This morning I enjoyed my first cup of coffee outdoors in many months. I’m so glad Spring has finally arrived. As I sat soaking up the sun and enjoying the quiet of the morning, a flock of geese flew overhead in V formation. Watching geese fly together is one of those moments of wonder and awe for me that connects me to the bigger world. Looking up at the geese, I remembered a video that was shown at a conference many years ago about the science and art of these flying formations – and what they can teach us about teamwork.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on April 11, 2011
“Worry is a misuse of the imagination.” Dan Zadra
I have a great imagination – and only recently have I learned to use it for something worthwhile. When I was a kid, I could, and did, easily imagine the worst things happening. When my mother came home late I knew she was dead. When other kids in school were laughing, I knew it was at me. When I handed in a paper at school, I knew already that I had failed. I was most often wrong.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on March 21, 2011
“Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly.” Robert Schuller
I was sitting in the car the other day, listening to my daughter teach my son to read. He clearly was making mistakes and he clearly was trying. The fact that he was learning and that his reading was absolutely not perfect didn’t deter him.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on March 7, 2011
“You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him.” Booker T. Washington
A friend of mine used to tell me how she’d be mad at her boyfriend, and he wouldn’t even know. “We’re fighting,” she’d say, “And he has no idea.” It was clear to her that she was expending energy with her anger and frustration, and it wasn’t affecting him at all.
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