The Thoughtful Leaders Blog
Posted by Lisa Kohn on December 22, 2011
How can a stomach virus possibly be a good thing? How can it yield inspiration for a thoughtful leadership lesson? Am I being too “Pollyanna-ish” – looking for the good in situations and circumstances that truly only stink?
With nothing much to do yesterday but recuperate from the stomach bug that knocked me out two days ago, I had time to contemplate this…endlessly. Those who know me know that I always, or almost always, look for good in everything and everyone I can. Perhaps, some might say, to a fault. So as I lay in bed yesterday with nothing much to do because I didn’t have the strength yet to be productive, I thought this through.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on November 28, 2011
“Half an hour’s meditation is essential except when you are very busy. Then a full hour is needed.” Francis de Sales
Recently I took a month off from work. I shut off my computer, cleaned up my office, forwarded my phone, let clients know I’d be away for a month, and stopped. My intention was to simply become more of a “human being” rather than a “human doing,” as well as to enjoy being a stay-at-home mom with my son’s last summer before kindergarten.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on August 1, 2011
“Sometimes I go about pitying myself, and all the while I am being carried across the sky by beautiful clouds.” Ojibway Indian saying
Years and years ago a very good friend of mine helped me enormously. I was talking with him, I suppose endlessly, about a situation I was facing. I was complaining, I suppose also endlessly, about how hard it was and how confused, lost, and hurting I was. My friend had listened to me discuss this same subject many times before, and I guess he realized that I wasn’t moving through the issue. I was stuck. So he turned to me calmly and directly, and said, “Get off your pity-pot.”
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on July 7, 2011
I must admit my blog today is very personal…but Thoughtful Leadership is personal and it’s based on bringing our whole self to everything we do and every way we lead. I know my leadership today, my very essence today, is flavored by an extremely private and emotional experience, and if I’m truly living “thoughtfully” then I must acknowledge my situation, my feelings, and my thoughts.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on June 27, 2011
“It takes two to speak the truth – one to speak and another to hear.” Henry David Thoreau
Usually when I think about this quote, I envision myself in front of a classroom, emphasizing the importance of listening and truly hearing in building effective relationships. These are both important; that is an undeniable truth.
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on May 26, 2011
I have a client who is in overwhelm. How do I know? She personally told me that she has thousands and thousands of unread emails…that she will never get to. And everyone around her has confidentially told me that my client simply promises too much, overcommits, and just plain old “works too hard.” In essence, she “overpromises” and “underdelivers” – which is the exact opposite of what we coach our clients to do. We strongly suggest that they “underpromise” and “overdeliver” – thereby giving themselves some breathing space and wowing those around them with on-time (and even early) delivery of stellar results.
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Posted by Chatsworth Consulting Group on March 28, 2011
“Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but paddling like the dickens underneath.” Michael Caine
When things get frantic, do you get frantic? Can those who work with you and live with you notice your frenetic energy? And do they then get frantic themselves? An essential leadership skill – whether you’re leading an organization, a team, a project, or a family – is to learn to flow with the chaos and show a calm demeanor to the people around you.
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on March 4, 2011
 I was really, really tired. It was mid-day and I could feel the pressure mounting of everything that had to get done and all there was to cross off my to-do list…but I was really, really tired. I swear it felt as if my head was pulsing and my eyes just wanted to drift close.
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on January 7, 2011
I have a coaching client (I’ll call her Jane) who convinced me today that failure can truly be a good thing.
We were catching up during our session this morning, and Jane related to me a few episodes where she had “failed,” and where those failures worked out in the long run and gave her much more than she might have received had she “succeeded.”
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Posted by Lisa Kohn on December 24, 2010
My clients never cease to inspire me – and each year, as the year draws to an end, I reflect on the lessons they have taught me. Here is what I learned in 2010:
- Nothing is more important than taking care of yourself – because if you don’t, you have nothing to give. Without the rest, exercise, space, reflection, food…whatever it is that fuels you, you are not able to lead, or take care of, others. As they say, “put your own oxygen mask on first.”
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View Robyn McLeod's profile
Great point, sometimes we are blocking the forest staring at one tree.
Yes – staring at that one tree keeps us from moving on…
Thanks Lisa, need to remember the important things in life always find a way to get done.
Thanks Dwight – And I often have to remember that they often get done quicker and easier if I don’t stress!