Tag
Leadership
The Feedback Sandwich Is Broken: What Leaders Should Do Instead
I was sitting in church this weekend when my pastor asked a question that stopped me mid-note-taking. “When you’re about to get good news and bad news,” he said, “which do you want first?” He asked the congregation to raise their hands. Overwhelmingly, people wanted the bad news first. Then he made a claim that...Read More
What a Power Chain Taught Me About Leading Organizational Change
Organizational change rarely fails because leaders choose the wrong strategy. More often, it fails because organizations mistake discomfort for failure. Every meaningful transformation creates resistance before it creates results. Ironically, I learned one of the best lessons about leading change while sitting in my orthodontist’s chair. Eight months into braces, I thought I knew what...Read More
Why Eating Dessert First Might Beat Eating the Frog
There are many gurus out there who say “eat the frog” first thing in your day, especially in sales, getting the hardest thing or the thing you dread out of the way to ensure it gets done. I’ve taught this for years. I’ve tried it myself. It works, in the sense that the hard thing...Read More
Why High-Achieving Leaders Still Feel Behind (Even When They’re Winning)
“I Feel Like I’m Sucking as a Leader” Several high-performing leaders have said those exact words to me in coaching sessions this year. In retrospect, I recall saying the exact same words in my leadership roles! Sales are up. Teams are hitting targets. Peers are asking for their input. From the outside, these leaders look...Read More
Why Trust Matters More Than Talent in High-Performing Teams
Your team is keeping score. Not on productivity metrics or quarterly goals, though they notice those too. They’re tracking something more fundamental: whether you do what you say you’ll do. Whether your words match your actions. Whether it’s safe to tell you the truth. You can see it in the small behaviors that shift when...Read More
From Conga Line to Cohesion: What a Dance Party Taught Me About Leadership and Human Behavior
When I step on stage as a keynote speaker, my goal isn’t just to motivate people; it’s to move them. Literally and figuratively. Sure, most keynote speakers aim to inspire reflection, and that’s important. But I want my audiences to experience something — to feel it in their bodies. Because what we feel, we remember....Read More
Coaching, Not Correction: The Real Fix for Underperformance at Work
Underperformance Is a Symptom. Coaching Is the Cure. When performance dips, most leaders rush to look at the numbers. Revenue, KPIs, close rates – you name it. But here’s the twist: numbers don’t coach people. People coach people. And underperformance? It’s rarely about effort. It’s almost always a gap in clarity, consistency, or confidence. Research...Read More
Design Your Leadership Path | Leadership Career Growth Tips
What’s your next move? It’s a question that stumps more mid-level leaders than you might expect, not for lack of ambition, but for lack of clarity. A McKinsey report found that only 40% of women and 52% of men in middle management feel confident navigating their leadership trajectory. At the same time, 86% of employees...Read More
Stop Saying ‘Grind’, Start Saying ‘Build’
It’s no secret that we as a society have glamorized overwork. A thriving culture that asks ‘if you aren’t putting in 80 hour weeks at the office under a framed “rise & grind” poster, what exactly are you doing with your life?” Which is exactly why I’m still ruminating over a conversation that I had...Read More
Episode 085: The Power Of Podcasting with Donnie Boivin
“I tell everybody, you want to figure out what you are made of? Launch your own business. I don’t know any other tool, in the world, that will make you grow up, level up, figure yourself out faster than launching your own business.” – Donnie Boivin On this episode of The Pivotal Leader, Gina Trimarco...Read More