Do you need to pause more often to celebrate? Embarrassed by Success A leader recently came to a coaching session feeling a bit awkward. “I’m not sure what I want to work on today,” he admitted. “No problem, shall we find a topic together?” our coach asked. “Sure. Actually, things
What’s the last thing your team stopped doing? “It’s already too much” At a senior leadership team meeting we were facilitating, the team identified many important directions for them to focus on, improve, and forge new ground. Then someone said, “The problem is, we’ve already got so many initiatives going,
Would your team say they need more Curiosity, Courage, or Care at this moment? Team Blind Spots One of our coaches recently ran a three-month engagement with technology leaders at a large organization. The leaders were successful, sharp, deeply technical, well respected, and the business was going well. However, they
An article from our “Adaptive Hacks” series How much of what you’re avoiding is backed by evidence? A leader knew he needed to get better at saying “no,” but just like all adaptive challenges, knowing and doing are miles apart. There were many places this showed up in his week,
What happens to a skill once your team stops using it? Imagine a leader who is excited about cutting report writing time by 70% by using AI. Six months later, the tool goes down for a day right at the exact time the critical report is due to stakeholders. That
An article from our “Adaptive Hacks” series Have you ever seen the problem become the solution? The Broken Arm Tommy runs a small software firm. Last winter he broke his arm snowboarding and could no longer code. This was a disaster because the project pipeline had some demanding deadlines approaching.
When was the last time you were in awe? A Group Pause Typically our stories feature clients, but this week we’re sharing what happened at our last Adaptive Leaders team meeting. Beth asked everyone, “When was the last time you felt awe and what did that do to you?” Although
How often do you refuse requests at work? Doing Everyone Else’s Work A senior HR leader was convinced he needed to spend more time at the strategic level, but couldn’t figure out where that extra time was going to come from. “I’m already maxed out, and I’m still not finishing
Could it be that you’re frustrated about the very thing you’re not doing yourself? Recent AI Rollout Challenges Three times in recent weeks we’ve heard from leaders who are working to integrate AI into their workforce but are meeting resistance. All three are bothered by how much time they spend
In international schools, the average Head of School tenure is less than 4 years. Laurie McLellan lasted 18 years at the same school. The difference, he says, came down to a critical year he wasn’t working. The story is so compelling that we’re taking a break from our normal article
How do you line up against what 10,000 employees across 25 countries say they want from their leaders? The Leaders We Have Are Not the Leaders People Want Hogan Assessments published new research that affirms a pattern we’ve also been observing for years: leaders are often weak at the unglamorous
What if every leader you know could change, not just learn? The Problem with Coaching Programs We kept hearing the same story. A senior HR director, a dean at a business school, the GM of a business unit. They hadn’t met each other, yet .they used almost the same exact
How good is your team’s accountability? The Team Discussion No One’s Having A frustrated middle-aged manager was talking to us about her organization. “We have a major accountability problem,” she said. How is that showing up? “People aren’t finishing work on time, they’re not hitting their targets, they’re refusing to help
How can you be comfortably uncomfortable in your own skin? This is Who I Am A seasoned leader got the results of his leadership 360 and was confused by one thing. “I’m still hearing that people think I’m not decisive enough,” he said. It was something he’d heard even before
You got promoted! What could go wrong? The “Double-Edged Sword” A leader we’re working with in a transition coaching program, let’s call her Tina, is excited to have been recently promoted to lead a business unit. She has been working there longer than the other leaders in her team, and is also highly qualified, which made her the
Is your dream of work-life balance actually harming you? The Pursuit of a Dream One of the most common personal development goals we see leaders choosing in a post-Covid world is: As you can probably guess, no one is saying they need to increase their working time. One client told us, “A 60-hour work week would feel like a holiday” compared
Are you too nice? The Boss is Too Nice Business leaders sat at the round table discussion and two of them commiserated: “My staff tells me I’m too nice.” Another agreed and told this story about himself: “A member of my team has a history of making mistakes that cost the company thousands of
How well can you predict the future? The Trajectory of Interactions One of our coaching clients told us: “I’m really not looking forward to meeting with that colleague. I’m actually kind of dreading it.” “Why is that?” our coach asked. “Many times, she’ll get upset, even angry, about how the work is progressing and then
What subconscious fear makes succeeding feel dangerous? The Hidden Cost of Appreciation A leader decided his improvement goal was to show more appreciation to his team. He knew exactly what to say, who to say it to, and when. But the action plan wasn’t the problem. The problem was: there were too many potential downsides to
How intentional is your adaptivity? Natural Adaptivity We asked a successful business owner in one of the world’s largest cities, “What’s the secret to your success?” He was quick to answer: “I have an ability to accurately predict the future, see trends, and adapt to what’s happening.” He was clearly doing something right because his IT company was growing
An article from our “At Home” series What’s the relationship between appreciation and accountability outside work? The Landlord Problem (continued) Remember that story about the landlord who wouldn’t take ownership of his commitments? Well there’s another important side to the story. That couple actually really enjoyed renting from him because he did many things well: Quick replies and solutions when things broke Let them remove some
An article from our “At Home” series How can you leverage Accountability outside work? The Landlord Problem A family we know started renting a new apartment and needed the landlord to register their car so they could access the parking garage. Because of the timing, they had already started living
An article from our “At Home” series What actions are you watching to improve your life? Sleep Quality One of our friends, Jaye, recently had a huge upgrade in her sleep quality. She started trying all sorts of things to see what would have the biggest effect: No screentime an
An article from our “At Home” series How does talking about Motivations help relationships outside work? Motivations While Traveling Continuing our theme of using our Performance Leadership EMMA framework outside work, let’s see how Motivations can improve communication and alignment at home and with friends. We’ve probably all had the
An article from our “At Home” series How does clarifying Expectations help your family? Expectations at Home While we’re always delighted to see leaders implement EMMA (our Performance Leadership model) in their teams, we’ve also been very impressed when leaders take the model home. Stephie and James (not their real
How different is the current version of you? Stuck in Traffic Everyone hates being stuck in traffic. It’s not just the frustration of being later than we wanted. There is also some “metaphorical reason” we hate it: humans are designed to grow and make progress. Sitting in a car
What is the most important thing for you to improve about yourself? Story A leadership team was excited to join the Adaptive Leader Journey, but when they went to choose a personal improvement goal, it turned out to be more difficult than they expected. Improvement goals are stated like this:
How do you respond when your team doesn’t follow through on commitments? Story “We have a supportive coaching culture here, so I first asked what happened and got the whole story,” a senior leader told our coach. “And I coached him through how to solve the issues that made him
What’s so special about celebrating the New Year? Story We’re taking a break from our usual format of telling a client story. Instead we’d like to give you a collection of takeaways and insights from our clients from this past year. The purpose is the same as the purpose of
How do you know if your team is making progress? Story A CEO looked across the table at our coach. “I know what it is. You asked me to pick the one, most important thing to measure that will make all the difference. I’ve got it.” “What is it?” “Quality
How much do cross-cultural tensions cost your team’s performance? Story An Asian GM of a manufacturing company shook his head as he spoke to our coach. “It’s becoming a bigger and bigger headache for us. This is our biggest customer, but this can’t continue.” “What’s behind the headache?” our coach
How can you motivate that team member who seems stuck? Story A manager in a tech company noticed one of his star employees started underperforming. This was a surprise because it had never been a problem before. So, as many managers do, he offered a raise to the employee. Which
Which underperformers on your team need Expectations clarified for them? Story A senior leader was troubled thinking about a key person on his team. “It’s not that he’s doing a bad job. He’s actually outperforming his predecessor. And he knows it.” “Then what’s the problem?” our coach asked. “He’s just…
Where do you need to focus to improve your team’s performance? Story A leader silently stared at the screen during his remote coaching session with his Adaptive Leaders coach. He took a deep breath. “I think I know what I need to do now,” he said. “Great. What?” our
Where are you spending too much time or not enough? Story A client took the role clarity worksheet and filled in primary roles. The worksheet looks something like this: Roles Current Time Spend Desired Time Spend (e.g. Strategic planning) (e.g. 15%) (e.g. 10%) (e.g. Develop internal talent)
What challenges are you dealing within your team this week? Think of your team members as unique individuals, each with their own set of desires and goals. What lights one person up might leave another cold. In our book Performance Leadership published earlier this year, we introduce the EMMA model
An article from our “Superpowers” series What “superpowers” does your team have? Story At a recent offsite retreat, a team was asked the same question. They didn’t know how to answer for two reasons: Definition of “superpower” Hadn’t discussed this as a group So, one of our coaches led them
What areas of personal improvement are you working on these days? Story One of our coaches was doing a 360 review, talking to a middle manager about a senior manager. The two general topics for all 360 reviews are: After giving very good insight on both of those topics, the
How does your team react when you unexpectedly cannot show up? Our book, Performance Leadership, answers a single question: What can you (the leader) do to move your teams to a higher level of performance? “Performance,” in this case, generally refers to the amount of meaningful work teams produce toward
What’s the best way to increase employee engagement? Story A senior leader was frustrated that he couldn’t motivate some of his key managers. He told us he’d tried everything he knew how to do, but what worked before at his previous job wasn’t working this time. That’s when he signed
An article from our “Superpowers” series Who’s the leader you’ve worked for that you most admire? Story A senior leader told her team in a workshop: “Leadership, to me, is like acting a role in a play. I leave who I really am at home, then come to work and
When’s the last time you took a walk with a colleague? Story A team was struggling to break through silos and collaborate more. All the usual “remedies” had failed. They were just too comfortable with their own people and didn’t see any way to create REAL cross-functional collaborate. At our
Experienced leaders—and we work with some of the best of the best—got to where they are by guessing well. They can “see around corners” or even appear to see the future. This makes them extremely valuable to their organizations.
Have you ever felt like you’re using the wrong tool for the job? Story A client sat across the table and told us a story about a brilliant manager who is a nightmare to work with. “We’ve tried everything,” he said. “Coaching, training, meetings, instructions. We even sent him to
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