Recently I had the opportunity to hear Maya Angelou speak to an audience at ASU. Now 83 years old, Dr. Angelou was as entertaining and inspirational as I had anticipated. She told stories, recited poetry, sang, and delivered her wisdom with humor. One of the themes she underscored was that courage is the most important virtue “because without courage, you wouldn’t be able to practice all the other virtues”. Read more
After a 22-year career with the company, Rose became part of a downsizing. Though her severance package was fairly generous, she was very anxious about finding a job, as she was a single mother with the pressures of a high mortgage in California. After two months, Rose was offered a position with the same company in a different department. Though she was overqualified and the salary was less than what she had been earning previously, she accepted the offer. Her family’s and friends’ nervousness about her situation reverberated through the phone lines with a loud and clear message: YOU BETTER TAKE IT. Rose took their advice but inside her spirits sunk with the unmistakable feeling of taking “multiple steps backwards”. Read more
Ever start a new endeavor where, right from the onset, you weren’t sure whether you would be successful? I observe this fairly often during the coaching process. The words might not actually be spoken but I’ll feel them. Someone will be a few weeks into a coaching program and I can hear the doubtful thoughts enter the room with a thud. What if this doesn’t work for me? Can I do it? Sure it works for other people, but will it work for me? Read more
Nine years ago I was sitting in a conference room with my colleague, Joan. We were girding up to tackle the task of creating a brand new graphic exhibit for the company’s corporate briefing center of which I was the director. This job, one of many within a larger project, felt particularly daunting. Even though we had traversed this territory successfully before, this time was different. We felt the pressure of wanting to make it bigger and better and were concerned about communicating the exact right message. And once again, the deadline loomed. We had allowed our creativity to be squelched and were procrastinating with the best of them. Read more
Last Wednesday morning was my third opportunity to be on a local AM radio show. I had been a guest once, and then a co-host, and now I was taking another turn at co-hosting. Due to the fact that I had arrived 45 minutes early twice before, I figured I could leave the house a little later this time and still get there comfortably. Over coffee at home, I finished reviewing several articles published by the business author whom I’d be interviewing and felt well-prepared with my supply of thoughtful questions. Read more
When I was growing up in Mt. Vernon, NY, my best friend, Luisa, lived around the block from me. We would take turns meeting at each other’s houses to play or do homework, usually some combination of both. Over Luisa’s house, a regular routine would be to sneak into the kitchen’s walk-in pantry and head for the big jar filled with the most scrumptious cookies made by Grandma Luisa, after whom my friend was named. Sometimes the cookies would still be warm, having been added to the jar straight from the oven. They were round like a biscuit but spongy on the inside, and lightly brown on the outside with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar. Boy, were they good! Read more
Knowing I have a voracious appetite for things inspirational, a friend of mine gave me a calendar that has a different quotation each month. One of them, in particular, struck me: Read more
A financial services professional wanted to increase his confidence level when giving presentations to his prospective clients. I asked him, “When you are confident, what do you notice?” He began to list the conditions for confidence: Being relaxed, having a conversation that is natural and not forced, making a real connection with the person, keeping eye contact, being expressive, enjoying it, having good posture and standing tall, breathing, fully listening, and believing that I am giving a gift to the other person. Read more