The eighth in a monthly series of 11 posts presenting my thinking and experience on the topic of coaching. Assuming you want to make a difference as a leader and coach, here’s a question for you: When you look at your own communication habits, do you tend more towards speaking for others (“We, you, they”) or are you more likely to speak for self (I, me, my”)? I consider it a leadership weakness to assume that one can speak for others. Leadership communication reflects gre

The seventh in a monthly series of 11 posts. With few exceptions, the leaders I work with understand the importance of listening and asking good questions. They’ve been through training programs that emphasize these habits, and they’ve heard the litany of reinforcing slogans: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” “If you want obedience, tell. If you want deeper thinking, ask.” “People learn more from questions than

The sixth in a monthly series of 11 posts. Karina has two bosses. Most young managers wouldn’t prefer that, but Karina relishes it. She likes that each of her bosses offers her a different perspective. When Karina encounters a knotty problem, she presents it to Boss #1 or Boss #2 depending on which perspective she values most for that particular problem. Not long ago, one of Karina’s top performers, Damian, announced that his wife, a breast cancer survivor, had suffered