My good friend and mentor-from-a-distance, Wally Bock, announced yesterday that he will no longer be adding content to his fabulous and long-running Three Star Leadership Blog. Wally is shifting gears to focus on his book writing/coaching practice. In this article, I share my thanks and great regard for someone who has inspired me for years.
The Leadership Caffeine Blog
Breaking Out of a Personal Creativity Slump—Restarting Your Idea Machine
Like many of you, ideas are my stock in trade. Whether writing the next article, designing a new workshop or course, providing strategy advisory services for a client, or supporting my coaching clients, I have to operate with a well-oiled idea machine. When the idea machine grinds to a halt, I’m in trouble and need to find a fun, engaging, practical approach to restarting it. Here are 14 hacks I use to restart mine:
Are You in Trouble if the Boss Offers a Coach?
In some organizations, “being assigned a coach” has a negative connotation. That’s too bad. If you are on the receiving end of an offer from your boss to take on a coach, strive to understand the rationale and then embrace the opportunity for the learning and growth experience it offers you.
It Takes Leadership Courage to Kick Conventional Wisdom to the Curb
Resilience, according to one dictionary definition, is the capacity to absorb a shock or a punch and return quickly to original form.
Life and business are filled with shocks and punches. We’ve lived this story for the past few years. And the shocks and punches keep coming, just in different forms and from unexpected places. It takes resilience and leadership courage to absorb the hits and come out stronger.
The Secret to Leadership Success Isn’t So Secret
Every year, a ridiculous number of books are written on leadership, and we consume them in volume, hoping to find the secret to leadership success. It’s not that hard, and it’s not a secret. Just ask them what they need from you.
A Simple, Powerful Fix for Feedback Problems on Your Team
Of all the challenges managers at all levels face, delivering constructive (and even positive) feedback is near the top of the list. There’s good reason—it’s a confusing topic that even the experts who study human psychology and neuroscience disagree on, despite mountains of research. Here are four ideas to help strengthen your feedback culture and effectiveness.
Why You Should Maintain a Professional Journal—Twenty Prompts to Help You Get Started
Journaling is one of the most powerful continuous improvement tools we can use in our working lives, yet many are unsure of how to get started. Here’s some guidance and twenty journaling prompts to help:
Leadership Reminders from My Summer Vacation as a Wedding Officiant
We write and talk about succeeding as managers and leaders in this world. We spend a lot of money on training. Your humility, commitment to creating a personal experience for everyone, and your authenticity in leading from the heart may be most of what you need to succeed in your important role.
How Will You Describe the Leader You Aspire to Be?
If you are interested in taking that next step as a leader, it pays to silence the outside voices and spend some time mining your experiences, influences, and aspirations.
Leadership Caffeine Jam Session #3: All About Tuning Your Communication Skills for Success
We’re live on January 14 at noon central with the latest (free) Leadership Caffeine Jam Session entitled: The Persuasive Power of the Right Words in the Right Order Said the Right Way. No slides, no pitches, plenty of ideas and interaction!










