Listen So That You May Hear (And Other Tips To Lead Positive)
Laura Herring is a great listener. She leveraged this asset first as a high school counselor, then as a psychologist before embarking on her heroic leadership journey to build the first HR consulting company catering to the emotional and practical needs of relocating employees. Today I published Part 2 of my Lead Positive Profile with Laura on...
ReadTell Them A Heart Story (And Other Ways To Lead Positive)
Laura Herring knew early on that she wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. Once she found her life’s calling, supporting families going through corporate relocations, she threw her all into it—no fear. Today I published Part 1 of my Lead Positive Profile with Laura on my Psychology Today blog. In the profile, Laura discusses how...
ReadBuilding Build-A-Bear: A Heroic Leadership Journey
Today I published my Lead Positive Profile with Maxine Clark, retail innovator and founder of Build-A-Bear on my Psychology Today blog. In the profile, Maxine details her Heroic Leadership Journey*—from answering The Call to step down as President of Payless ShoeSource to facing the Supreme Ordeal that was the Great Recession. Here are some of the most inspirational quotes...
ReadHow To Find Your Authentic Path (More Lead Positive Tips from Robbie Vorhaus)
As a renowned crisis expert and communications strategist, Robbie Vorhaus teaches others that finding their authenticity is the key to happiness and fulfillment. In his recently published book, One Less. One More. – Follow Your Heart. Be Happy. Change Slowly, he explains what happens when you choose to follow your heart, do what you love,...
ReadWhose Story Are You Telling? Lead Positive Tips from Robbie Vorhaus
I interviewed Robbie Vorhaus, renowned crisis expert and communications strategist and author of One Less. One More. Follow Your Heart. Be Happy. Change Slowly, to find out. According to Robbie, your story is not what happens to you, it’s what you do with what happens to you. Defining your own circumstances and following your heart...
ReadThe Leader as Hero: 5 Essential Daily Acts
I often talk to leaders about putting themselves in the role of “Hero” as they tell their stories. Using the Hero’s Journey as a framework for explaining your vision and how you and your team will get there is a powerful tool to get people on board and start feeling the excitement of taking on...
ReadWhat Could Possibly Go Wrong? Pre-Mortems as a Strategic AND Motivational Leadership Tool
On a recent Freakonomics Radio podcast, the authors of that best-selling book—Stephen J. Dubner and Steve Levitt—decided to focus on a key Asset-Based Thinking principle: Failure is Your Friend. Of course, I was intrigued! The topic stems from the authors’ new book, Think Like A Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain,...
ReadGoing From Setback to Bounce Back
Failing fast. Sounds good in theory but in practice it can feel very wrong—and be very painful. For most of our lives we’ve been told that failure is not an option. So despite the obvious benefits of experimentation, bouncing back from failure—much less bouncing back “fast”—remains a lofty ideal. And the challenges of failing fast...
ReadRough Weather Makes Good Timber or How Asset-Based Thinking Came To Be
If my brother Jim had not died when he was 22 of a usually easy-to-survive illness called mononucleosis, I am sure I never would have written 9 books. I know I would not have founded The Stress Center at Saint Louis University. I certainly would not have dedicated my career to discovering what it takes...
Read