Your 10 Step Career and Life Plan for 2024
After two decades as a CEO in various roles there are definitely distinct lessons I've learned over time from the challenges and successes I have experienced. I share these at this time of year because I know you may be thinking about the New Year. When we put thought into our actions we end up with results. When we let the year carry us without intention, we often end up disappointed.
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Here are '10 Lessons from the Corner Office' and a link to a FREE tool to help you plan your career with intention in  2024.
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- When we focus on what we have to give instead of what there is to get we realize our value.
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- When we are curious and compassionate, we become servant leaders instead of command and control dictators.
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- There is power in having your bossâs back. Find a way to do that or go somewhere you can. Donât stay and poison yourself, your persona, and the culture.
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- Good people leave organizations because of bad managers who donât position them to learn and advance ...
The Problem Behind the Problem
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Compassion is Hard When We Have Nothing Left to Give
Compassion is powerful. We all think we have it. And then we see something that makes us uncomfortable and we forget how to show it.
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đ Iâve been paralyzed by this too. I had to work on how to feel, then demonstrate compassion when I had little of it for myself during a difficult divorce.
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đ Lack of compassion shows up when someone close to you is grieving and you donât know what to say or do so you avoid, when someone is suffering and you start wondering if their situation might happen to you, when you start comparing their situation to yours, when youâre frustrated that you canât fix their situation, and when youâre so spent you donât have anything left to give.
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đ In all of these instances we make someone elseâs suffering about us. Yes. Weâre in our own heads and not their pain.
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đł At work and in life this can look like detachment, cold, unfeeling, self-consumed, and ambition driven.
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â Compassion is an action. It is where you demonstrate your consideration and that y...
Can We Please Normalize PTO?
Can we all please normalize appreciating PTO. Arnie and I decided a long time ago that we have to be the ones to prioritize our wellbeing. We didnât wait for retirement to get the beach house. We donât wait for retirement to travel. We donât wait for retirement to regularly visit our children out of town. We donât wait for retirement to take up hobbies, new sports, creative endeavors, meet new friends. We donât have a bucket list. We live it every day.Â
I've spent most of my career as an execuitive at hospitals all to often seeing people retire, think they're going to do everything they've been waiting their whole lives to do, and an illness stops them in their tracks. Don't wait. Scale your dreams to what is reasonable and live them now.
Arnie and I are both high achievers and realize that sometimes doing our best means reflecting on whatâs in the way of that happening.Â
The American culture has convinced many people that the work treadmill is necessary for success. That you must p...
Five Things I Learned on My Family Vacation
Recently, my family was together for a summer vacation and get-together in my hometown. Some of my family live here. My oldest daughter and her husband and two children came to visit. Additionally, four of our other children who live here got together in some form with the group nearly every day over a 10-day timeframe. There was much laughter, deep conversations, some drama and a lot of love. Â Â
I was a little sad when everyone left to go home to their daily lives. I was a little surprised by some things that occurred last week and questioned why some things are the way they are. Mostly, I felt full - full of being loved and giving love. I will share how I got to this pace despite drama and how I stay there. Even if I wander off the path, I know how to get back on it to get home. Â
A long time ago I read the book The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and the advice always serves me well.
#1) Be impeccable with your word.
#2) Don't take anything personally.
#3) Don't make assumpt...
You Must Choose One of the Two
Some people get up every morning and love their workout. Iâve been working out five mornings a week for years and Iâve hated it every single day.Â
Hate is a strong word. But Iâm pretty sure that sums it up. And the truth is I never expect that to change. So itâs ok. I just do it because I feel, look, and move better with this discipline. I would regret not feeling this freedom otherwise.Â
Iâm not a structured person by nature. I never read directions, like standing in line, or understand hierarchy.Â
But I do understand the value of discipline even though it doesnât come naturally to me.Â
Why?Â
Because Iâm motivated by avoiding the pain of regret. I donât live in regret. Itâs defeating.Â
Itâs why I track mindful daily practices every day (yoga, meditation, slowly drinking a glass of water) to keep me in the present moment so I can be self-aware enough to control my runaway thoughts and emotions.Â
Because those thoughts tell me I donât have time for woo-woo stuff like that. Yet I ...
Why Sometimes You Feel Small
Judgment is never helpful. It makes us artificially feel big when in fact it is a covering for feeling small. Life isnât binary. There is a lot of grey between black and white. When we can be still enough to be aware of the grey we can honor the emotion that needs to be released so that we may see the clearing that calls us. Everyone is not called to the same path. The world is big. We can allow for lots of paths. We just have to be willing to walk our path alone. Thatâs self-acceptance. Thatâs knowing that weâre always evolving and learning. Thatâs being satisfied. Thatâs peace.Â
We arenât victims of our lives, we are conductors.Â
We need reminders to help us stay on our path. Mindful routines do this. Each morning I do yoga, drink a slow glass of water, meditate, set three daily goals and set a daily intention. These routines take less than 30 minutes and help me start my day fresh, aware and totally focused on how I choose to live my life.Â
How do you stay on your path? What rout...
Managing Staff in Today's Culture
Every office is struggling with hiring and employee retention. I read and study it with fascination. The Industrial Age left employees with few options and they stayed because it was safe. The Information Age inspired a standard of living that employees aspired to and climbing the corporate ladder was what kept people motivated. After the economic crash of 2008 the Social Age emerged where people want quality of life because the economy and jobs are too unforgiving and unstable. We have to adapt because creating cultures that play to past Age dynamics are not working.Â
Create an environment where employees have an opportunity to learn, grow, expand, explore. Options are abundant for employees. Contracts and incentives to stay donât work. Donât expect their loyalty or that they need you because your company is the biggest, or that the safety of their secure job will keep them. Theyâll leave for a better opportunity to challenge themselves. You must be their âalways better.âÂ
I bring m...
When People Around You Are Quiet Quitting
How many of you have seen this? You work in a culture where mediocrity is the norm. Where there is no incentive to be more dedicated because the underperformers are allowed to do the minimum. Where much is expected and there is little appreciation or reward.
There is a term for people who want to do the minimum of what is expected and nothing more. "Quite Quitting." I've seen this term debated and justified many times. Some cultures are so toxic that people quiet quit just to maintain their sanity. Other people become so disgruntled with their boss, having been passed over for promotion, an unfair distribution of work, or some other practice that they become tired, burned out and angry. Quiet quitting is intentional and becomes a survival mechanism.
My take on it is this - We don't get chosen for employment. We choose employers. We apply, interview and accept a position. We aren't entitled to work anywhere. We choose to. If we aren't happy there we can choose to have a discussion wit...
Two Phrases to Use When Giving Your Boss Negative Feedback, According to a CEO and Executive Coach
    Your boss is driving you crazy. You feel as if they donât understand what itâs like to actually do the work. They arenât considering the consequences of their words or decisions. They play the political game too often to be trusted. And their vision is self-serving or flawed.
    Collaborative teams where character rich colleagues work in alignment with servant leader bosses are ideal but not often the case. Everyone has an ego and bad bosses usually have the biggest.
    Managing the dance with ego is essential at work and in life. There are two egos in a boss/direct report relationship â theirs and yours. You want to anticipate theirs and regulate your own. This requires subduing your need to be right. You donât need to be right, just get it right.
    Negative feedback is a misnomer in todaysâ work environment. The purpose of feedback at work is to help a person improve interpersonally and strategically so that they can be more productive. For someone to grow, they have t...