Decision-making should not solely be a leader-centric activity. Facilitating decision-making should be. That means delegation and trust in your team members. But when appropriate decision-making falls on your shoulders as a leader, would you ever consider extending that same trust to your gut? Your instinct? Your intuition? Data-driven decision-making, engaged in through the … [Read more...]
Overlooked for a Merited Leadership Opportunity? Here’s How to Overcome the Rejection
I am curious why, if what her close aides and advisors said was true, Kamala Harris was reluctant to put her female identity as part of her presidential campaign when Hillary Clinton partly staked hers, when she ran, on being the first female president. I suppose the fact that some of Clinton's supporters were attacked as 'vag*** voters' and that she didn't succeed did not help … [Read more...]
More Women Are Getting To Sit at Leadership Tables, But Are They Empowered To Lead Authentically as Females?
I sat quietly, intending to simply observe, at a recent meeting for healthcare women executives and leaders. The discussion at hand was about mentoring emerging women leaders. One of the executives, when asked about what could be some of the challenges related to the topic, mentioned that in her opinion there were two: Those who were up there in leadership are already very … [Read more...]
The Challenges and Gifts of Being a Female Minority Entrepreneur
As the daughter of a Mexican immigrant who was raised by my Jewish grandmother, I was introduced to the beauty of embracing my unique mix of cultures from a young age. I'm very proud of who I am and where I come from. A long line of warrior women have allowed me to be the business owner and key figure of Chicago's business community that I am today, and in all that I do, I … [Read more...]
Gratitude, Wonder, and Lessons from Elliot
This is the time of year when every post, article, and email blast centers around the concept of gratitude. We all love encouraging and hopeful stories that highlight humility, appreciation, and generosity of time, money, and spirit. Being grateful for acts of kindness and generosity is compelling and healing, but rather than focus on this concept directly, I want to take this … [Read more...]
Are You Addicted to the Busy-ness of Your Business?
I’ve been re-reading my favorite Brené Brown books lately: Daring Greatly, The Gifts of Imperfection, and Rising Strong. Her words always feel so relevant and on point for me as an entrepreneur. In Daring Greatly, she points to Teddy Roosevelt’s speech made April 23, 1910 in Paris: It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or … [Read more...]
The Precious Predicament
I had the opportunity to witness the final day of a week-long Tibetan monk mandala creation in Santa Barbara, California. The tradition for this type of Buddhist mandala is to represent an ideal of a perfect universe, transforming our ordinary human minds into a state that is enlightened. The Sanskrit meaning of the word mandala is ‘circle’, and these art pieces are a … [Read more...]
Why Your Feedback May Not Be Getting Results: 5 Antidotes to Bad Feedback
When you hear the word “feedback” what comes up for you? Do you welcome it or cringe and run for the hills? My guess is most of us are at the latter edge of the spectrum. Why? Because most of us have been the receiver of unhelpful feedback at best or feedback that damaged relationships at worst. If you’re in a position where you give feedback (and really this should happen … [Read more...]
You Don’t Owe Anyone Anything. We Owe Ourselves Everything.
You may feel a bit ruffled by the title of this post. But wait?! Isn’t that selfish and egotistical? Before your thoughts go there, think about this: how often have you said yes when you really wanted to say no? How many times have you sacrificed something you wanted, or didn’t know what you wanted, because you were so focused on pleasing someone else? How much does getting … [Read more...]
3 Ways to Cultivate Presence
If I were to sum up my conversations with clients over the last year or so, one of the most common things that comes up is that people are moving away from “doing” and toward “being.” After being on the career treadmill (or, ahem, mountain) for many years and two years of a pandemic (among other life challenges), people are realizing that there is another way to live life. … [Read more...]