What can smart leaders do to avoid making decision errors that lead to business and career bloopers? You can start by reading Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath as well as Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Working with an executive coach can raise your level of awareness about your own thinking. It can be helpful to [...]

If you haven’t read this great book on decision making, I suggest you do: Nobel Prize laureate Daniel Kahneman writes in Thinking, Fast and Slow (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011): My intuitive thinking is just as prone to overconfidence, extreme predictions, and the planning fallacy as it was before I made a study of these [...]

I’m curious about business decision process and I’ve been thinking about how even smart leaders can make the wrong choices. For one thing, I’ve been reading Chip and Dan Heath’s new book Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work (Random House Digital, Inc., 2013). The Heath brothers are professors who have several bestsellers [...]

As a leader, your career depends on making the right decisions: From what you say, to what you do, to how you delegate and spend resources. The normal state of your mind is that you have intuitive feelings and opinions about almost everything that comes your way. ~ Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize laureate in economics. [...]

I’m intrigued about the brain and what neuroscientists are discovering. It’s especially important that leaders look at ways they can develop their brain fitness on-the-job, to keep ahead of the curve. Brain fitness is a key competitive advantage for anyone who aspires to higher levels of responsibilities at work. The higher your responsibilities, the more [...]

I don’t think anyone would disagree: leaders who excel in their positions have brains that are highly efficient at handling complexities and stress. Beyond being born with high intelligence, however, they recognize the need for continually strengthening their brains.  In a November 2007 Harvard Business Review article, professors Roderick Gilkey and Clint Kilts describe the [...]

As a busy executive, you barely have time to get enough physical exercise into your schedule. And now it’s just as important you keep your brain fit and strong if you want a competitive advantage as a high potential leader. The American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes of moderate physical exercise five days a week. [...]

“People don’t need to be managed; they need to be unleashed.” ~ Richard Florida, Professor of Urban Theory In 1974, William Oncken wrote one of the two bestselling articles in Harvard Business Review: “Management Time: Who’s Got the Monkey?” The piece compares an employee’s dilemma to a monkey. When the manager takes on the problem-solving [...]

An effective corporate coaching conversation requires an environment where people feel safe enough to explore their thoughts and reach new insights. In David Rock’s book Quiet Leadership, the author suggests four elements should be in place: Permission: “Is this a good time to talk and explore your thinking?” Placement: “Let’s see if you can come [...]

I’ve been writing about the need for managers and leaders to improve performance by helping employees to think better and improve their abilities to problem solve. Until managers learn to do this, they will continue to contribute to employee disengagement.. Starting a executive coaching conversation is an ideal way to encourage self-directed learning. How do [...]