Food for Thought
Welcome to the HardTalk Biz Coaching Blog.
When you nurture your intellectual curiosity through reading, when you seriously entertain someone else’s perspective, and when you seek out professional opinions, thought-provoking articles, and contrarian views, I believe it leaves you enriched and wiser. I wish you inspired reading and reflecting and I welcome your comments on my posts.
Additional Reading: Some of My Many Favorite Books
A good book for me is one that provides me with multiple perspectives, one that confronts me with thought-provoking questions, and one that offers contrarian narratives so I can reflect in new ways and multiply my options. Let me offer you ten of the many books I think are excellent vehicles to expand your mind:
- The Business of Belief, Tom Asacker
- Moments of Impact, Chris Ertel and Lisa Kay Solomon
- Transparency – How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor, Warren Bennis, Daniel Goleman, and James O’Toole
- The Leadership Challenge and The Truth about Leadership, James Kouzes and Barry Posner
- Managing Transitions, William Bridges
- How to Keep People from Pushing Your Buttons, Albert Ellis and Arthur Lange
- The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle
- Humble Inquiry, Edgar H. Schein
- Beyond Blame – Learning from Failure and Success, Dave Zwieback
- Just Culture – Restoring Trust and Accountability in Your Organization, Sidney Dekker
Coaching In 60 words
There are more theories, definitions, and books on coaching than we need. Here’s my 60-word perspective on coaching after close to three decades in this interesting field. Observing sharply Thinking systemically Confronting self-deception Discovering blind spots...
read moreSomething to think about…
Two excerpts from Lao Tsu in the Tao Te Ching. I hope they get you thinking and reflecting. I hope they inspire you. If the leader guides the people, he must serve with humility. If the leader leads them, he must follow behind. In this way, when the leader rules, the...
read moreA Step-by-Step Framework for Candid Conversations
The why and whereto of candid conversations have been covered in some of my previous blog posts. Today I focus on the how-to: Tell the person you have something difficult to say. Optional: Warn the person that she/he might be upset with your message. Say it...
read moreStraight-Talk – From Stress and Struggle to Success
To my relief, candor, transparency, and straight talk increasingly show up in articles and discussions. It is much needed. As much as many workplace and other conversations benefit from subtlety and nuance, at least as many conversations are in great need of honest,...
read moreJust Some Questions for You, That’s All
Part of my early morning routine is starting my MacBook in search for the good stuff by Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Wharton School of Business, Fast Company, or a good leadership/entrepreneur blog. It provides me with...
read moreNoticing
Noticing. A skill. A gift. A necessity. Without it, you dis-engage, you dis-connect. Without it, you easily disagree, disappoint. A vast amount of business is conducted (and ruined) in the absence of really noticing. Too many interactions in the workplace (and...
read moreIt Wouldn’t Hurt …
It wouldn’t hurt you at all … … to laugh a little more about yourself and your imperfections. … to be a little more like grass: bending with strong wind instead of tensing up and wasting energy in your quest to desperately try and remain straight at all times. … to...
read moreI Wouldn’t Want You to Be Anyone’s Leader
Among many other things, inspiring and effective leadership is encouraging and enabling others to shine and perform beyond what you yourself, as the leader, are capable of. If you are afraid to surround yourself with smart people, if you feel threatened by highly...
read moreThe Puppy, The Four-Year Old, and the Maasai
Creativity and inventiveness are all around you. Do you see it when you see it? When your four-year old daughter grabs a cooking pan and proudly marches around the house with her beautiful ‘new hat’. When a Labrador puppy finds the leg of a chair to ease the...
read moreA Maasai Take on Candor?
Candor and directness play a central role in my life and in my work with businesses. Call me too impatient to tolerate beating around the bush and delaying the inevitable – there’s certainly some truth to that. There is more, however. It is my strong belief that...
read more