Articles

I have been speaking on the topic of leadership presence for several years, but only lately created a program designed for women – and the question I get most often is, “Why focus on women?” My answer is, as they say in the commercial, “Because we’re worth it!” We’re highly educated. According to the National […]

Most leaders agree that effective collaboration is more important than ever in today’s turbulent business environment. In fact, a company’s very survival may depend on how well it can combine the potential of its people and the quality of the information they possess with their ability — and willingness — to share what they know […]

Being perceived as a leader is the essence of leadership presence. While most of my coaching focuses on helping leaders enhance their presence in face-to-face encounters, I also realize that a different set of skills is required for projecting leadership presence when communicating virtually. Communication mediums run a spectrum from “lean” to “rich.” A lean medium […]

Effective leadership depends on the ability to inspire, influence, and positively impact people. You already know that. In preparing for an important meeting – with your staff, leadership team, or clients – you concentrate on what to say, memorize crucial points, and rehearse your presentation so that you will come across as credible and convincing. […]

During a break in my seminar on collaborative leadership, a man from the audience told this story: “My wife is an attorney, and I have always been a supporter of women in the workplace. I also believe in collaboration and try to make everyone feel included and appreciated. So I was totally taken aback when […]

Sandra was introduced to me as a highly successful business professional with exceptional leadership skills. She was being groomed for a top executive position, and she sounded perfect for my favorite kind of coaching assignment. I love working with accomplished women who are looking to become even more effective. It should have come as a […]

Human beings are genetically programmed to look for facial and behavioral cues and to quickly understand their meaning. We see someone gesture and automatically make a judgment about the intention of that gesture. And we’ve been doing this for a long, long time. As a species we knew how to win friends and influence people […]

Last year I gave a seminar on “leadership presence” for the executive team of a high-tech company in Northern California. The next day, the president of the company telephoned: “I have an administrative assistant who is the brightest, most creative person I’ve worked with. The problem is, we are relocating and she can’t move her […]

Body language plays a key role in your career – from your first job interview to the ongoing process of building professional relationships to being perceived as having leadership presence. But not everything you’ve heard about body language is accurate. Don’t limit your success by buying into these ten myths: Using body language to make […]

A customer-centric culture is not just about offering good service. It’s a way of doing business that provides a positive customer experience before, during and after the sale in order to drive repeat business, customer loyalty and profits. Elements of customer centricity include: Employees understand what customers want. They capture customer insights and share this […]

I’ve been speaking on change leadership for over 25 years, but only recently have researchers been able to use technology like functional magnetic resonance imagery (fMRI) to look at the brain and see what actually happens when we’re facing a major organizational change. Most of our daily activities including many of our work habits are […]

With flatter management structures, increased outsourcing, the move toward collaborative cultures, and the ongoing formation of cross-functional teams, the criterion for the job of leader is changing. More and more people are assigned to leadership roles in which they have no positional authority. The goal of leadership without authority is to get others to willingly […]

One my most popular speaking topics is “The Power of Collaborative Leadership.” The topic’s popularity stems from corporate clients around the world realizing that “silo mentality” and knowledge hoarding behaviors are wasting the kind of collective brainpower that could save their organization billions. Or lead to the discovery of a revolutionary new process or product. […]

There are two sets of body language cues that followers look for in leaders: warmth (empathy, likeability) and authority (power, status). Although I know several leaders of both sexes who do not fit the stereotypes, I’ve also observed that gender differences in body language most often do align with these two groupings. Women are the […]

Let’s face it, in business dealings, charisma counts. A lot. And charisma is as much about body language and impression management as it is about issues and substance. I’ve seen many qualified people get passed over for promotion (or lose a sale or fail an interview) simply because they couldn’t project a sense of professional […]