The Difference Between Great and Bad Leaders is Smaller than I Thought

I want to share one of my biggest learnings that I have had over the last several months of doing deep vertical development work with a variety of executive teams. This work has involved doing 360’s and a coaching exercise that facilitates a deep introspective dive designed to help people uncover their subconscious fears, mental […]
A Central Characteristic of Those Who Are Vertically Developed: Ability to Create Space

(This blog post was inspired by a conversation with my good friend, Lisa Anna Palmer, who is a fantastic consultant and author who is on a mission to bring greater heart into the workplace. Her book is called “Light a Fire in Their Hearts: The Truth About Leadership”). To understand this article, you need to […]
Trauma & Leadership – Part 5 – Understanding Trauma Healing

Thus far in this series, I have made the case that leadership ineffectiveness is rooted in leaders’ trauma. In Part 1, I described trauma, not as events that occur to us, but on the effect that stressful situations have on the wiring in our brain. We have all experienced trauma, and it is the effects […]
Vertical Development – Mind 2.0

Vertical development is a form of development that focuses on upgrading one’s internal operating system (i.e., becoming better). It is all about enhancing one’s ability to make meaning in more cognitively and emotionally sophisticated ways.
Does Focusing on Mindsets Help with Happiness?

Lately, I have received multiple requests to try to connect a focus of mindsets to happiness. In one request, the requester said something along the lines of, “If you can connect mindsets to happiness, people will focus more on mindsets because everyone is interested in improving their happiness.” I want to make this connection, but […]
Leader: You Need to Lose Weight

Imagine going to an executive team and telling them that they all need to lose weight. How do you think they are going to respond to that? Now, of course, you are going to do this is the most tactful way possible. You are going to explain all of the benefits of eating healthy, exercising, […]
The 3 Foundational Jobs of Mindsets

To many, mindsets are a fluffy concept dealing with our state of mind. While few would say that mindsets are unimportant, the reality is that few people take mindsets as seriously as they should. The reason why we should take mindsets more seriously is because they are truly foundational to everything we do. This becomes […]
Do You See in 2-D or in 3-D?

Imagine that we live in a world where almost everyone sees in 2-D, yet a few see in 3-D. But, there is a possibility for people who see in 2-D to see in 3-D. Who is going to think and operate more effectively? In such a world, can you imagine that those who see in […]
Story From Book: How a Fixed Mindset Limited My Success

The book launch for “Success Mindsets” is two weeks away. To highlight the launch, I want to share a personal story from my book about how having a fixed mindset limited my success. Then, at the end, I’ll add on something that I have learned since then that I wish I could go back and […]
Mindsets: The Key to Leader Transformation

Riley and Jordan are two regional leaders for a large bank who have just flown into Chicago for their organization’s annual meeting, which includes a variety of leadership development trainings. In the days leading up to the training, both Riley and Jordan were encouraged to take a short personal mindset assessment. Riley’s results were largely […]