Dana Gallagher, MPH, PA, CHIC

Archive 2014

The Sky’s The Limit: Risk

Typically I write my blog first, and then find a photo to support the content. This time, I was looking through my archives and found this photo of the sky. I love the photo, and what immediately popped to mind was, “The sky’s the limit!” This thought would not let me go, as if there were

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Stepping into “The New Normal”

Unless you have been living under a very large rock, you know that our workplaces are undergoing big changes. Things we hoped would change are changing (yay!) and things we thought were givens are changing too. Despite knowing that swift and continual change has become “the new normal,” many people have not yet taken this in. Recently, a

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Energy over Time: Part II

In my previous post “Energy Over Time: Part I,” I discussed spending your energy wisely, by tackling your most important tasks at times when you have the most mental acuity. In this post, I’ll be looking at some of the less obvious–but vitally important–aspects of stewarding your energy for the long haul. As I mentioned in the previous

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Energy over Time: Part I

Many of my clients ask me for help with “time management.” Their schedules are over-run with meetings, projects, and tasks that they worry will never get done. Although this is a common complaint in today’s workplace, I’m not convinced that this is actually a “time management” problem. Undoubtedly there are people who have poor time management

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Lead into Gold: Coaching as Alchemy*

Recently I saw an advertisement announcing the 25th anniversary edition of Paulo Coelho’s book “The Alchemist.”** I remembered enjoying the book when I first read it, but had totally forgotten the story line. On a long car trip last week, I listened to it on audio, and was reminded exactly why I had so enjoyed it. Mainly, I really love the

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Negativity: The New Smoking

“Bad things come in threes.”  We hear this suspicion expressed so often that typically after “two bad somethings” happen in rapid succession, we start watching for “The Third.” In my case, there have been three client situations in the last month, where negativity was a major problem on the team and I was called to help address it. Fortuitously, I

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Suspending (Dis)Belief

One of the things I’ve learned from my acting clientele concerns the notion of “suspending disbelief”  to increase one’s engagement with a film or theatrical performance. As I understand it, “suspending disbelief” involves consciously accepting premises of a storyline that may not be realistic or pragmatically possible, and in so doing, entering a world where anything can

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When “It Is What It Is”

Imagine that when you arrive at work today, you learn that a big change has occurred–perhaps a big decision has been made, a promotion or demotion has been announced, or a new direction has been forged. And now imagine that you don’t like this change, and that this change is already a “done deal.” What

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No One Else Can Fix YOU

Recently, a client of mine made a sizable mistake, one that was causing a major setback for himself and for his team. Anguished, he asked, “Please, can you fix this?  Or better yet, can you fix ME??” Later that day, another client was complaining bitterly about one of her direct reports, whose behavior was extremely

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