“All agree the President has complete power to pardon,” tweeted Trump recently. Constitutional questions aside, pardoning family and pardoning oneself is a tone-deaf, provocative example of a leader’s abuse of power. If you have been following American news at all, you know that Trump has craved, if not demanded, loyalty. Loyalty from his colleagues, his party,
Today I woke up to yet another report of Trump tweeting badly: he had posted a mock video of himself tackling and beating a man with a CNN logo superimposed on his head. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/02/business/media/trump-wrestling-video-cnn-twitter.html Although his Homeland Security Deputy apparently thinks otherwise, Trump’s message is unambiguous: he intends to bring down people or institutions that criticize him–violently if
With his recent midnight tweet, President Trump all but broke the Internet. It’s not only that the tweet was incoherent, but also, that it was alarming. Speculation as to its meaning ran rampant: Did he have a stroke? Was he signaling the Russians with a secret code? Or maybe it was just a typo? Six hours
It has come to my attention that I am not open. Or at least, not as open as I thought. Last year, I had an extended period of feeling professionally stale and under-challenged. Although I’d been casting around for something new, little had seemed to spark me. So, as any good coach would do, I asked myself, “What would I suggest
In recent weeks, the world has been reeling in the wake of multiple tragic, harrowing, and/or paradigm-shattering events. Worse, there has been almost no time between incidents to integrate what it all means, nor to assess where we might (or must) go from here. We are imperiled in a way that is unprecedented in human history. People everywhere are expressing
I’ve just weathered my most miserable work-related failure to date. I won’t bore you with the details, but the basic facts are these: •I set a BHAG (big, hairy, audacious goal.) •I went ALL IN. •Leaving no stone unturned, I did everything in my power to reach my BHAG. •I willed myself to persevere, despite numerous
For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need
The VP who has an “open door policy,” but a closed mind. The director who talks incessantly about his hobby. The supervisor who plays favorites. The coworker who over-shares about her personal life. What do these people have in common? Whether they know it or not, each of them has a professional persona crisis. More
In my previous post, I introduced the topic of crafting professional persona. In this 2nd of a 5-part series, I will dive a bit more deeply into the elements of professional persona. I will also suggest actions you can take to present yourself more accurately and more positively. The 4 elements of professional persona are: •Technical Competence •Social Skills
“Professional persona” (a term often used interchangeably with “personal branding”) is what brings nearly all of my clients in for coaching. Many are seeking to increase managerial or executive “presence,” while others are digging out from behaviors that have besmirched their professional reputations. Whether they are seeking to expand or to rehabilitate their personae, knowing just what “professional