SkillInside

I believe that morning habits are especially important. If you want to be successful, a set of good morning rituals that you follow faithfully can make a big difference. The probability of your success may well depend on the choices you make about how to spend those critical hours before your workday gets under way. Here are some elements of the morning habits of some of the most successful leaders, that I coach, do on a daily bases. Implement them yourself and watch your effectiveness increase. They start strong and start early.  Successful people tend to be up and going strong while the rest of the world is still asleep. However you choose to use it, find some quiet time to prepare for the day—ideally before anyone else is up so there are no distractions. How well you start your day determines how well you live your day. They carve out time for reflection.  Set aside time for journaling, reflection, reading, or meditation. Time spent on reflection is never wasted...

Currently, a quarter of all employees view their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The World Health Organization describes stress as the “global health epidemic of the 21st century.” Many of us now work in constantly connected, always-on, highly demanding work cultures where stress and the risk of burnout are widespread. Since the pace and intensity of contemporary work culture are not likely to change, it’s more important than ever to build resilience skills to effectively navigate your worklife. While working as a director of learning and organization development at Google, eBay and J.P. Morgan Chase, and in my current work as co-founder of the learning solutions company Wisdom Labs, I’ve seen over and over again that the most resilient individuals and teams aren’t the ones that don’t fail, but rather the ones that fail, learn and thrive because of it. Being challenged — sometimes severely — is ...

Back in my corporate years, I engaged in many forms of communication—delivering presentations, running meetings, developing proposals, sending updates and other business writing. At the time, I thought I was a competent communicator. Yet oftentimes, I became embroiled in conflicts and disagreements that went badly for me. Usually, I believed it was the other people who were in the wrong. It wasn’t until I studied communication theory and power dynamics in my marriage and family therapy training, and subsequently served as a therapist, coach and writer, that I realized how much of the success of our communication is driven by our own internal beliefs and intentions, which are often subconscious. I saw that the more we can manage our emotions, ego and intentions, and gain awareness of exactly what we are trying to communicate, the stronger our relationships will be. This increased awareness helps us build important bridges and positive relationships with the people who matter mo...