Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify Have you ever asked yourself the question, “Who am I?” Or has someone else asked you, “Who are you really?” Many people are pondering this question, and some are struggling to answer this fundamental question of their existence. It’s a question that begs the person asking, “Do I really understand myself?” Sometimes we do, but many times we don’t, and we need help to discover who we are. Think about the opportunities lost, conflicts created, and relationships that fell apart all because we didn’t take the time to “know thyself.” This is crucial to being the best person we…
Author: Denley McIntosh
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify In these polarizing times, corporate leaders, especially executives, are expected to navigate tough conversations where they must be truthful, integral, compassionate, and wise all at once. It’s not an easy tension, and leaders are showing how much coaching they need to balance the forces in this four-point shape. They must figure out how they can create a space of understanding where their staff may not all agree but can agree to disagree agreeably. It is critical for leaders to create this space. It is also critical for leaders to have this skill. Otherwise, workplace incivility will take over workplace…
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify When was the last time you celebrated the process of change? Feeling the rhythm and joys of change is not something most people think about. Many times, moving through change brings frustration, impatience, and stress. People often curse the change taking place. But what if we embraced change? What if we had a mindset that sees change as an opportunity to thrive, not just survive? Where would it take us? Where would it take you in your career and life? This mindset can help you navigate through the discomfort of unfamiliar situations and help you grow in your career…
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify Many people suffer from the pain of regret, which may be more intense than the pain of failure. Regret leaves us wondering what could have been, while failure gives us a clear answer. We can move on from failure, but not from regret. The ghost of regret haunts many of us as we march toward the end of our lives. It whispers to us: “If only you had more courage, if only you took some risks, things would be different now.” But we can’t change the past, we can only shape the future. And to do that, we need…
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify Have you ever faced a change that turned your life upside down? Maybe you lost your job, moved to a new country, got divorced or even lost a loved one. How did you cope with such a heavy change? Did you learn to embrace it or … resist it? In this fast-changing world, we are constantly faced with changes that challenge us in fundamental ways. However, not all changes are bad. Some changes can open up new opportunities, perspectives, and growth. Therefore, it is important to learn how to cope with heavy change and turn it into a positive…
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify Are you tired of dealing with challenging people? We’ve all had our fair share of encounters with difficult individuals, and it’s completely normal to feel frustrated when we can’t seem to connect with them. But what if we could shift our mindset and see these people not as problems to be solved, but as complex individuals to be appreciated? How would that change the way we feel about them? Join me on my podcast as we explore the difference between a complex person vs. a complicated person, and discover the steps to unknotting the difference and maintaining the relationship.…
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify Groupthink can have a significant impact on our behavior at home, in public, and in the office. It can cause people to ignore important information and ultimately lead to poor decisions. This can be damaging even in minor situations but can have much more dire consequences in certain settings. For example, in schools, the workplace or religious settings, groupthink can lead groups to ignore ethics or morals, prioritize one specific goal while ignoring countless collateral consequences, or, at worst, instigate serious harm or even death. To disrupt groupthink, there are several steps or techniques that can be employed. What…
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify Many people are learning about increasing their IQ (intelligent quotient) and EQ (emotional quotient) but many are not increasing their CQ (cultural quotient), which is their ability to connect with people who are more culturally distant from us. There is a greater need for people to get along with those who are different from us. The words of the late Stephen Covey, “Seek first to understand then to be understood,” becomes more critical to avoid continual misunderstanding that can lead to interpersonal conflict at home, intergroup conflict at work and even international conflict abroad. Today, interactions between countries spanning…
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify The world can be a cold place for many days. It only becomes colder when we lack kindness to each other. We forget that kindness is that bit of heavenly sweetness which can really make a person’s day (and ours too). Kindness can be a part of the solution in our conflicts with each other, especially on social media. Unfortunately, we’ve forgotten what kindness looks like. As our culture struggles about the values that matter to one another, one thing is evident. We believe kindness is still important. However, we don’t always put it into practice during conflict. And…
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify The art of giving feedback is a skill that many learn to do, especially those who are managers. However, the reverse is not true. There is a lack of the art of receiving feedback, which paralyzes people from realizing their best selves. The trauma of receiving horrible feedback creates the fear of running away from future feedback especially if you’re an employee. The reality is feedback is part of life—for better or for worse. The question is: how do we create an inner system of resilience and process of feedback, so we don’t become bitter—but better? How do we…
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify If you have ever played a string instrument like a guitar or violin, you know how challenging it is to get the right sound when you immediately pick it up. And this is not necessarily because you’re a bad guitarist or violinist. However, you recognize the strings on the guitar or violin need to be adjusted—tightened or loosened. When strings are too lax, the quality of sound is hindered (muffled) or not produced. The opposite is also true. If the strings are tightened too much, they will rupture and pop. A stringed instrument works best when it can “live…
Subscribe: iTunes / Spotify As we get older, we start to really focus on things that really matter to us in life. We start to prioritize our time, energy, and our relationships. We look at the people who we interact with and call friends and ask if they really are your friends. Or maybe the better question is, am I really their friend? In this podcast, we’re going to get brave and honest about those relationships we may be pretending to say are dear. What makes a friend–a friend? After this podcast, you may make different choices about the kind of friends you…