Leadership Development for Lawyers

I present workshops and guest lecture at Pace Law School’s New Directions Program,  as well as at  AmLaw 100 lawfirms.  I also guest lecture about transitions at the Pace University Encore Transitions Program and for the New York State Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.  All workshops are customized to meet the …

Managing Challenge for Arts Leaders: How to Empower Your Leadership by Changing The Situation

This week, I had the honor to work with the 14 participants in Opera America’s Leadership Intensive, a program dedicated to identifying and forming the future leaders of opera by providing them with the skills and contacts that can help them advance in their careers. My role was to teach the “soft” skills of leadership:  how to empower yourself to lead …

Conflict Management Styles: The Start of Effective Conflict Management

Conflict is part of life. Conflict is any situation in which people have incompatible interests, goals, principles or feelings and experience.  In other words, conflict means that two people experience discomforting differences.

Despite our best efforts, we find ourselves in disagreements with other people in all aspects of our lives:  at work, in our relationships, in our volunteer activities.  How we respond to provocation can determine if conflict moves in a beneficial or a harmful direction.  The good news is that we can learn skills, strategies and processes to manage conflict.

Managing Career Transitions: How to Make the Most of Your Career Cycle

 

“The only constant is change.” –Heraclitus

When you think about life, we are constantly changing. This includes our career paths. Many people believe that once you find your “perfect” career, you are set for life. That only sets up an unrealistic expectation that leads people to feel frustrated that they have not found “it” and to ignore the marvelous process of growth and change.

Cultivating the Positive Mindset: Using Your Best-Self Flow Affirmation

We all have a “best or Flow self”.  That is the side of us that comes alive when we are in the Flow, doing what we do best, feeling confident and joyful and successful.  You can discover what your best Flow self is by following this simple process.

The great thing about this Flow Affirmation is that is draws on actual experience.  Having the affirmation is the reminder of who you are at your best.  This affirmation can be a powerful way for you to make choices to live that best, Flow self.  And by doing so, you are incorporating Flow into your life and cultivating a more positive, success-oriented mindset!

What are some ways to do this?

Tap Into Your Best Self: Create Your Flow Affirmation

Taking charge is a mindset of positivity.  It means that you believe in yourself and your vision and you are committed to taking the steps that will make your vision a reality.

This is leadership in its purest sense.  Leadership is essentially the ability to inspire yourself and others to create success.  And entrepreneurship takes the concept of leadership a step further by instilling the notion of taking charge and being the driver who makes things happen. 

How do you develop the positive attitude that enables you to take charge?

It starts with embracing the concept of Flow.

Personal Board of Directors

What is a personal board of directors?

A personal board of directors is comprised of the people in your life who support your vision and to whom you turn when you want honest and trustworthy advice and/or when you are looking for help in figuring out solutions to your challenges. 

Know Your Values: The Key to Great Decisions and Positive Motivation

I am a big believer in the importance of knowing your values and aligning your life in order to honor those values. 

What are values?  Quite simply, the principles by which you live your life: authenticity, courage, fun, relationships, personal growth, service or spirituality.   Each person has a unique set of these principles that define you and tell you what is truly important to you. In effect, values are the essence of who you really are: i.e., the core to your authenticity.

Declutter and Open Yourself Up for Success

Welcome to 2011!

Are you one of those folks who made a solemn New Year’s Resolution that this is the year that you will lose 10 pounds, start working out or learn French? 

How long has this been on your list?  And what’s your pattern? 

If you are like many people, you devote yourself to this new activity for the month of January and then, a month later, that life-changing resolution has fallen by the wayside.  Often, these new goal are “shoulds” or are motivated by fear rather than things that you genuinely want.  Another reason is that you may not have cleaned up your house enough to let in new habits.  Think about all the things that are sucking the energy out of you and do not leave you with enough time or energy to devote to your authentic self.  You may not even have the energy to contemplate your authentic self.  So instead of making a lofty New Year’s Resolution, maybe what you need to do is to declutter and get rid of that negative energy.