Leadership
Who’s Out, What’s Out, Knives Out
Two causes: Hypothermia temperatures last month and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Effect: Nothing better to do than pour a glass of wine, and reflect the shit out of 2022. So I lit enough candles to burn the house down and disavowed the need to meet anyone's expectations over the holidays (or any time, really.) First question: Did I like Knives Out 2?…
WTF! NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang
As I was listening in the world today to what was and wasn't being said, a few important dots connected. SUPERPOWER: Listening "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been wait ing for. We are the change that we seek." No, Jenson Huang didn't say that. Barack Obama did. That led…
How to Increase Your Charisma
Increasing your charisma and mental speed or "thinking on your feet" plays a big role in how you show up as a leader and demonstrate executive presence. The goal is to be who you are and have that be exactly how you want other leaders to see you. And that takes practice. I help clients practice increasing their thinking speed by having them deliver…
Setting Goals – Our GFS Ritual
Typically, I do heavy reflection and goal setting in Sept, during the Jewish high holidays, but at that time this year, I felt uninspired. #2020Sucks. So, instead, I chose the Winter Solstice to set my goals into rapid action. Raj (husband) and I created this Goals for Success Ritual - that went like this: 1. Think and Write your goals down at some point…
16 Unique Strategies to Improve Your Brand
Branding is one of the most important activities your business can engage in. Building a strong, recognizable brand will help you connect with your existing customers, sell to new ones, and encourage loyalty and recognition. But like any other business task, successful branding requires careful planning and a smart strategy. Sixteen members of Forbes CoachesCouncil each share one way to accomplish this. . 1.…
3 Ways Leaders Can Increase Empathy
More than a decade ago, as H. James Wilson writes in the Harvard Business Review, Daniel Goleman found that "nearly 90% of the difference between outstanding and average leaders is attributable to emotional factors, not intellectual acumen." And yet, there’s still very little value (by value, I mean investment) placed on developing these skills, most often bucketed as emotional intelligence (EQ). We could go down the…
Leadership Insight: Alaska Airlines CFO
Don't be ridiculous... I met with the other CFO, Brandon Pedersen. We sit on the Board of Governors at the World Trade Center together and we had a cool conversation about his insight, advice and what he thinks it takes to think from the CEO’s perspective. The reason I asked is because on October 19th, I’m convening a highly curated, exclusive peer community of emerging…
Up Close & Personal with Sir Richard Branson and Seattle CEOs
“Business is an Adventure” discussion Jonathan Sposato, angel investor and CEO at PicMonkey, Nadia Shouraboura, founder and CEO at Hointer and Richard Branson, CEO, Virgin Atlantic I listened to a “How I Built This” podcast a few days ago, and Sir. Richard Branson was describing his audacity. He said “I didn’t know failure so the idea that someone would say no to me would…
Leadership Insights: SAP CEO
Photo credit to Fast Company's Co.Exist I am absolutely mind-crushing on Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP and author of "Winners Dream: A Journey from Corner Store to Corner Office." I just listened to his interview on Fortune Unfiltered with Aaron Task. I’m looking forward to hearing Steve Singh’s perspective on Bill, having sold his company (Concur) to SAP a few years ago. Steve’s on the…
March CEO Forum: Leading Through Change
Leaders juggle. It’s what they do. So imagine what occurs when you go from juggling a few red rubber balls to juggling hundreds of tiny puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together according to the picture on the box. How does this happen? Merge with another company or take one over as its new CEO...that’s how. That’s how I imagine Steve Singh, CEO of Concur…
Uncomplicated Leadership
Brad Smith is an "un-complicator." Every day, he faces the quicksand of complexity that emanates from being the President and Chief Legal Officer of the small country called Microsoft. From championing a Digital Geneva Convention to conveying his personal conviction and Microsoft’s stance on immigration, what I found most startling about Brad is that he deals daily with hard, thorny issues, yet he does…
Four Ways To Manage Your Executive Presence
Many believe executive presence or charisma is one of those mysterious aspects of leadership you’re either born with or you’re not. Some think it’s the personality that comes with being an extrovert. I don't agree with either of these viewpoints. Executive presence is how you manage your assertiveness and diplomacy in professional situations. It requires intention and practice. Like leadership itself, your DNA may…
Leadership Insights from a Delta Air Lines VP
When Delta Air Lines came to town, I was not enthusiastic. Seattle is provincial and extremely protective of our hometown brands. But when I actually met Mike Medeiros, Vice President for this region, he turned out to be a really cool guy, which made it a lot harder to maintain my cool indifference. Delta flew in swiftly to Seattle and invested itself into the…
Insights From Elie Wiesel: How Conviction Fuels The Best Leaders
In my work with CEOs I've noticed a clear behavior that elevates the best ones: conviction, knowing what you stand for and demonstrating that every day. The concept is simple, but to act it is not. On a rainy night at O’Hare International Airport, I faced the choice of owning my own conviction in a small but powerful way. That night, no planes were landing or…
What Kind of Leader Are You?
I was meeting with a young leader interested in executive coaching. Halfway through the conversation, he told me I reminded him of the performance coach on Billions, the Showtime drama starring Paul Giamatti, Damian Lewis and Maggie Siff. I hadn’t heard of the show, so the comment meant nothing until I watched it. When I did, I wasn’t sure if I should feel flattered…
Crystal Mountain Ski Patrol Director Survived an Avalanche of Challenges
It didn't take long to see that Kim Kircher is a superboss. She is the director of the Crystal Mountain Ski Patrol and one of only three women in the US to head a ski patrol. Here’s the most recent Puget Sound Business Journal article I wrote about Kim: Kim Kircher’s parents signed her up for ski lessons in the Powder Pigs program at Snoqualmie Pass…
CEO Perspective: Chris Gregoire, Head of Challenge Seattle
I’m a student of the question and I have a new favorite. I’m asking all the CEOs I interview or who are guests on my CEO Leadership Forum ‘Are you a leader who loves to win or hates to lose?’ It’s interesting because often the question gets equated with failure. I’m not sure if they hear something I’m not asking or if it’s the…
Don’t Try This At Work
It’s a question CEOs ask me frequently: how do other leaders engage and motivate employees? What can be learned? Well, in this teachable moment, it’s worst practices at its best. At Changzhi Zhangze Rural Commercial Bank, poor performance earned these eight employees a whack...literally. Do you mean spanked? Are you serious? Dead serious. If you were sitting in this bank's employee training program, that’s…
CEOs Discuss Strategies for Leading a Multi-Gen Workforce
In another sold out CEO Forum, three, amazing CEOs–Ken Alterman, SAVERS/Value Village, Kimberly Harris, Puget Sound Energy and Kevin Klock, Talking Rain–shed light on their biggest challenges, mistakes and takeaways from leading a multi-generational workforce. One of the reasons I chose this topic is because a former colleague of mine said that all this talk about Millennials and their influence is making her feel…
The Best Executive Coaches Have Great Mentors
As we celebrate Father's Day, I thought about the people in my life who are someone else’s father, but have had an enormous impact on me. It's time to thank them. Michael Pacholok, Founder/President, Summit Assessment Solutions Mike helped me understand my own unique strengths and the impact they have on others. He showed me the value of data, and why it’s fundamental to coaching…
CEO Perspective: Diane Neal, CEO of Sur La Table
I’m pretty excited about Diane Neal. She’s a really cool chic, and like me, her dad played a pivotal role in her life and leadership. It was an honor to talk with her and learn more. Diane Neal serves as CEO of Sur La Table, a retailer of kitchen and dining supplies. She has learned over the years, as the retail industry has changed, some valuable lessons about leadership. Read…
Toughness Breeds Success. Prince Said So.
You say your dad was tough on you? You felt like nothing you did was ever good enough? Or your mom was a tiger, before "Tiger Moms" were a thing? And look at you now. You succeed at whatever you set your mind to: being the CEO of something major, an exceptional athlete or a mastered musician. In a lot of peoples' minds, there’s…
The Power of Purpose Driven Leadership
Jim Weber, CEO of Brooks Running, is one of the coolest and smartest leaders in Seattle. He has some amazing stories and I can’t wait for you all to hear them. I left our meeting at Brooks headquarters earlier this week feeling even more excited about the conversation Jim and I are going to have (along with two other exceptional leaders: Darrell Cavens, CEO of…
4 Leadership Strategies to Increase your Influence
Influence infuses everything we do in life. It’s what enables us to get further faster. An unstoppable leader will have a clearly defined purpose; they know how to leverage his or her influence. This is how a leader achieves longstanding significance. I think of it as an absolute. If you’re not influencing others, they are influencing you. A large part of my work as…
7 Leadership Behaviors to Stop in 2016
I showed up at the gym last week for Bootcamp, and like every January, a bunch of newbies invaded my space. I know it's the human thing to do -- gather hope and intentions, get excited for what’s possible, set some goals and climb aboard the success train. But since this isn’t my first rodeo, and it’s not yours either, so let’s cut to…
From the CEO’s Perspective Forums: Announcing the 2016 Line Up
For those of you that have been wondering and inquiring, I'm so pleased to finally share the big news! Here’s the 2016 line up for my “From the CEO’s Perspective” forums at the World Trade Center, Seattle. If you were lucky enough to attend our last forum in 2015, you heard the amazing stories from culture creators: Scott Svenson, CEO of MOD Pizza; Raj…
David Bowie: Courage + Authenticity = Leadership
The world is dimmer for the loss of such an iconic symbol of courage and authenticity. I’m not going to claim I was the biggest Bowie fan. His influence reigned heavy before I was born. But I am an admirer of what he symbolized: the courage to live his eccentric view of the world in the most authentic way he could. For leaders and…
Leadership Archives | Talonn LLC