Lead Smarter: Unlock the 9 Core Human Motivations
In the bustling corridors of business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, a common challenge persists – how do you, as a leader, inspire your team to work more effectively and passionately? The answer lies in understanding that motivation is not one-size-fits-all. As an executive coach, I've seen firsthand the power of tailored motivation strategies. Drawing on the Hogan Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) and insights from reputable sources like McKinsey, let's explore how different motivations can be harnessed to drive team success and how you can figure out what makes your team members tick.
How to Supercharge your team: Lessons from Sleepaway Camps
I welcomed my son home earlier this week after a transformative 4-week stint at sleepaway camp. In this short span, he matured, forged deep connections with kids he’d never met before, and had the time of his life. Watching this rapid evolution and camaraderie unfold prompted a compelling thought: How can business leaders channel this camp magic to cultivate teams that are not just deeply connected and engaged but also steeped in a culture of achievement and fun?
Sleepaway camps, in their essence, are more than just a medley of activities. They're realms of joy, camaraderie, and personal growth. Here's how these camp-inspired lessons can be nuanced and applied in the business world.
My relationship with Change and the Change Formula
Last night at dinner with a friend, we were chatting about navigating change, and I shared that in a way that has been a theme of my life. I immigrated to the US when I was 7 years old and entered the end of 1st grade in a foreign country with a language I didn't know. We moved again for middle school, and then I skipped 8th grade jumping straight from 7th grade to high school (that was an awkward one..) In my professional life, I have lived through working at Lehman Brothers during the financial crisis and several mergers at RBS and, of course, leaving Wall Street to start my Executive coaching company 8+ years ago. I feel like having kids was a huge change for me, but let's be honest, I am not alone in that, so we can skip that part. Anyway, the story is that Helen has done "change" in some form or another and not always by choice since the age of 7.
Bad Covid Work Habits
A year ago, many of us were on our second week of quarantine, talking about Zoom, covid, and Tiger King. Maybe like me, you also assumed that the quarantine would last about a month maximum. Maybe like some of my clients at the time, you defaulted to short-term coping behaviors at work to “get through” the quarantine. I remember listening to one of my clients at that time and thinking… “We are all in survival mode – this coping behavior will have to do for now, but this is toxic for the long haul.” I decided to write down the new behaviors that concerned me the most to keep an eye on them. This was my note just 2 weeks into quarantine…
Authentic Connection & Trust!
The trading floor, where I spent the first decade of my career, is a battleground. Most standard societal norms cease to exist when one finds herself working on a trading floor. In my first job as an interest rate sales analyst at Lehman Brothers, my boss told me that I was not allowed to use articles (i.e., couldn’t say the words “the”, “a”, “an”) because “it wasted time and time is money.” My role was to execute multi-million-dollar transactions on behalf of clients (banks, hedge funds, pension funds.) If I made even one mistake, it could cost the firm and my traders millions of dollars within seconds. Speed, precision, and excellence were nonnegotiable. My days could consist of up to 100 transitions within an eight-hour period, considerable market fluctuations, and a range of emotions wide enough to put a Shakespearean play to shame.
5 Ways to Feel Truly Grateful This Year
Let’s face it – many of us are not ok right now. We are entering a holiday season of a challenging and life-altering year. Tomorrow you are supposed to be feeling thankful and grateful but it might feel forced and even fake. Studies show that having a practice of gratitude builds happiness and who would turn down a little extra happiness these days? So if you want to truly, authentically feel grateful try these 5 tips.
Should you talk politics at work?
For the past few weeks, I have been wondering if politics at work is healthy or toxic? I'm curious, what impact are discussions on politics having on our work cultures and professional relationships?
We know that across the country, some families and friends feel a great divide politically and some have even avoided talking to each other. But at work, we don't have the option to just stop communicating. We are expected to lead, drive results, and produce regardless of our politics. So the big question is...Should we talk politics at work and how is that working out for us?
Four Lessons from 100 Leaders after Six Months of Work From Home
This week marks six months since NYC was shut down and since most of the country went into lockdown mode. In the past six months, I have connected with over 100 leaders who have been working from home. Some of them I have coached throughout this time, some are advisors to me, some joined my Virtual Leadership webinars, and others participated in my virtual team coaching sessions. These interactions were eye-opening for me, and I am excited to share some of what I learned with you.
Understanding differences and connecting authentically
Right now, many of us, including myself, are feeling triggered and charged up. 2020 has been a year that is testing our resolve, our grit, our self-image, and our ability to grow. For some, this is a time to check in with our biases, and for others it is a time to have painful and difficult conversations, to educate and to be educated, to listen and be heard. While I am sad and worried, I am also incredibly hopeful. I genuinely believe that as a society, we will have the potential to thrive and use this painful moment to grow.
Increasing Certainty and Connection When your Team Feels Anxious
Over the past few weeks, I have heard from many leaders that leading through COVID19 has become more challenging. As a senior or mid-level leader, the COVID19 pandemic is truly challenging their ability to lead. We are all working remote and there are so many unknowns and fears.
Neurologically when we are facing a threat to our way of being we crave certainty and connection more than anything and this is exactly what we can’t have right now. What can you do as a leader to help combat the feeling of threat amongst members of your team and organization?
It's not me, it's my boss...oh really?
If your manager makes you want to go home and scream into a pillow every single night, or you’ve taken up kickboxing just so you can picture your manager’s face on the bag, then keep reading.
Sounds like you are suffering from a toxic relationship with your boss. You are not alone—an EY study (detailed in the Harvard Business Review) reported that 58% of people trust strangers more than their own boss! That’s right, they trust a random person off the street more than they trust the guy responsible for their development, compensation, and day-to-day happiness. Pretty scary!
A Fire at the Start of the New Year
Happy New Year! I hope your year is off to an amazing start but if it isn’t, you are in good company. Neither has mine! I started the year recovering from the flu and with a fire in the apartment below mine. Yep, you heard that right. Last Monday, when I was alone with my three kids having dinner (my husband was away on business), 4 firefighters burst into our apartment shoving desks, chairs, nightstands out of their way. The smoke from the fire below our apartment started to fill up fast in my bedroom as the firefighters worked and I shuffled my 7-year-old son, 2-year-old twins and our dog into a different bedroom. I was preparing to get them out of the apartment when a firefighter surprised me by saying that we are actually safer in the apartment then going down the stairs. Long story short, we are all fine although my apartment does smell like a BBQ festival gone bad, besides that, the drama is over.
New Year, New Relationship with your Boss
If your manager makes you want to go home and scream into a pillow every single night, or you’ve taken up kickboxing just so you can picture your manager’s face on the bag, then keep reading.
So sounds like you are suffering from a toxic relationship with your boss. You are not alone—a EY study (detailed in the Harvard Business Review) recently reported that 58% of people trust strangers more than their own boss! That’s right, they trust a random person off the street more than they trust the guy responsible for their development, compensation, and day-to-day happiness. Pretty scary!
Holiday Party Hacks – How to Make the Most of your Company Holiday Gathering
If you haven’t had your company holiday party yet, I am sure it’s this week or next. When I think back to some of the work holiday parties I have attended, I think of most of them fondly (well except maybe that one party that cemented me as a “light-weight” all too early in my career).
While some people dread these forced-fun events even more than a trip to the dentist, I always find them to be an opportunity to end the year on a strong note and connect with people you otherwise couldn’t build a close relationship with.
How to get that BIG project done already
I was originally hoping to write this in July, then I pushed it to August and then to September but here we are in October and its finally here. Sometimes my projects get pushed down on the priority list - even when they are very, very important. Does this ever happen to you? You have a big idea, a strategic project that will be so impactful once done. But if you are like any other super busy, overwhelmed professional you can't seem to get to it.
The Year I Had Twins was my Best Year in Business (So Far ;)
I will never forget the moment I found out I was expecting twins, the moment that I learned that I was going to go from being a mom of 1 fantastic kid to a total of 3 kids! That moment will be forever buried in my mind, not for the joy and excitement I was supposed to feel, but for the heart-wrenching fear and dread, I experienced. And the truth is the fear wasn’t because twin pregnancies have more complications or the fact that so many twins are born prematurely with a multitude of health issues. Nope, my fear, I hate to admit, was selfish – my heart sank into my heals because I was worried about the success of my career and my business that I had been working so hard to build over the past 15 years.
Struggle to delegate? Three behaviors to watch out for
My first job out of undergrad was on the Lehman Brothers interest rate sales desk. I sat on a trading floor amongst some of the best financial professionals who transacted multi-million dollar deals on a daily basis. The work was incredibly stressful and required a tremendous amount of attention to detail and accuracy. If you made a mistake, it typically cost at least $50,000. I worked in a team consisting of 3 senior salesmen, an associate with three years of experience and myself – a clueless college grad. At first, no one trusted me to do much of anything except get coffee and make copies. Over time, I began to take on more client facing responsibilities (writing trade confirms, answering phones and writing market commentary). Executing one of those multi-million dollar trades was off limits though. I didn’t have the skills yet, and no one was interested in losing money due to my lack of experience.
Tension at work? Ask a dog how to ease it!
I wish I could say that I have never experienced tension at work, but let’s get real here. Competition, deadlines, hierarchy, and differing interests create complicated and tense relationships at work. The good news is that you have the power to decrease this tension and win people over.
Five things you didn't realize you should be grateful for...
If you are anything like me, you probably have been thinking about all that you are grateful for this year. Below are 5 more items you didn't realize you should be grateful for. Enjoy!
5 Impactful Tips That I Have Shared with My Clients
In the past several months, my work has taken me all over the country (shout out to DC, Milwaukee, Palo Alto, Chicago and of course, NYC – thank you for your hospitality). I have had the pleasure of meeting, coaching and training professionals in the legal, fina nce, retail and non-profit industries. Some of my clients came to me hoping to achieve strong relationships with their teams and managers; others were focused on starting their new jobs on a strong note with high levels of executive presence and others on the ever difficult to obtain work-life balance as a parent.