The word encouragement derives first from the Latin word for heart, cor, but I like the meaning from the old French word encouragier, meaning to strengthen the heart. After all, isn't that what …
Spotting Opportunity
So often, we equate encouragement with reassurance. But this is an unfortunate mistake. Reassurance is okay once in a while, but it's the kind of thinking that produces gratuitous trophies that end up …
Big Vision and the Power to Engage Others
This is the story of a boy with a big vision who set it in motion and never gave up. Along the way, he engaged thousands of people who were older, younger, wiser, not so wise,or smarter- maybe. His …
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A Powerful Leadership Tool Hiding in Plain Sight
Every day we hear complaints about retention, collaboration, work ethic, etc. I was chatting with an investment banker the other day, and he mentioned that when he was trained, ALL of his training …
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A New Meaning for a Common Word
A New Recipe for Engagement
Recently, when I asked several audiences how they defined encouragement, they struggled to express a common meaning they could agree on. I was intrigued. We think we know what encouragement is, …
The Surprising Benefits of Reaching Out
In a study published by the Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, Peggy Liu and her team discovered that people who reached out to others by phone, text, email, or note were surprised at …
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Our Uncivil Internal Conversations
If someone overheard the way you speak to yourself internally, they might faint. Or, they might identify with the harsh words that you use when things aren't going well. Learning to speak to …
Finding My Courage …Again
I thought it would be easy coming back.I never counted on resistance showing up to thwart every action I took. When I am stumped, I go back to the Morning Pages from Julia Cameron’s book, The …
You Never Know When You Might Need a Lifevest
This morning I caught up with a good friend who has had an interesting year in addition to Covid. Last winter, her house was hit by a huge tree that fell on the backside of the house incurring a …
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