Ahh-Yes! The One Question to Ask Yourself for Leading Edge Performance
Click the image below to listen It can be tricky - innovation and leading edge performance require both conflict and alignment. In The Innovation Code, Jeff DeGraff states, “…it’s our impulse to resolve or eliminate conflict,...
Ahh…Yes! The messy middle place of change
Those of you who’ve read my writing over time know I am gardener. This fall, as I was cleaning out my flowerbeds, I decided to harvest the seeds from my beautiful marigolds. I did this as a kid. I loved the cycle of flowers dying to produce seeds for the next year....
Ahh – Yes! Perspective from Beetles?
I hosted a houseguest from Ukraine. Yuti was young and loved camping. As he passed through on his cross-country trips he’d stay here to regroup. Each time he arrived he’d tote in his pot filled with an ongoing version of his oxtail soup. He was generous with his...
Ahh – Yes! Five ways we unwittingly create resistance
I throw a punch at my opponent; suddenly I am on the ground, immediately I spiral up to my feet to go for it again. After 27 years of Aikido practice it still sometimes surprises me how a group of people, many over 40, can pummel each other, do literal rolls in the...
Ahh…Yes! How Agree-ers Harm Innovation
I was invited to serve on a Board of Advisors several years ago. After the second meeting, the president shared with me that my participation was causing him to rethink the name of the board. I had taken my role as advisor seriously and thought he really wanted...
Mary Barra – power with grace
Mary Barra exemplifies power with grace from my vantage point. She is on my list of people I'd love to have coffee and chat! Today was close, I had a 60 second exchange with her prior to her speaking at the Economic Club in Indy. She is my version of a hero. Our...
Ahh – Yes! Rethinking Confrontation
An exasperated client texted me, “I am going to have to confront a key employee.” Knowing the two of them, I recognized this had the potential to end badly; I also knew they both have the skills to move through this with great ideas and understanding. I believe there...
Ahh-Yes! A high performer or a blocker?
Invaluable, excellent at his craft, likable, fantastic with customers – the team leans on him. Yet is he a high performer? Or, is he a ‘blocker’? When a 'blocker' leaves an organization the initial response is often ‘oh no’ because on the surface they seem...
Book Review – Humble Inquiry By Edgar Schein
When a choice is between you or me, look for way to explore us, the relationship itself. Asking questions is an important part of my Spiral Impact® methodology. I found Schein spirals in and elaborates about questions in deep ways. He points out that we live in a...
Who Carries the Weight?
Strength and talent grow with the weight of responsibility just like holding this heavy rock. What happens when you take on the weight of another’s responsibility or things not aligned with your intent? As I work with leaders and teams, this is an important and easy...
Book Review – Mastery by George Leonard
“Mastery is not perfection, but rather a journey and the true master must be willing to try and fail and try again.” George Leonard Thirty years on my bookshelf have caused the pages to yellow a bit, but the message for the most part still shines brightly for me. I...
Is your team a bramble or a…?
Teams are like a woods. A healthy woods (team) has a variety of species who grow in their strength; the environment encourages their growth and contribution. Even in the winter, as I clear the entanglement of honeysuckle from my woods, I see such parallels to the...
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Karen Valencic
Martial artist. Engineer. Author. Sought-after consultant.
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