The saying “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” needs an upgrade—because when hard times hit, what we need more than anything from our staff (and ourselves) is resilience. My friend and colleague Robert Goldberg weighs in on this topic in a recent article on fortune.com. "Resilience,” says Robert, founder and managing partner of Greensboro, NC-based consulting firm Organization Insight, “is like a force field. If a group learns it can withstand pressures, failures

In a recent hbr.org article, Dean of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Bill Boulding, describes how successful leaders today and in decades to come must possess triple-threat leadership capability: IQ+EQ+DQ—the familiar intellect and emotional intelligence aspects, plus one that must be recognized and elevated: decency. Competency in business is essential, and intellect, or IQ, is the broad idea of business competency and an understanding of what it takes to be succ

Reflect on your career and write down your five biggest leadership disappointments. According to an article by Susan Cramm on strategy+business, if your experience is typical, your list will include suddenly losing top-quality talent—and it may have felt personal. That talent left not only the organization; they left you—despite time spent together making plans, overcoming adversity, and celebrating accomplishments. Your best efforts as a leader weren’t good enough, and to co

Jennifer Porter, an executive and team coach at The Boda Group, recently wrote on HRR.org that leaders and teammates often describe their team as “dysfunctional," their teammates as "annoying," and everyone else as not knowing how to operate effectively. As an experienced team development practitioner, Jennifer knows that these are not accurate or helpful assessments of the situation. Teams are complex systems of individuals who bring different preferences, skills, experience

A recent article in the APA Monitor by Chris Palmer reminds us that the character Mentor in Homer's "Odyssey" serves as the trusted older counselor to Odysseus's son, Telemachus. "Mentor" has since come to mean someone who gives guidance, shares knowledge and imparts wisdom. But great mentors actually do much more, from serving as role models to helping incubate research projects to bringing protégés into a network of colleagues. Barriers to good mentoring include the fact th

I worked with Mark Nevins when he was at Booz Allen. He recently wrote a great article for Harvard Business Review about a simple but serious problem: collaborating with people you don’t like. Ultimately, while not particularly easy or comfortable, developing a handful of useful strategies are helpful, and it is possible to collaborate effectively with people you don’t like — but you have to take the lead. Here are some helpful tips: Reflect on the cause of tension and how yo

Brené Brown, research professor at the University of Houston, has spent the last 16 years studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of three #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, and Rising Strong. Her “The Power of Vulnerability” talk is one of the top five most-viewed TED talks in the world. Brown’s latest book, Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone, addresses the c