A Knowing-Doing Gap that Cost me Relationships

A Knowing-Doing Gap that Cost me Relationships

I was recently watching an episode of Hart to Heart where Kevin Hart was interviewing Jay-Z, and Jay-Z talks about the Knowing-Doing Gap.  Watching this brought to mind a very impactful example of the Knowing-Doing gap in my own life that:

  • Took me a year to overcome

  • Cost me long term relationships

  • Resulted in a lot of suffering for everyone involved

Click Read More to see:

  • What is the Knowing-Doing Gap

  • What are some examples of Knowing-Doing Gaps

  • The Knowing-Doing Gap that cost me long term relationships

  • How I could have closed this gap much sooner, had I known then what I know now

Why I Use, Coach, and Teach Energy Leadership

Why I Use, Coach, and Teach Energy Leadership

In the U.S. it’s that time of year when parents are getting ready to send their kids back to school. Children anxiously awaiting who their teachers will be, parents back to school shopping, and getting ready for the change are all top of mind.

Along with the new school year comes new knowledge and learning. As an adult I’ve quite enjoyed the latter. You could say I’m a life long learner, and the subjects I study are diverse.

Now that being said, one of the areas I definitely gravitate to is why people do what they do. In other words, what makes people tick. And I am all about root cause, whether it’s a process, an organizational issue, or a person’s behavior. So when I came across Energy Leadership in 2009 it had my attention.

Click Read More to see:

  • Why it caught my attention

  • The impact it’s had on my own life

  • What benefits it’s brought others, both at work and in their personal lives

  • Why I continue to use it, and now coach and teach others on it

How Often do you Stop and Smell the Roses?

How Often do you Stop and Smell the Roses?

In the U.S. it’s summer time, a time to get outdoors, enjoy the fresh air (when it’s free of wildfire smoke), barbecue, spend time with family and friends, and vacation.  The thing is, just because it’s the time for this doesn’t mean it happens.  The question is how often are you stopping and smelling the roses?

Perhaps you think you’ve been doing this, and the reality is actually different.  Or perhaps you’ve been consciously avoiding doing this.  Click Read More to see:

  • If any of these things are frequently happening to you

  • What stopping and smelling the roses really means

  • Why doing this matters

  • What you could be missing out on and how you will feel if one these things happens

How Well does Customer Support Answer Questions?

How Well does Customer Support Answer Questions?

Over the last month and a half, I had quite the customer service experience with my car insurance broker and car insurance provider. All to get an answer to two questions on the renewal of my car insurance policy. Two questions…sound simple?

As you can tell from the duration of the back and forth, turned out to be far from straightforward. So many things went awry there are several blog posts I could write, and, today I’m going to focus on how their customer service did at answering my questions.

What abilities were the customer service representatives and customer supervisor lacking that resulted in their own manager being shocked once the escalation reached her?  Would customer service for the product / service you’re responsible for do any better?

Click Read More to:

  • See what:

    • My customer experience was

    • Abilities the customer service personnel below the manager were lacking

  • Reflect on these questions to see if customer service for the product / service you’re responsible for would do any better

"Shoulding" All Over People?

"Shoulding" All Over People?

At work, do you find yourself saying things like the below?

  • “You should talk to Pete about the change”

  • “Cathy, as your mentor, I’m telling you, you should take this course”

  • “My advice, you should….”

How about in your personal life?  End up saying things like:

  • “Patricia, you should listen to me, I know what I’m talking about”

  • “You should just leave, you hate working there anyways”

  • “Dan, you should talk to your daughter”

Notice in all of the above statements, you’re telling someone they “should” do something. 

As change agents and leaders, we're often providing recommendations.  And there is a difference between providing a recommendation and telling someone they “should” do something.  If you answered yes to the above questions, you’re actually “shoulding” on people.  What’s the big deal with doing this and what’s the difference between the two?

Click Read More to see what:

  • The difference is between providing a recommendation and “shoulding” on people

  • “Shoulding” on people is costing you at work and in your personal life

Following this Process Best Practice for Your Physical Health?

Following this Process Best Practice for Your Physical Health?

Whatever process you’re working on as a change agent / leader, whether it’s Agile, the Product Roadmap, Portfolio Management, the Strategic Planning Process, Program Governance, or some other process, one of the best practices they all have in common is having periodic check-ups built into them.

With Agile, there are the daily scrums and sprint reviews with demos to check-up on the software being delivered, and retrospectives to check-up on the Sprint Process itself.  With the Product Roadmap, Portfolio Management, Strategic Planning Process, and Program Governance, each of these processes have periodic reviews built into them to:

  • Reassess the health of the roadmap, portfolio, strategy, or program

  • Catch issues early

  • Have time to thoughtfully decide how to move forward

  • Make adjustments in a timely fashion

  • Proactively prevent the issues from growing into larger challenges

When it comes to us, the health of our body is no different.  There are periodic check-ups built into our medical care. The question is, how are you doing at following this best practice for your own physical health?

Click Read More to reflect on:

  • Which of these health check-ups you’ve been doing vs. putting off

  • The reasons these physical health check-ups exist

  • What is blocking you from doing one or more of these health check-ups

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