“Alarm bells first went off back on February 2 when our senior leadership team got an email from an employee in our LA office who expressed concern about two employees returning from a trip to China. Though barely a blip in the U.S., the Coronavirus was starting to make headlines in China. We responded by […]
Responding to the Covid-19 Crisis: Fast Learning, Decisive Action and Targeted Communications
March 31, 2020 by Nancy Settle-Murphy
When You’re Suddenly Forced to Go Virtual – An Essential Checklist
March 9, 2020 by Nancy Settle-Murphy
* This is a special edition of Communique to help those who must suddenly shift their face-to-face meetings, events and training sessions to a virtual space. These tips should help ease the transition.* By Nancy Settle-Murphy, Guided Insights, and Jesse Bibbee, Gazelle Interactive After months of planning, everything is finally in place for next week’s two-day meeting […]
Filed Under: Articles, Newsletter, Newsletter: Essential communication and collaboration skills for virtual teams, Newsletter: Leadership and management (general), Newsletter: Leading effective virtual teams, Newsletter: Navigating across cultures, Newsletter: Planning and leading engaging virtual meetings
Why Can’t Everyone Just Agree? 8 Tips for Building Consensus
March 3, 2020 by Nancy Settle-Murphy
The meeting room stunk of burnt coffee, half-eaten sandwiches and too many bodies compressed into a small, windowless room for too many hours. People participating via video felt that for once, being physically removed from the action was actually a blessing. After two days of dithering, this group seemed no closer to making a decision […]
The Virtues of Failing Fast, in a Forward Direction
November 5, 2019 by Nancy Settle-Murphy
A friend’s daughter just announced her family’s sudden decision to pack up and move several states away, with no jobs, no residence, three school-age kids, one dog and two cats. My friend is agonizing over whether to try to talk her daughter out of it (“How will you live? Where will you live? What about health insurance? […]
How Feedback Can Stunt Growth, Stifle Learning and Encourage Mediocrity
March 5, 2019 by Nancy Settle-Murphy
Feedback of any kind rarely helps people perform better, no matter how much you dress it up and call it something pretty. In fact, telling people what they need to do differently, however well-intended, actually can block learning and prevent growth. As a result of reading the article The Feedback Fallacy in the March-April 2019 Harvard Business Review, I […]
Daring Leaders Build Trust by Peeling Away the Armor, Choosing Courage Over Comfort
February 6, 2019 by Nancy Settle-Murphy
How can I build trust, quickly, across my team? That’s the #1 question I get from my clients and students. Before I read Brené Brown’s brilliant new book, Dare to Lead, I would have hedged, insisting that there are too many variables to give just one answer. But now I realize there is one answer that seems to […]
Making the Most of Bittersweet Endings, Tough Break-ups and Brand New Starts
June 5, 2018 by Nancy Settle-Murphy
My twin daughters graduated from high school three days ago, which should really be a time of great celebration. To retain my sanity, I’ve been keeping busy with necessary distractions like planning their party, gearing up for our summer vacation (possibly, one of our last together!), and (thankfully) a barrage of client work. But every […]
Filed Under: Articles, Newsletter, Newsletter: Leadership and management (general)
How Mindful Leaders Keep Calm Under Pressure, Inspire Better Team Performance
March 6, 2018 by Nancy Settle-Murphy
Judging from your team’s expression of outrage when you made your latest impossible request, you realize you’ve just crossed a red line. While you feel badly, especially since you’ve given team members a barrage of pretty ridiculous demands lately, you really had no choice. Your manager has made it clear (again!) that failure is not […]
Filed Under: Articles, Newsletter, Newsletter: Leadership and management (general)
How Mindfulness Keeps You Present, and Why It Matters
September 6, 2017 by Nancy Settle-Murphy
Imagine this: It’s after 5 PM, and your train is leaving in less than a half-hour. You’re in the middle of saving your final edits to the presentation for the executive team meeting first thing tomorrow, when you hear the unwelcome ping of an incoming IM from your boss: “Sorry for the last-minute change, but […]
Filed Under: Articles, Newsletter, Newsletter: Leadership and management (general)
How to Make Introverts and Extroverts Happy, and How to Drive Them Crazy
May 3, 2017 by Nancy Settle-Murphy
“We suspect that our team can be a lot more effective if we can do a better job of acknowledging, appreciating and accommodating the introverts among us. We also want to acknowledge what our extroverts need to operate at their peak potential.” That’s the challenge my client recently asked me to help solve for her […]
