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? […]
Unconscious Bias: Just Because You Can’t See It, Others (Almost Certainly) Can
May 2, 2019 by Nancy Settle-Murphy
There we were. A roomful of mostly white adults from my upper middle-class, fairly liberal Massachusetts town, gathered together in our earnest desire to discover how to be better allies to people of color. Tensions grew as the facilitators led us into uncomfortable conversations designed to help us uncover our hidden biases, layer by layer. […]
Easing the Pain of an Abrupt Transition, from Afar
April 2, 2019 by Nancy Settle-Murphy
“Congratulations! You have a unique set of skills that makes you a perfect fit for another project. So we’re ‘rewarding’ you by moving you over to another manager. This is a fabulous career move, with plenty of opportunities for growth. Of course I’m sad to see you go, but I know you’ll do great.” Such […]
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 […]
Filed Under: Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) Tagged With: leadership, leading virtual teams, remote meetings, remote teams, virtual meetings, virtual teams
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 […]
Damage done: Leadership lessons from a fairytale team
November 2, 2018 by Nancy Settle-Murphy
Baseball may not be your thing. And if you’re from certain regions of the U.S., you may not want to hear one more thing about a winning Boston team. (I admit, it can get tiresome.) But please hear me out: The 2018 Boston Red Sox team was the best evah to take the field in Fenway Park, and […]
Filed Under: Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) Tagged With: leadership, remote meetings, remote teams, virtual meetings, virtual teams
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: Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) Tagged With: leadership, remote meetings, remote teams, virtual meetings, virtual teams
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: Newsletter: Leadership and management (general) Tagged With: leadership, leading virtual teams, mindfulness, remote meetings, remote teams, virtual meetings, virtual teams
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) Tagged With: leadership, leading virtual teams, mindfulness, remote meetings, remote teams, virtual meetings, virtual teams
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 […]
