Continuous Improvement

What Effect do Your Words Have?

What Effect do Your Words Have?

Happy New Year!! I had an entirely different blog post written and then Jan 6th, 2021 happened. Here’s to continuing to pivot during this pandemic.

As change agents and leaders, the words we choose matter. Our words can inspire and lift people up, they can hurt and bring people down, they can inspire collaboration, they can plant a seed, they can ignite conflict / violence, and more. Unfortunately inciting conflict and violence is what we saw happen in the United States Capitol on Jan 6th, 2021. As you reflect on what happened that fateful day, think about what effect your words have been having on your team?, your employees?, your spouse?, your children?, and others? Unsure of the effect of your words? Or how to shift the effect?

How well is your Process Governance Performing?

How well is your Process Governance Performing?

As U.S. citizens were nervously waiting to hear who won the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, the topic of governance came to mind. This topic has recently been coming up in client conversations as well. As change agents and leaders, we’re frequently focused on a particular process. As you think about the process you’re working on or are responsible for, ask yourself, how well is the process governance operating? What is process governance and what are some signs you may have a process governance issue? And what can you do to improve it?

What are Assumptions Costing You?

What are Assumptions Costing You?

Watching all the controversy around the President and frequency in which he was being tested for Covid-19, brings up the topic of assumptions. Many people assumed the President was being tested daily. Given the below, several are now questioning whether he was in fact getting tested daily, and whether he actually became Covid-19 positive earlier than Oct 2nd.

  • Many Covid-19 patients get worse around day seven to ten into their diagnosis

  • The President only announced his positive Covid-19 diagnosis early the morning of Oct 2nd

  • By the evening of Oct 2nd the President was being medevaced by helicopter to Walter Reed Hospital

As change agents and leaders, we are constantly in work and personal situations where we have the opportunity to make assumptions. What is an assumption? And how dangerous can they be?

How Addicted to Work are You?

How Addicted to Work are You?

Happy Labor Day everyone!

As we honor the American labor movement and the workers who have contributed to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country, pause and ask yourself:

  • How much are you working to live vs. living to work?

  • How much is your identity wrapped up in work?

  • When was the last time you took time off from your job?

  • If you were to be laid off, how full and satisfying would your life still be?

If you’re feeling discomfort thinking about these questions, your answers are uncomfortably surprising you, or you’re feeling the heebie jeebies just thinking about the last question, then it’s time to acknowledge you may be a work addict (i.e. workaholic).

How Often do you Validate Information Before Acting on it?

How Often do you Validate Information Before Acting on it?

As change agents and leaders, we’re frequently given information. Sometimes it’s quantitive information (i.e. measurable), and other times it’s qualitative (i.e. descriptive and unmeasurable). Regardless of the type of information given to you, how often are you validating this information before:

  • Reacting to it emotionally?

  • Acting on the information?

  • Further sharing the information?

How does the answer differ for your work vs. your personal life?

Why validate information first?

  • What if you’re angry and stressed out about something that was never actually said or done, or is a non-issue?

  • What if you’re putting in a corrective action for something that in reality is working just fine?

  • What if the information you’re sharing is actually untrue?

What has Congressman John Lewis Taught You?

What has Congressman John Lewis Taught You?

What a change agent and Civil Rights Leader Congressman John Lewis was. He has been called the “conscience of Congress” and spent his life fighting systemic racism. On Jul 27th 2020, the country watched his funeral at the U.S. Capitol. As I listened to “Amazing Grace” echo through the chamber, never have the words of that song resonated more for me than for this individual.

Despite more than 40 arrests, physical attacks, and serious injuries, he remained devoted to the philosophy of nonviolence. He spent his life overcoming adversities such as:

  • Organizing sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters as a University student

  • Participating in the Freedom Rides

  • Marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma for voting rights

  • Being beaten severely by angry mobs

  • Becoming one of the Big Six Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement


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