Archive for the “Blog” Category
Posted by Dr. Earl R. Smith II in Blog, Leadership, Personal Growth, tags: adviser, advisory board, angel investor, board of directors, CEO, chairman, coaching, consulting, director, Executive Coaching, Governance, investing, investor, Leadership, leadership assessment, leadership coaching, leadership development, leadership styles, Life Coaching, management assessment, non-profit, nonprofit, Personal Growth, spirituality, turnaround, Turnaround Management, Venture Capital
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com
There are lots of discussions about what makes a good leader. Many focus on character issues like integrity, honesty, openness or charisma. Others talk about skill sets like communication, literacy, technical capabilities or understanding of finance. Some use words like visionary. Almost all of these discussions focus on the person; who they are and what they do. Yesterday I pulled one of my favorite books off the shelf and settled down to read it for the umpteenth time. As I started the first chapter, I began to think about why I was so looking forward to reading the same words in the same order describing the same characters and actions. It dawned on me that none of that mattered; I was entering a world that I found worth living in. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Dr. Earl R. Smith II in Blog, Raven Tales, Thought Pieces, tags: adviser, advisory board, angel investor, board of directors, CEO, chairman, coaching, consulting, director, Executive Coaching, fajada butte, Governance, hope, investing, investor, Leadership, leadership assessment, leadership coaching, leadership development, leadership styles, Life Coaching, management assessment, non-profit, nonprofit, Personal Growth, soltice, spirituality, sun dagger, turnaround, Turnaround Management, Venture Capital, winter soltice
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com
Today is the Winter Solstice. And as I reflect on the passing of the season and the decade that has been, I am moved by a sense of anticipation. Very few of us will be unhappy to see the first decade of the 21st century come to an end. It has been a difficult and trying time. For many it has brought the dimming of dreams. For Americans it has meant the reduction of our standing in the world. As the world became a meaner and more dangerous place, many of us reflected nostalgically on the last decades of the 20th century. Looking back we saw a world full of hope and promise. Our fondest hope is that such a world will be reborn to the family of mankind. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Dr. Earl R. Smith II in Blog, Executive Coaching, Leadership, Life Coaching, Personal Growth, tags: adviser, advisory board, angel investor, board of directors, CEO, chairman, coaching, consulting, director, Executive Coaching, Governance, investing, investor, Leadership, leadership assessment, leadership coaching, leadership development, leadership styles, Life Coaching, management assessment, non-profit, nonprofit, Personal Growth, spirituality, turnaround, Turnaround Management, Venture Capital
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com
The last decade has seen a major shift in attitude towards executive coaching. Ten years ago the most likely engagement would have been with a client who was having serious problems. Organizations tended to hire executive coaches when one or more of their people was either having or causing serious problems. Many would wait until things had progressed to such a state that damage control was the only option. In those days, executive coaches were, more often than not, crisis managers. But things have really changed. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Dr. Earl R. Smith II in Blog, Executive Coaching, Personal Growth, tags: adviser, advisor, advisory board, board of directors, CEO, chairman, coaching, consulting, director, Executive Coaching, Governance, Leadership, leadership assessment, leadership coaching, leadership development, leadership styles, Life Coaching, management assessment, non-profit, nonprofit, Personal Growth, spirituality, turnaround, Turnaround Management
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com
When you awake each morning, the day presents you with literally thousands of possibilities. Human existence is chocked full of possibilities. But the important questions is, what is probable? And the more important question is, how can you make the right possible things probable – how can you select the right probabilities from all those possibilities? This is one of those areas when more education can be a real liability.
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Executive coaching my way leads me to work with highly educated and literate people. Most of my clients have a Master’s degree. In some ways, working with these people is a joy. For example, they have been trained to understand and work with complex ideas. Their grasp of the language is such that conversations about complex ideas are possible. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Dr. Earl R. Smith II in Blog, Personal Growth, tags: adviser, advisor, advisory board, Alice, Alice in Wonderland, board of directors, CEO, chairman, coaching, consulting, director, Executive Coaching, Governance, Leadership, leadership assessment, leadership coaching, leadership development, leadership styles, Life Coaching, management assessment, non-profit, nonprofit, Personal Growth, spirituality, turnaround, Turnaround Management, Wonderland
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com
Doggerel you say? Incoherent mutterings. Nothing much to pay attention to. Foolish person – there is all of life – the whole deep meaning of it – in the fart of a flea. You just have to learn how to listen!
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There is no freedom like being able to say what you truly mean – not what others want you appear to mean – nor what you might say in the throes of an adolescent tantrum – but to clearly say in a measured fashion exactly what you mean. Here’s the rabbit hole – down we go. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Dr. Earl R. Smith II in Blog, Personal Growth, tags: adviser, advisor, advisory board, board of directors, CEO, chairman, coaching, consulting, director, Executive Coaching, Governance, Leadership, leadership assessment, leadership coaching, leadership development, leadership styles, Life Coaching, management assessment, non-profit, nonprofit, Personal Growth, spirituality, turnaround, Turnaround Management
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com
We look in them every day – and use them as metaphors for achieving deeper self-knowledge. Every person we meet is one and what they show us can be far more valuable than any highly polished surface.
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I won’t sugarcoat it – mentoring can bring some very aggravating experiences. Sometimes it takes forever to achieve just a small illumination. Then there are the times – backsliding – when months of work seems to be washed away by a recidivist tendency. But then there are the other kinds that make the occasional frustration fade into the background. Let me tell you about one of these experiences. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Dr. Earl R. Smith II in Blog, Personal Growth, tags: adviser, advisor, advisory board, board of directors, CEO, chairman, coaching, consulting, director, Executive Coaching, Governance, Leadership, leadership assessment, leadership coaching, leadership development, leadership styles, Life Coaching, management assessment, non-profit, nonprofit, Personal Growth, spirituality, turnaround, Turnaround Management
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com
Understanding where the other person is coming from radically increases the probability that you will understand what they are trying to say to you.
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I recently met with a young entrepreneur – let’s call him X – well, to be technically accurate, a wannabe entrepreneur – he had never successfully built a business before. The meeting was a chance one at a networking event but my reputation for helping build business had preceded me. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Dr. Earl R. Smith II in Blog, Executive Coaching, tags: adviser, advisor, advisory board, board of directors, CEO, chairman, coaching, consulting, director, Executive Coaching, Governance, Leadership, leadership assessment, leadership coaching, leadership development, leadership styles, Life Coaching, management assessment, non-profit, nonprofit, Personal Growth, spirituality, turnaround, Turnaround Management
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com
The deer in the headlights – we all know the story – the car rounds the bend on a dark night – the deer stands frozen in the glare and cannot move even as its death approaches. Humans sometmes act this way – and sometimes with similar consequences.
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Most of my work is done with middle-market companies – by that I mean well established operations with a proven senior team that has worked through most of the big inter-personnel issues and found a way to work productively together. Under the leadership of a CEO who values open communication and camaraderie – and does not tolerate turf battles and information hording. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Dr. Earl R. Smith II in Advisory, Blog, Turnaround Management, Venture Capital, tags: adviser, advisor, advisory board, board of directors, CEO, chairman, coaching, consulting, director, Executive Coaching, Governance, Leadership, leadership assessment, leadership coaching, leadership development, leadership styles, Life Coaching, management assessment, non-profit, nonprofit, Personal Growth, spirituality, turnaround, Turnaround Management
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com
Sometimes management teams lose focus on the fact that the principal goal of business involves producing increasing revenues. Sometimes they get caught in the trap of incessantly talking about increasing revenue.
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I recently facilitated an all-hands session for a company. We were focusing on the results of an extended process of reorganization and re-resourcing. Both of the efforts had been very successful and the company was poised to move forward. However, as the meeting got under way, I sensed a general reluctance to moving on to the next phase – implementation. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Dr. Earl R. Smith II in Advisory, Blog, tags: adviser, advisor, advisory board, board of directors, CEO, chairman, coaching, consulting, director, Executive Coaching, Governance, Leadership, leadership assessment, leadership coaching, leadership development, leadership styles, Life Coaching, management assessment, non-profit, nonprofit, Personal Growth, spirituality, turnaround, Turnaround Management
Dr. Earl R. Smith II
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
www.Dr-Smith.com
“What happened? We were doing so well – started out with such energy and focus. What has brought us to the very brink of disaster?”
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I recently was asked to intervene in a situation that brought into focus one of the most common reasons why companies fail – the difference between knowing what has to be done and doing what has to be done. Read the rest of this entry »
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