How To ‘Be More Strategic’ – Questions To Ask From The Balcony
This post first appeared on Forbes.com “Be more strategic.” This advice comes along in the careers of most professionals seeking a management or leadership role. They reach a point at which it is not enough to be productive or to be an expert. In order to progress in their careers and contribute at a higher level they must be–and be seen as–strategic. But what is it to be strategic? Advice about being strategic is often a little vague, accompanied by the exhortations to “https://www.forbes.com/sites/hannahart/2021/03/15/how-to-be-more-strategic-questions-to-ask-from-the-balcony/get out of...
Read MoreGiving Feedback: 5 Elements of a More Inclusive Approach
This post first appeared on Forbes.com A client recently asked me to provide workshops to all employees on how to give and receive feedback. There is nothing unusual about that—I do it frequently. What was newer was the growing imperative to cultivate inclusive leadership in all aspects of organizational life, including traditional bread-and-butter management skills. Bringing an awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues to the skill of giving and receiving feedback is critical to creating an inclusive workplace. And yet, so many people avoid the conversation. One of the...
Read MoreThe Four Cs of Decision Making
In a world of abundant data and complex organizational dynamics, many companies and organizations struggle with a proliferation of meetings in which inefficient processes lead to uneven quality in decisions. This is discouraging and annoying for participants and costly for organizations. A 2019 study by McKinsey & Company reported that fewer than half of respondents said that decisions were timely and 61% complained that at least half of the time spent making them was not well spent. That adds up to a waste of over 500,000 hours of managers’ time in an average Fortune 500 company—that’s...
Read MoreHow To Manage Workflow For Pressure-Prompted Procrastinators
This post first appeared on Forbes.com Confession: I don’t always practice what I preach. As a coach, I work with my clients to build habits that will support them in achieving their goals. Our approach typically involves creating structures that promote steady effort and accountability. Clients practice mindfulness to learn how to self-manage their emotions; leaders schedule a weekly “meeting with myself” for planning and prioritization; some create spreadsheets for tracking networking targets and follow-up; others write in gratitude journals. All of these are effective in cultivating the...
Read MoreWhen Should You Take No For an Answer?
This post first appeared on Forbes.com The consequences of overwork are evident in my coaching practice. In startups, established companies and nonprofits I see teams in a constant state of fire-fighting and leaders who are unable to prioritize, where the quality of work is suffering, individuals are experiencing stress and anxiety, and valuable people are burning out. In a previous post, I wrote about building the “no” muscle—learning to say “no” to certain activities in service of being able to say “yes” to the right things. But what if you say “no” and your colleagues won’t...
Read MoreWant to Make a Difference? Focus on Contribution, Not Impact
This post first appeared on Forbes.com I nominate “impact” as one of the most annoying and potentially harmful buzzwords in business today. Countless clients tell me they want to make an impact. Whether they are leaders in growing startups or tech giants, Millennials seeking meaning or mid-career professionals pursuing their next big job, they define success as having this thing they call “impact.” But what is it really about? Impact is defined as the striking of one object into another, a collision. This kind of impact is violent, even shattering, like a hammer through plate...
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