2017 – Page 2 – Melissa Williams-Gurian

26May 2017 by melissa No Comments

Take the Leap With Self-Reflection

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What is it you really believe? What is it you really want? What is it you are here to do? When was the last time you asked yourself questions like these? Many high school and college students about to graduate are quizzing themselves like this right about now, as they stand on the threshold of a new life stage. This kind of wondering can stir up a mix of emotions—excitement about the future, hope, and self-doubt. But it’s not just students who find themselves reflecting on life this time of year. As others witness a threshold moment like graduation, we might find ourselves also thinking about who we have become since our last big moment of change. Have we met our goals? Do we have new ones? Are we still…

19May 2017 by melissa No Comments

Use These Lessons To Create A Powerful Team

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If you’re a fan of team sports, you know how varied the styles of even great players can be: flashy or modest, balletic or bulldozing, comfortable in a supporting role or always seeking the limelight. If these disparate types are playing together successfully, there's likely a balance of types on the team, and a coach wise to the ways of bringing the best from individuals within a group. The same applies to business teams, and now, researchers Suzanne M. Johnson Vickberg and Kim Christfort have taken a deep dive into the science behind bringing out the best in a team. The researchers used brain chemistry and molecular biology research as background to create an assessment of business-relevant traits and preferences of individuals at work. The assessment has been completed by more…

05May 2017 by melissa No Comments

A Cheat Sheet for Warm Leadership

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A few months ago, I wrote about warm versus strong leadership. Spoiler Alert: "Behavioral research suggests that people may comply with the demands of a leader who is not warm, but privately are less likely to feel motivated to perform well for such a person than for a leader who, for instance, validates feelings, asks about others, and uses more open gestures." If you suspect you need to warm up your style, I created the following cheat sheet to help. I suggest a liberal sprinkling of warmth in email, in person, and on the phone. Especially if you're someone who shows up strong and sometimes brusque, warmth can help draw your team closer together, motivate your employees, and inspire loyalty. Examples of cold and warm questions and comments: Cold: Did…

27Apr 2017 by melissa No Comments

To Reach Goals, Accentuate the Positive

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A few months ago I wrote about expert tricks for helping stick to our goals. Now that we’re several months into the year, some of us may be feeling those New Year’s Resolutions slipping through our fingers. If that’s happening for you, I’ve found one more trick that just may help. Recent studies conducted by University of Chicago behavioral science researchers Kaitlin Woolley and Ayelet Fishbach suggest another way to get yourself to keep working towards your goal: enjoyment. The researchers tracked participants who had set goals—such as advancement in career or improved health—and followed up after two months to learn how successful those people were staying the course. They asked questions such as how much enjoyment the individuals had while pursuing their goal—did they have any fun in the spin class?…

16Apr 2017 by melissa No Comments

Great Leadership Requires These Three Things

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1. Great leadership requires immense vulnerability. The etymology of the word vulnerable lies in a Latin word, vulnus, which means “to wound.” To be vulnerable is to allow yourself to be open to the possibility that you’ll be touched by the slings and arrows of life, and might not come out of every day without some scrapes and scratches—mostly of the emotional or intellectual kind, I hope. Just as in love, athletic feats, and great works of art, real success as a leader does not come without taking risks. 2. Great leadership requires honest conversations. Whether that is a conversation that lets someone know you're unhappy, or one that offers praise for great work, leaders bring their thoughts out into the world, take conversational risks, and take the time to connect…

05Apr 2017 by melissa No Comments

How Nature Can Help Us Work Better

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Doing our best at work takes a lot of effort. But I recently learned that there's also a way to become better at work tasks like problem-solving and decision-making that doesn’t actually take much effort at all. The answer, according to a raft of new research, is to spend more time in nature—even if it’s just time spent in our backyard, or a neighborhood park. That’s one lesson I learned from reading journalist Florence Williams. Her book, The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier and More Creative, explores what science has to say about the health effects of spending time in nature. The research she cites finds benefits not just for our physical health, but for our mental and cognitive health as well. In fact, some pediatricians are…

29Mar 2017 by melissa No Comments

Should Leaders Serve Others?

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Many people imagine a leader as a kind of commander going into battle: he or she is facing forward in front, while others surge along behind. Yet I have watched many leaders use this forward march style, only to have their “soldiers” trail behind reluctantly, or not at all. Often, the issue seems to be that the leader in front has never taken the time to earn that leadership. There are many ways a leader can attract a loyal, enthusiastic crew, and one way that offers great impact is to work on becoming a leader who serves others. Leaders with a service mentality must be willing to sometimes lead from the back while encouraging others forward. It’s a tough shift for some, but the payoff can be extraordinary. It is…

17Mar 2017 by melissa No Comments

The Emotionally Intelligent Team

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One team seems to be struggling, even though the group holds some of the company’s top employees. Another team is highly productive, driving innovation, and doing it in relative harmony. Why is one team effective while another falters? The answer seems to center on the level of a group’s emotional intelligence. That intelligence is made up of the ability of each individual in the group to understand and manage their own emotions, as well as the emotions of the group. Individuals with high emotional intelligence will have self-awareness, that is, an ability to identify their own thoughts, feelings, wants and observations. They will also have an awareness of others, which is usually expressed as an ability to listen, show empathy, and feel and express curiosity about others. The team becomes…

09Mar 2017 by melissa No Comments

How are you ‘being’ as a leader?

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I recently brought two peers together for a coaching wrap-up session. They shared highlights of their coaching, including learnings and insights, and talked about what they have lately been choosing to do differently in their organizations and with their teams. I noticed that when we got to the question, “Who are you being now, and what is different about it?” we seemed to arrive at the heart of the leadership success these two have reached over the last four months. “I’m being present with my people—I’m more open, and a better listener,” one leader shared. “I’m being more transparent, and sharing my inner thoughts more openly,” said the other. Ultimately, it turned out, shifting their “being” was not only central to each leader’s personal development, but also critical to their…

24Feb 2017 by melissa No Comments

Four Traits that Correlate With Leadership Success

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A range of traits make up leadership ability, and companies that invest in developing leaders likely want to prioritize among the possibilities. To do this, it is helpful to look at leadership research, such as that of global management consulting firm McKinsey&Company, which has taken on the task of investigating which leadership traits most closely correlate with leadership success. Their research found four traits in particular that “closely correlate[s] with leadership success, particularly among frontline leaders.” These four behaviors were prevalent in strong organizations with effective leaders, as reported in the article in McKinsey quarterly, Decoding Leadership: What Really Matters: Solving problems effectively: “The process that precedes decision making is problem solving, when information is gathered, analyzed, and considered,” the authors write. This trait is what helps leaders effectively tackle…