Article – Page 7 – Melissa Williams-Gurian

26Jan 2017 by melissa No Comments

Want to Grow Your Life? Allow Boredom.

Article

In a recent story in Wired Magazine, How Being Bored Out of Your Mind Makes You More Creative, author Clive Thompson describes two recent studies that suggest that working on boring tasks is good for creativity. Writes Thompson, “In one [study], researchers asked a group of subjects to do something boring, like copying out numbers from a phone book, and then take tests of creative thinking, such as devising uses for a pair of cups. The result? Bored subjects came up with more ideas than a nonbored control group, and their ideas were often more creative. In a second study, subjects who took an ‘associative thought’ word test came up with more answers when they’d been forced to watch a dull screensaver.” The psychologists Thompson spoke to speculated that boredom may…

19Jan 2017 by melissa No Comments

Conversational Chemistry

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Brain science can help leaders understand how to have great conversations. That’s one important message I learned from reading the work of Judith Glaser. Glaser, an executive coach and author of several business books, including Conversational Intelligence, describes the kinds of conversations that activate higher-level intelligence such as trust, integrity, empathy, and good judgment. One of Glaser’s important insights is that our conversations create biochemical reactions—in ourselves, and in others. It starts at the “moment of contact,” she says, between one person and another. To make this work for you, it's helpful to read Glaser's work, to understand the neuroscience behind our interactions. But for starters, here are a few conversational rituals any leader can adopt to deeply connect with others, in a way that builds trust and creates the…

07Jan 2017 by melissa No Comments

Great Bosses Do These Three Things

Article

If one of your resolutions in the New Year is to become an even better boss, new research suggests your employees won’t just be happier as a result—they’ll also become more productive employees. Stanford Business professor Kathryn Shaw worked on a case study with Edward Lazear and Christopher Stanton which used data-driven analysis to study the influence of supervisors on employee productivity at a bank. According to the study results, the difference in productivity between employees with the best supervisors and others is significant, and measurable. “Replacing a boss who is in the lower 10 percent of boss quality with one who is in the upper 10 percent of boss quality increases a team’s total output by more than adding one worker to a nine-member team would,” the study found.…

26Dec 2016 by melissa No Comments

The Trick to Making Changes That Stick

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Over the last year I’ve written on various aspects of effective leadership, including leading with warmth, tackling difficult conversations, following your inner compass and practicing gratitude. I’ve been thinking lately about how we move from setting an intention—whether it’s to get fit or to tackle difficult conversations—to sustaining that change over the long haul. It’s hard for me to make a lasting change, and I’m guessing it’s hard for others. So I wanted to share some of what experts say about how to effectively set goals and give yourself the best chance of maintaining them. Here is some what what I’ve learned: 1. Identify a goal, make it specific, don't make it too big, and write it down. “Studies have documented that individuals with clear, written goals are significantly more…

17Dec 2016 by melissa No Comments

New Research About What Great Listeners Do

Article

If you've been coached in the rules of good listening, you may have learned that it is best to stay quiet and not interrupt. Maybe you also learned to repeat back to the other person what you have heard them say. New research, however, suggests that the most effective listeners are those who are involved in a two-way conversation. Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman analyzed data from a development program designed to help managers become better coaches, and identified the leaders who were considered the best listeners. Then they sifted through their listening behaviors, and those of others in the program, to identify the difference between great and average listeners. According to Zenger and Folkman, "the highest and best form of listening comes in playing the same role for the…

09Dec 2016 by melissa No Comments

Assertiveness is Healthy

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Kim, head of sales at a large manufacturing company, was successful, highly intelligent, and driven. Yet, people had started to lose their trust in her. Co-workers were upset that she was chronically late with reviews and feedback they needed, and that she had promised to complete on time. Why do you think this happens?” I asked her when we met for coaching. “I just get caught up in my own work,” she said. “And I don’t like to say no when people ask me to deliver, even when I am unhappy that I’ve been asked to do more.” “I don’t like to say no,” is a common refrain among people who are challenged to be assertive. Kim’s abilities had gotten her far, but she would have a difficult time moving…

02Dec 2016 by melissa No Comments

The Surprising Benefits of Creative Activity

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I have worked with many very creative clients. I have also worked with clients who, for whatever reason, feel creatively stuck, and are looking for ways to cultivate their ingenuity and imagination. We all understand something about what makes creativity so important—it’s how great art is made, and how brilliant new ideas emerge in business. It’s how the biggest problems are solved. Yet it turns out that there’s another, more fundamental reason why creative activity is important. Being creative makes us feel good, and helps build more creativity. Most of us have felt that good mood that comes when we are caught up in a creative activity, and lately psychologists have been studying this phenomenon in depth. In a recent study, Everyday Creative Activity As a Path to Flourishing, published…

23Nov 2016 by melissa No Comments

Introverts at Holidays

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As Thanksgiving and December holidays approach, I’ve been thinking about the introverts in my life—people who may become drained in large groups and overstimulating environments, and who tend to enjoy deep thinking and deliberation. Introverts may enjoy spending time with friends and family, but too many hours or days of socializing leave little room for contemplation, and can be exhausting for an introvert. I had a client named Simon a few years ago with many introverted qualities. Simon didn’t need much attention, connection, or validation from others. He was close to a very few important people, and was content with those relationships. He was especially happy when he could close the door to his office and work deeply on his areas of expertise. When I first began coaching him, it…

11Nov 2016 by melissa No Comments

Empathy and the Elephant In the Room

Article

Many leaders I know were challenged this week to figure out how best to address the dramatic election results. A change this big will also have big effects at work, and could be very upsetting and divisive. In this case, as at other such times, a leader could choose to ignore the news and carry on as usual, or get stuck in uncertainty about whether or not to say anything. But both of these choices create the classic “elephant in the room” situation. We all know we are thinking about and reacting to something, and when a leader ignores that fact, it doesn’t make it go away. It cements the emotional climate rather than opening up the possibility of a shift. In this case, wise leaders I know decided that…

03Nov 2016 by melissa No Comments

Is It Better to Lead With Warmth Or Strength?

Article

Which quality is better in a leader—being lovable or being strong? That’s one of the questions posed in the article “Connect, Then Lead,” published in the Harvard Business Review. Authors Amy Cuddy, Matthew Kohut, and John Neffinger discuss behavioral research that 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. “Most leaders today tend to emphasize their strength, competence, and credentials in the workplace, but that is exactly the wrong approach,” write the authors. “Leaders who project strength before establishing trust run the risk of eliciting fear, and along with it a…