As you look at this list of emotions, which one are you feeling? Noticing which emotions you feel at what times and how they change is key to a practice of mindfulness which simply means your capacity to remain present. Being present allows you to focus on the task or person at hand and provide your best self in any situation. Being aware of your emotions and how they might be affecting your thinking and your actions leads to a higher level of emotional intelligence which is

DISC

by:  Lynda McNutt Foster, CEO, Cortex Leadership Consulting. A note from a recent conference attendee: “Lynda, I wanted to send you a note to let you know how much I enjoyed and have used the DISC training you and your team provided.    I learned a great deal about myself.  I learned how I communicate and might be perceived by others, and even have tried some of the communication practices with my daughter.  What you taught really works. After the workshop, I began seeing a f

We’ve all attended bad meetings.  Meetings that take too long and that have one person monopolizing the conversation the whole time.  I posted this guide recently on LinkedIn that some people could utilize in a meeting to decide whether or not they should speak up and when. Some people loved it and others seemed angry.  I remember the moment Courtland James , one of our executive coaches at Cortex, gave it to me to review.  I said to him, “Wow, this could really help some of

Are you looking for a quick way to identify what type of DISC behavioral style someone is at work?  See if you can match the person’s actions with the lists below. Driver’s main characteristic is dominance.  They operate at a faster pace, are task-oriented, and can get upset if something does not seem efficient. Influencer’s main characteristic is just that.  They operate at a faster pace and are people oriented.  They tend to not like conflict and would rather avoid it an

Who shares in your vision?   How reflective of your organization’s current culture is your vision?  Are your frontline team members, that have the most amount of contact with your citizens, clients, or customers, engaged and enthusiastic about your vision? With 67% of people reporting to Gallup they are disengaged at work, and competition for time and people’s attention at an all-time high, starting with why they want to work for your organization could be a good place to b

I am, and perhaps you are too when you look up the definition of what prejudice is. Prejudice:   Any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable. I have a prejudice against people who don’t want to learn.  My mind has trouble understanding how someone can solve problems, permanently, if they don’t take the time to learn enough about what be causing that problem in the first place. I’m prejudice when it comes to hard work.  This serves me well sometimes an

Tough, thoughtful, questions produce the best answers.  Are you asking yourself and your team enough of them?  As a leader, what are the best questions to ask and when?  In Peter Senge’s timeless work, The Fifth Discipline:  The Art & Practice of a Learning Organization, leaders learn which disciplines they need to develop to be prepared to ask the right questions, at the right times, to the appropriate people. The foundation of his work is based on creating a learning organ

You know the story.  Green guy named Grinch hates Christmas and steals all the presents from the Whos in Whoville.  Afterward, he sits comfortably perched above their town on the hill, waiting for them to be completely miserable because of his theft and ransacking of their homes, but instead he hears something unexpected.  They sing.  They sing loudly and beautifully with joy in the hearts and the feeling of true blessing in their souls.  Turns out he couldn’t steal the true

A Beginner's Mind by: Lynda McNutt Foster, CEO and Founder My first job, outside of my family’s art business, was when I was 16 and working at Bojangles. I remember trying to solve a problem with customer flow.   I asked my supervisor when I was working on the line dishing out chicken, beans, and dirty rice, why we did it in the order we were doing it in.  I thought maybe it could be more efficient if we changed things slightly as it might make the line go faster when we were