Author: Alexis

This month, let’s tackle a common yet challenging topic many leaders and teams face: handling difficult personalities at work. Specifically, what to do when someone frequently seems defensive, overly critical, or constantly “on the attack,” making collaboration challenging for everyone involved. Understanding Difficult Behavior It’s also valuable to reflect on why certain behaviors trigger us strongly.…

This month, let’s explore a powerful theme that lies at the heart of leadership and performance: mindset. Angle 1 – The Mindset–Performance Connection How we think influences how we show up, and ultimately how we perform. Whether it’s preparing for a difficult conversation, tackling a strategic decision, or navigating uncertainty, our mindset shapes how we…

This month, let’s dive deeper into a critical dimension of the Emerging Leadership Navigator: the Business Axis. Effective leaders have a clear understanding of their organization, its strategies, and the broader market landscape. Below are 8 essential reflection questions designed to help you enhance your leadership impact. Your Reflection Process: For each question below, follow these four simple but…

This month, I’d like to invite you into a practice that consistently helps leaders and teams clarify their direction, energize their actions, and align around what truly matters: Personal Visioning, inspired by the extraordinary approach developed at Zingerman’s. I was lucky enough to learn about the approach during a ZingTrain session organized by the OpenStack community in…

Robb Smith’s paper A Sociology of Big Pictures argues that we’re not just facing a set of isolated crises. We’re navigating a full-blown transformation age. An era where: – Disruption is the default. – Shared meaning is eroding. – We’re flooded with information but starving for clarity. And underneath it all, we face a metacrisis:…

This month, let’s discuss Impact Mapping as the best way to create OKRs. If you’ve ever struggled with setting measurable, outcome-driven objectives, this approach is a game-changer. Too often, teams treat OKRs as just another to-do list—a collection of tasks rather than a framework to drive meaningful change. But what if we shifted the focus? Impact Mapping, created by Gojko…

This month, I want to explore a fundamental yet often overlooked aspect of leadership: recognition and its impact on motivation and team dynamics. Inspired by Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis, the concept of recognition strokes helps us understand how the way we acknowledge or critique others influences engagement, trust, and leadership development. The Four Types of Recognition Strokes How we…

This month, we focus on a cornerstone of high-performing teams and transformative leadership: psychological safety. In a world where uncertainty and complexity are the norm, creating environments where individuals feel safe to speak up, take risks, and be themselves is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. Psychological safety, as defined by Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership…