Many members of the clergy are committed to their vocation, yet struggle to remain engaged and energized.  The pressures of congregational and family commitments take their toll.   Clergy are part of a profession like no other.  However you define it, the label “clergy” represents a collection of roles that come together in various combinations based on religion, congregational size and congregational structure.  Frustration can build when clergy think they are delivering what is expected o

To partner, or not to partner? This can be a provocative and wrenching question for coaches, inviting us to explore compatibility, competency and viability. As there are limits to growing a business as a solopreneur, partnership as a growth strategy is worth exploring. Leveraging collaborative partnerships can accelerate the desired results: financial strength, satisfaction, inspiration, impact. Of course the stories of partnerships gone wrong are all too common, with disagreements over money, the distribution of work, partners’ relationships with debt or the best path forward, to name a few conflicts. Ineffective partnerships can be a huge distraction to your work, wasting time, money and resources, and perhaps tarnishing the reputations of the partners and the business.

My 3 Favorite Things About Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships My 3 Favorite Things About U.S. Championships (besides the skating) Skating fans from all parts of the country have gathered in Saint Paul, Minnesota this week to witness the crowning of our U.S. champions.  The best of the best! Of course, the focus is on the competition and the rink will be crackling with excitement, anticipation, hopes and rivalries.  Off the ice, there are three big things that make my heart sing. Not

FAN BLOG: How the Grand Prix Series has been a game changer for our sport If you followed competitive figure skating before 1995, your first glimpse of new programs and new senior level skaters was likely when you tuned in to the U.S. championships in January. While the first World Championships were held in 1896 (a men’s event only), the Grand Prix series is a relatively new addition to events sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Initially launched in the fall of 1995 as the ISU Cham

When I was a little girl, we had two opportunities each year to watch elite figure skating: the U.S. and World Championships.  The technology did not yet exist to record a program.  One of my most agonizing decisions ever was timing my departure for a lesson at the rink when one of my favorite skaters, Toller Cranston, was getting ready to take the ice at the finals at Worlds.  He was a skating innovator, changing the artistic aspect of the free skate for generations of skaters to come. Fast fo

Every business owner eventually exits his or her business. Some owners leave by choice (retirement, career change) while others depart due to changes in the market, circumstances beyond their control or because someone outside the business changed something that prevented it from continuing. As the owner, you are the champion for your business and, specifically, for the future beyond your personal involvement. Your reaction may be, “That’s way down the road. I need to focus on getting and serving clients now.” While both are definitely pressing issues, it is never too early to start thinking about your exit strategy. You can choose to let your exit evolve organically or you can choose to take control to influence the outcome. The following questions will help you decide if you want to adopt an exit strategy:

We encourage our clients to schedule time every so often to climb out of their day-to-day activity and survey their operation from a broader perspective. Extracting themselves from daily demands, leaders invariably begin to reflect on ways to improve efficiencies and, ultimately, results. One factor often considered is an alternate organizational structure. This consideration is driven by the obvious importance of aligning resources within a law firm to support the strategic plan and facilitate the attainment of goals. The costs, however, can be high if such a change is implemented without a well-thought-out plan; morale can become a casualty, leaders who don’t have ownership for the change can actively undermine the initiative, latent value can remain untapped while diverting resources unnecessarily. When handled effectively and for the right reasons, restructuring can strengthen the alignment of human capital with the firm’s strategic plan. The result will be increased organizational effectiveness and efficiency. What is required is the examination of the complex relationships between tasks, workflow, responsibility and authority. The recommended design must align the right business controls, flexibility, incentives, people and resources.

What is it like to work in a flourishing organization where people feel appreciated and inspired to deliver America’s dream on a daily basis? Just ask the folks at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Goddard) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who are members of the Creative Learning Groups (CLG) where they have incorporated the principles of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a way of being at work every day.

COLUMNIST 2003-2006 (24 issues) Professional Development (business development, career management, managing across differences) Picture this: A 30-something lawyer is walking to work one bright, sunny day when, out of the blue, a bolt of lightning shoots out of the sky and zaps her. She collapses, dead on the sidewalk. While dying, she sees the proverbial white light, and she walks toward it, finding herself at the Pearly Gates. "Why did you take me now, St. Peter?" she asks. "I'm only 35, I have my whole life ahead of me." "Thirty-five?!" says St. Peter, incredulously. "From your time sheets, I thought you were 75." Does this sound familiar? Does your life consist only of work? How is it working for you? If you are very satisfied with the balance in your life, great. Keep doing what you're doing. If you are not very satisfied, keep reading. Many of us identify with the lawyer above. It's ironic: We successfully create the lives we do not want, but we cannot figure out how to create the lives we do want.

You manage your staff. You manage your programs. You manage your volunteers. The most important thing to manage, however, is your own life and career. Are things at work good enough but not great? Are you managing your job, or is your job managing you? Have you lost your passion for what you do? At whatever level we manage others, many of us neglect managing our ultimate report: ourselves. If you found yourself nodding your head as you read the questions above, you may have allowed your career