Author: Rachel Hanson

High performers fuel the engine of success. Culture matters, and so does talent. Both matter, and unfortunately far too many leaders sacrifice their culture on the altar of talent. How you treat your high performers, and the standard you hold them too, matter immensely. To them, and just as importantly, to their teammates. If you … Continue reading High Performers

Gandhi had it right - be the change you wish to see. I've got a client who came to me frustrated - he got dinged on a performance review with anonymous feedback that the system had not given him directly. That's a problem. A healthy functioning system doesn't wait for performance reviews, they give truth … Continue reading Be the change

I don't pay any attention to compliments from cheerleaders. I appreciate the intention, but they don't make their way past my shields. Why? Because cheerleaders hand out compliments like candy. A compliment from a cheerleader carries no nutritional value to me, so to speak. From a love cat? Well that's a different story. We've got … Continue reading Compliments…

If you've ever watched a high level softball game, you know it's a game of speed. From the moment the ball hits the bat until the runner's foot strikes first base, infielders have less than three seconds to read the ball, field it and get it to first. If you read it wrong, bobble it, … Continue reading Slow is smooth, smooth is fast…

I'm reading the Lion Tracker's Guide to Life and finding some good nuggets. Here's one that hit me square between the eyes - "no wild animal has ever participated in a should." Humans get lost in shoulds all the time. Lost in the moment and lost in life. I should attend that social function that … Continue reading The Wild Way…

Over breakfast recently, a fellow builder was sharing how he's building competency. He's zeroed in on a few areas of competency he wants to master and has been measuring them. He could feel and see the improvements. He likened it to a golf pro and I thought the analogy was magic. We all can step … Continue reading Tools of the trade…

In the book Flow, Mihaly talks about the variety of ways humans find meaning and purpose. The ancients identified two typical paths toward a life of purpose and meaning. Vita activa (a life of action) and vita contemplativa (a life of reflection). A person living a vita activa finds purpose in the doing - think … Continue reading Which vita?

Are you a pro or an amateur in your work? Hopefully both - that's my aim. I want to prep and execute like a pro. I want to be one of the best at awakening, challenging, and transforming AND I want to forever have the heart of an amateur. Nowadays, amateur often has a negative … Continue reading Heart of an amateur…