Peak performance cannot be achieved without getting intimate with your strengths, nurturing those strengths, and using your strengths wisely and strategically aligned with your goals. Self-knowledge is essential. Do you know your strengths? Do you spend time considering how to best use your ...

Do you know what truly matters most to you? I’ve been posting about mid-career crisis in this recent series of blogs. However, this time is really an opportunity for you to reconnect to what you love about your life and your career so that you can gracefully cross some of the bridges ahead. ...

Previously, I've been writing about mid-career crises (see related blogs below) and what researchers have termed the "Happiness U-Curve." There's a dip in life and career satisfaction at middle age, then an increase as we grow older. Ah, there is research to fuel our optimism. Subsequent res...

Have you ever had a fantasy where you quit your job and go do something new?  Many executives secretly admit to their coaches that they’re contemplating mid-career shifts. They may not actively seek change, but they certainly start imagining it.  At one point in time, of LinkedIn’s 313 mill...

If your drive is going nowhere, you feel like you are at a crossroads, or worse you feel like you are at a dead-end, now is the time to set a new direction and re-ignite your mojo by re-evaluating your values and updating your identity. As you continue to read, consider the analogy of using c...

Do you feel like you have come to a crossroad or worse, hit a dead end in your business or career? Have you lost your MOJO? Perhaps you have lost direction and drive because of setbacks. Perhaps you are returning to work after personal crisis or critical illness. Here is a suggestion to help ...

Have you ever conducted a motivational outlook conversation.  Motivational conversations are effective in boosting employee commitment and their alignment with your vision. Ask your people to identify what motivates them to do their best work and reaching for star performance. Your goal is to hel...

Eliminate Mindless Compliance and Conformity Most managers want to motivate people to peak performance, but their approach often backfires. In their fervent desire to teach people what they know to be true (after all, it worked to get them promoted to management, right?), some managers enthusias...

In 1969, twenty years after Harlow’s experiments with primates, psychologist Edward Deci, now a professor at the University of Rochester, followed up with a series of experiments with humans. Deci’s experiments showed that students lost intrinsic interest in an activity when money was offered...

Competence: The Third Psychological Need in the Workplace In the previous blog, The Motivational Trifecta, I introduced the first two psychological needs: autonomy and relatedness – each requiring a delicate balance. The third psychological need people want satisfied is a feeling of competen...