Coach John G. Agno is your own cultural attache; keeping you abreast of what's effective in leadership. People learn better and are positively motivated when supported by regular coaching.
PERSONAL COACHING Leadership onboarding coaching helps the executive adapt to the employer's culture, create rapport with their team and develop productive ways to achieve necessary goals.
SELF ASSESSMENT CENTER Leadership skills and style testing. Know how you motivate and coach people to gain success at work and in life.
WHAT IS LEADERSHIP? Leadership is an interactive conversation that pulls people toward becoming comfortable with the language of personal responsibility and commitment.
LEADERSHIP TIPS “The crux of leadership development that works is self-directed learning: intentionally developing or strengthening an aspect of who you are or who you want to be, or both.” Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee (Harvard Business School Press)
Everyone has felt bullied at some point in their lives, whether by a family member, childhood acquaintance, colleague, boss, or client. You know you have been bullied when you feel pressured, demeaned, or angered.
You walked away from a negotiation feeling like you lost ground. You gave into demands and agreed to something that was not in your best interests. And you resented the way you felt.
The new book, NEGOTIATING WITH A BULLYwill teach you how to recognize bullies, interpret their signals and body language and how to skillfully deal with them in different forms and environments.
You will learn how to quickly and easily:
Recognize the tactics of a bully--before you yield your ground in a negotiation.
Determine what motivates a bully.
Read his/her body language, from his/her hands to torso to feet.
Employ an arsenal of negotiation strategies, including some you may have never considered using before.
Plan a negotiation with a bully so that you feel prepared to tackle the situation.
Interpret the body language of the bully--and his or her target-- to better assess his or her intentions.
I personally have been interested in "The Massacre" (published in 1954 ASIN:B004MLR0WO) by author John J. Vrooman, since the book mentions the half-blood brother, Jacques Van Slyck, whose Dutchman's mother was Otstoch (a half Mohawk and half French child).
Jacques's father Broer Cornelis had changed his wife's name from "Otstoch" to “Margretta” and they lived/worked among the Canajoharie castle of the Mohawks. Thus the namesake of Margretta has been passed down from generations——including my mother and my sister. The book “The Life of Margretta” (ASIN:B00EZSJLIU) is available at Amazon for additional information.
The background of the massacre and destruction of Schenectady by the French and their Indian allies in 1690 is an intricate pattern of Indian relationships and French-English rivalry. A rivalry for the limitless land of an unexplored continent and the rich flow of furs that came from it through the hands of Indian trappers into those of the French coureurs de bois, competing with the Dutch boslopers and English traders.
The following pages are an interpretation of a miscellany of French, English and Dutch colonial documents, together with later writing in this book.
An unusual gathering during July 1667 assembled beneath the age-old elms that shaded the cottage was the site of the leading citizens of the newly formed village of Schenectady. Beside them was their half-blood Dutch and Mohawk brother, Jacques Van Slyck, and his sister, Hillitje, to act as interpreters. Facing across the few intervening feet of rough grass were a group of the local citizens, Dutchmen for the most part.
The father of these two interpreters, Jacques and his sister, were the half-Dutch, half-French Broer Cornelis, now dead, who years ago had come to the Canajoharie castle of the Mohawks to trade. There he had met and married the beautiful Princess Otstoch, their mother. Ever after that he had made the castle his home, and it was there that these two interpreters were born and brought up.
This meeting was "to interpret for the benefit of the Mohawks beside you and testimony taken in the English tongue, and for our understanding, whatever the Indians may say." All had come from their homes at the castles of Gandawaugue and Andagaron some thirty miles up the valley at the request of the authorities at Albany, as being the Indians' most particularly concerned their last mission.
Both books can be found at Amazon:
"The Massacre" (published in 1954 ASIN:B004MLR0WO)
"Youthquake" is the verbal concoction recently declared Word of the Year (the year being 2017) by the experts at Oxford Dictionaries. They define it as "significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people."
Actually, "youthquake" dates from 1965, when it was coined by the fashion industry. But Oxford says that the incidence of "youthquake" spiked around the time of the British elections last June.
According to Merriam-Webster's, "feminism" was the most searched-for word in its online dictionary, up seventy per cent from 2016. But who in 2017 needed to be told what "feminism" means?
On the whole, 2017 was not a great year for the English language. Reality is running ahead of our vocabulary. For one thing, no good terms have emerged to describe the current state of political affairs.
"When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean," Humpty Dumpty says to Alice. Later on, of course, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Something to look forward to in 2018.
Source: Louis Menand in the January 8, 2018, THE NEW YORKER
Most ambitious people believe that success is only achievable if you are constantly "out there".
We are bombarded by images of executives and entrepreneurs who seem to have unlimited stamina for networking, making huge corporate moves, keynoting, and just relentlessly putting themselves forward. But the truth is that many of these go-getters would rather be hiding in the bathroom.
Even worse, many talented potential entrepreneurs and leaders give up on their dreams because they believe they're too introverted, anxious, or just not cut out for the demands of success.
Author Morra Aarons-Mele, a successful entrepreneur, is a proud hermit and introvert who has embraced those natural tendencies and redefined success on her own terms. Creating a new set of rules, and abandoning the old, she is now on a mission to show others like her that much of what we think we need to do to succeed is unnecessary, and even counterproductive.
In "HIDING IN THE BATHROOM" she offers a road map for driven women who don't fit the profile of the intense, sleepless mover and shaker. She reveals the tricks and tactics that will allow any introvert to allay her insecurities and get into the mix, while also setting boundaries and carving out private time.
Sometimes even the most committed hermit has to get out there. Meeting clients, attending conferences, giving speeches, face time matters. But if you have a plan and you know how to take care of yourself, you can make the most of your time in the wild.
Choose wisely and prepare well, and you might even enjoy yourself.
Filled with quizzes, exercises, valuable tips and practical tools, HIDING IN THE BATHROOM is a guidebook for the hordes of introverts who are hiding in plain sight in corporate America.
In The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 5, 2017, the Chinese and Russia United Nations representatives continue to supply North Korea with all the support required to continue ballistic missile provocations within the world. Of course, Russia and China have the world blocked through continuing to allow North Korea to participate in trading revenues through exports along with oil supplies and military weapon parts.
Of course, the U.S. and European Union could increase pressure on North Korea's trading partners, including China, African nations and Russia, to enforce more robust implementation of existing sanctions.
But that will not happen, as it had not in the last Korean war. Russia's U.N. ambassador said his country would study the U.S. proposal but added that the history of council actions against Pyongyang has shown that "resolutions solely relying on sanctioning North Korea have not worked."
An overt attack on North Korea could ignite a war that could kill millions of people on the Korean Peninsula...and that military solution would be tragic on an unbelievable scale. Today, there are 28,000 U.S. troops in South Korea and they would be on the front lines of any military conflict.
Technical and funding challenges force the U.S. Defense Department to rely on Russian-manufactured rocket engines at least through the middle of the next decade (several years longer than originally anticipated). Other people familiar with the details said United Launch--a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co.--might have to extend the timeline as far out as 2028. The delay raises the question of whether the U.S. military will have to use more of the Russian engines amid tensions between the two nations.
With the U.S. Navy recently losing two military ships (due to personnel sleeping on board), perhaps the Dept. of Defense needs to sharpen its leadership capability to become combat ready once again...
We live in hurried times. We value going all out all the time to achieve audacious goals.
However, non-stop work backfires. The American Institute of Stress reports that job pressures are the biggest source of tension for Americans, costing an estimated $300 billion a year in absenteeism, turnover, diminished productivity, and medical, legal and insurance fees.
Although this stress epidemic is not new, the question of what to do about it has become more urgent than ever.
We need a reprieve from the constant pressure to achieve, produce and consume. In her new book, expert Marilyn Paul, Ph.D. urges all to seek "An Oasis in Time."
The solution for this chronic sense of pressure lies in the ancient tradition of the Sabbath. But it's not just your normal day off: The idea is that for one day, or maybe half a day or just an hour once a week, you set aside your doing-for-doing mind, your-it's-never-enough mind, and your crazy nonstop trying to-control-things mind. You enter a true oasis. You can start with an hour a week...and with practice, let go of the feeling that there is something else to be done.
"Years ago, I worked very hard, but ineffectively," says Dr. Paul. "I was very grateful to discover Sabbath history: a day of rest each week. It changed my life and I wanted to share how valuable it is with friends, family and leaders so that everyone could find a way to include it in their lives."
Design your oasis time when you've been moving quickly but haven't allowed yourself to stop...you haven't taken a break...you've been ignoring your need to rest. In the distance, you see an oasis, a pool surrounded by sturdy palm trees with ample fronds. It's lovely and green, a colorful sight for your sore eyes that have been scanning the desert for dangers and opportunities. The knowledge that you are on the way to respite and refreshment gives you a spark of energy. You draw closer to the oasis, and you already feel better as you anticipate the pleasures of the sustenance to come.
You stay there for an hour or so. You leave suffused with new energy. You get a break.
"No more procrastinating or complaining," urges Corrie Shanahan. "It's time to work less and care more."
In "DO IT, MEAN IT, BE IT", author Shanahan will help you clarify what is really important to you, help you identify the things you want to change, and give you all the practical tools to get there.
Reflect, Renew, Repeat
It a nutshell: Once you have embarked on this path and are beginning to create the life and career you truly desire, you need regular milestones and sustenance as you go.
Build it in now, before you start.
Like an athlete on race day, you'll see the markers up ahead and know there will be water coming soon. Set aside time for reflection to see the progress you've made, adjust course as needed and enjoy.
You are doing what you really want to be doing and life is rich and good.
Today's workforce, especially Millennials, want to be intellectually stimulated and emotionally engaged.
As the authors reveal in"Leading with Vision"to explore corporate vision as a key leadership principle, this requires a new approach to leadership.
Leading with Vision draws on data and insights from the authors' biennial "Trends in Executive Development" survey--the industry's leading survey of over 400 companies--to provide an in-depth framework designed to help leaders set the future path for their organizations, departments, teams, or initiatives and to actively engage employees in establishing a work environment in which employees bring their very best to work.
Leading with Vision is a 6-step process for creating a compelling vision that will motivate, rally and inspire employees to be proactive enablers of the vision and company strategy. A compelling vision will work for a large, well-known company like Microsoft, and it will also work for the small start-up email security company. The question remains, can it work for organizations that are in industries not typically considered exciting, such as banks, manufacturers, and government agencies?
How it works:
The leadership of the business, the employees, and the customers were all connected to the organization through one unifying and personally compelling concept. The employees felt like they were making a difference, like they were an important character in the organization's story, and they were like the adage by Maya Angelou:
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
Because when we are unaware, we unconsciously engage our default behavior. Only when we become aware of who we are and how others see us are we able to change our behavior.
Sometimes, just being aware, allows the problem to solve us--rather than requiring us to solve the problem.
As Alexander Hamilton would have realized, the ancient Greek aphorism know thyself is an excellent place to start in the study of leadership. You are unique, so it is important to first examine yourself in order to recognize what your strengths and weaknesses are.
In addition to the assessment of your strengths and weaknesses,knowing thyself should include an assessment of your lifetime dreams. To fulfill your dream, you will have to establish multiple long-term goals that complement one another.
Once you have set your long-term goals (for example educational goals, financial goals, family goals), start setting short-term goals that will help you attain them.
Alexander Hamilton was orphaned at the age of thirteen. Through hard work and self-directed study, he pursued a college education in what is now called Columbia University. While in college, he was caught up in the spirit of the revolution and joined a New York militia company. His talents were soon recognized by General George Washington.
"Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages."George Washington
Providing executive coaches to high-potential performers is one way to get the most from untapped talent.
Unfortunately, many executives select a coach based on referrals from colleagues, without adequately considering personal needs. The person sponsoring the engagement usually sends a few coaches for interviews and asks the executive to select one based on “fit.”
In Your Executive Coaching Solution (Davies-Black, 2007), Joan Kofodimos says a coach should help the person-being-coached to achieve most of the following:
Strike a balance between supporting and challenging yourself.
Pick a coach for Support and the Ability to Challenge You
You’re more likely to open up to a coach who creates a safe, confidential and trusting environment. Coaches accomplish this in part by demonstrating they understand and respect your interests, values and concerns.
But coaches must also provide challenges that motivate you to perform beyond your habitual behaviors; confront you directly, yet nonjudgmental, with the impact of your actions; and probe the motives and assumptions underlying your behaviors.
Using a Coaching Relationship Well
The way you select your coach is significant. Do you see the coach as a subordinate? An outside consultant? An authority figure whose primary relationship is with your organization or boss? How do gender, race or other personal characteristics influence the way you interact with your coach?
Pick a coach who can raise issues impartially and show you how your behaviors affect others.
For Help in Developing Feedback Loops
At home, your spouse, partner or significant other will not provide you with critical feedback because he or she knows that it is more important to maintain the loving relationship versus communicating negative feedback. According to positive psychology expert John Gottman, there is a secret formula in relationships. Gottman’s research revealed that marriages are significantly more likely to succeed when the interactions between the couple are five to one, positive to negative. The secret formula is simple: Praise your mate often.
Your peers at work will rarely share authentic feedback with you. However, your coach should help you develop the skills needed to create relationships in which you can ask for honest feedback on an ongoing basis from your peers at work.
Instead of encouraging dependence, your coach should teach you how to self-coach and manage your development in the future. After an initial assessment, a good coach shows you how to form links with colleagues and how you can help them frame useful, specific feedback instead of vague judgments.
Your coach will teach you to ask for feedback and manage the conversation without being defensive. This includes learning how to determine which feedback is relevant and valid while prioritizing issues that you need to address and figuring out how to handle them.
For Help in Clarifying Values and Purpose
Skilled coaches help you clarify your developmental, career and life goals. Your coach should also teach you how to sort out your needs, wants, concerns and boundaries in any particular situation, which allows you to become more comfortable and act more consistently when completing goals, even in complex circumstances.
Here is what one of my executive clients had to say about clarifying his values and purpose during the coaching process:
"Have you ever watched, listened, and felt someone tuning a guitar or other string instrument? That is what it is like to have the good fortune of connecting with John Agno. He is a living tuning fork and you're that string instrument. Today, I have greater self awareness, am more in step with my calling, and better able to appreciate the journey, including the valleys, than ever before. Thanks, John for helping me get attuned with my life signature."
Structuring the Development Process
Your coach must help you manage each step of the coaching process:
For Guidance in Allowing Your Perspectives to Evolve
Commit to fully engage in the coaching process.
Get input from others
Review feedback and plan development
Hold regular coaching meetings to learn and practice new behaviors
Implement behaviors in your daily work and personal lives
Assess actual results in your personal and work lives
Commit to fully engage in the coaching process
Your coach should help you break free of any limiting beliefs and assumptions. A significant shift in perspective can occur when your coach:
Provides additional viewpoints
Plays devil's advocate
Looks at situations as others might
Asks new questions to allow you to reach those "aha" moments
Offers new approaches to put your new discoveries into practice
Help in Learning New Concepts and Skills
Good coaches present a mental model of what leadership means, what it takes to be effective and the key skills required. Your coach should teach skills relevant to your particular situation and assist with your implementation in daily interactions…to sharpen your interpersonal skills.
Choose for Confidentiality
Your coach must effectively navigate risky waters filled with sensitive, confidential information. Because there are no other relationships that must be protected, beyond the coaching relationship, both you and your coach can say the “unsayable” to each other in this safe, confidential and trusting environment; which helps you to reach an area of self-awareness where there is great leverage for developmental change.
Assistance in helping you Influence Others’ Views of You
You learn how to help your colleagues notice the changes you make by inviting them to become involved in your development through providing you with requested feedback in specific situations. A qualified, experienced coach can help you influence others’ views by:
Positively managing your relationships
Assessing key colleagues' willingness to share their feedback from participating with you in customer and internal company conversations
Helping you solicit ongoing feedback on relevant behaviors
Roles a Coach Should Not Play
A good coach will consciously avoid roles that hinder your ability to build self-coaching skills and take independent action:
Cheerleader: Coaches should not give positive reinforcement from the sidelines for everything you do.
Therapist: Coaches should not deal strictly with your personal adjustment and psychological issues, even if they’re qualified and licensed to do so.
Executor of the Boss’s Wishes: Coaches should do more than force you to conform to a superior’s expectations, even when given an agenda when hired.
Shadow Manager: Coaches cannot advise you on business decisions or act on your behalf.
One-Sided Advocate: Coaches must look at all viewpoints and resist taking one side.
Caution: Beware
Since the coach selection process is self-selecting, it is most important that you make your decision wisely.
Intuition is something we rely heavily on to gauge the course of our actions. Intuition is fast, automatic, unreasoned thought and feelings. However, we can be blind-sighted by costly intuitive errors when we over feel and under think.
Beware of deciding upon the look and feel of a good fit. Be sure to balance feeling comfortable with the person against your need to be challenged as you grow. You must believe the coach you select can help you change.