Leadership Perspectives

How important is sleep?

Marie Peeler

  Recently a client asked me how important I thought sleep was.  I didn’t hesitate before I said “Critically important” with some vehemence.  The context of the conversation was leadership, leadership performance, and showing up emotionally centered and resilient in the face of challenge. My answer didn’t surprise him.  I think he was simply looking for […]

Want success in 2014? Start with a clear intention.

In my final post of 2013, I offered four key actions that leaders could take to be more effective and happy with their performance in 2014.  The first was to set a clear intention. Many of us have a vague – and often an acute – sense of what we need to change, how we […]

Five meeting blunders leaders should avoid

I often hear leaders lament how much they hate meetings, those time-sucking events that take us away from our real work to sit in a room, or on the telephone, with others who would also prefer to be doing something else. Sound familiar? Wait a minute.  By definition, leadership is guiding, inspiring, and working with […]

Priorities are a funny thing

I’ve noticed a funny thing.  Whenever I have a trip planned, whether for business or pleasure, I always start a few days or weeks in advance (depending on how far in advance the trip is planned) listing and trying to chip away at the things that I need to do before I leave. Listing the […]

How to ask good questions

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of empathy.  One of the best ways to demonstrate empathy is to ask questions and really listen to the answers. In addition to showing empathy, asking the right questions and having an open mind to hearing the answers helps leaders avoid myopia by exposing them to […]

Managing conflicting leadership roles with personal mastery

This month, Financial Executive Magazine published an article that I wrote for financial officers. (Click here to read it.) The article was titled “Leading with Personal Mastery,” and spoke to the challenge that CFOs have in fulfilling a dual role. Dual roles to fulfill. On one hand, CFOs are responsible for guarding the financial integrity […]

Explain yourself, please

Recently, in talking with a leader, I asked her whether she was currently fulfilling her full potential on her team.  She answered honestly that she probably was not.  She wanted to but sometimes felt that communication on her executive team was hit or miss and she sometimes lacked a clear view of the big picture.  […]

Leaders, Get comfortable with ambiguity

Sometimes when I work with leaders, they struggle with ambiguity.  They want all the facts before they make a decision.  They want to memorize a script before an important presentation.  They don’t want to take questions for fear of not having answers. While I understand the urge to want to be certain, have all the […]