Empathy Can Be Too Much Empathy can be too much, especially if you feel the pain of others and do nothing but wallow in it with them. Empathy with the correct perspective can be powerful and life-changing for everyone involved in the moment. Leadership provides many opportunities to practice empathy. There is a fine line in this practice, because if we are not careful, it can take us down an emotional rabbit hole that is difficult to climb out of; however, with intention, emp

Have you ever wondered why some days drain you completely? It’s not just bad luck—it’s brain science. I learned this the hard way after a day of unexpected stress, multitasking, and one very messy dessert. Here’s what NeuroLeadership taught me. I knew this workday would be busy and different from most of my days. Earlier this year, I decided I no longer wanted my car because I work from home and travel rarely. I felt it was a waste of resources. My husband had recently retire

Why Do We Crave Teams—Yet Struggle to Build Them?  We have social brains, yes —even us introverts have a craving for social interaction. We love being part of a team, something that works toward a common goal. If that is the case, why is it so hard to build cohesive teams that operate beyond  what’s in it for me ? Work teams are especially difficult because not many of us get to pick the teams we are assigned to or work with. We join teams with all kinds of biases and predisp

One of the things that I always used to struggle with during the holidays was employee gifts. I have given some cool gifts in the past, especially when my operations were small. One year, my mom, who is very crafty, offered to make personalized holiday stockings for my team and colleagues. This gift was awesome. I filled them with cute items, like the ones listed below, and put them on their desks on the day of our holiday party.  I had a team of 15 people at the time. This w

The 360 Degree Leader is a book that gives insight into becoming a leader from anywhere in an organization.

If you’d met me in 1998, you’d have seen a young mom balancing textbooks in one arm and my toddler in the other, running mostly on coffee and stubbornness.