Ellipsis Advisor

Pursuit of Happiness

Bhutan has a Gross Domestic Happiness Quotient to measure the Happiness level of its population, and many other countries are pursuing similar paths. In The Happiness Project, a book by Gretchen Rubin, she states “..one study showed that, all over the world, when asked what they want most from life – and what they want

Tania Fowler Guest Blog – Credentials

Do Credentials Stop Questions? Posted on December 10, 2012 I have this theory (untested mind you) that one of the reasons that organizations continue to suffer consequences and that well-known leaders/officials flame out, so often by their own hand, is that their highly regarded credentials intimidate people into leaving them alone. One of the biggest

Listening

Every once in a while i post definitions, synonyms and antonyms of words that I believe are important in leadership. This one says it all! Listening: Definition: hear and pay attention Synonyms: accept, admit, adopt, attend, be attentive, catch, concentrate, get, give an audience to, give attention, give heed to, hang on words, hear out,

That gut feel

I put a shout-out onto LinkedIn asking people to tell me about leadership actions that have impact. A colleague, Corey Moss wrote about the importance of making a first connection in that first conversation with a potential employee. Often we forget that business, like anything, is about people. About people relating, about relationships. Often, having

It is all on you

As leaders we need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of our team. We need to understand each others’ styles. And most importantly ,we need to know how to marshall that team to become a high-performing team that leverages its strengths and diversity to engage as a team!. A high-performing team is an engaged team.

Strike off two things

Every morning when you prepare for your day, strike off two things from your to-do list. Force yourself to prioritize. Address that ” not to do” list. Make more time for your real priorities and make space in your calendar to step back and reflect.

That meeting getting away from you?

You know that point when you have realized that, no matter how well you prepared for your meeting, no matter how well you set the agenda and desired outcomes, the discussion has gone off course? I have found that when this happens it is not always because the meeting isn’t structured well or because the

Remember – your employees are watching!

As leaders we need to be able to walk a fine line between forging relationships and familiarity. Sometimes, if we become too comfortable with our culture, we will let our guard down and forget that as leaders, everything we say matters. Many years ago, when I was first starting out in a Management Training Program,

Guest Blog Tania Fowler – metaphors

A Metaphor is Like a Catalyst Posted on November 26, 2012 Ask for a metaphor. If you’re the kind of person people tell their troubles to then the next time someone starts sharing a problem with you simply ask them what the best metaphor is. You won’t even believe what they come up with and

Two great lessons

In 1995 i joined an effort to re-engineer the major business processes of the company. We had teams for customer service, sales & marketing, operations, pricing … all working to find means to catalyze efficiency and effectiveness. I was on the team looking to re-engineer customer processes. One day my colleague and friend, Bob Ehlers,