A recent dialogue among a leadership team was about how to provide feedback to the next level leaders. The conversation evolved into how we rate effort in ourselves, as a path to rating effort in those we evaluate. Think for a moment about how much of what we expect of others’ lives in our expectation [...]

 As we exit the busiest time for travel (holiday season), and enter the messiest for weather, I find myself with a little extra airport time while planes (or runways) de-ice and people get testy.  I'm sure you know what I mean, and perhaps have even felt that energy yourself now and again. In those moments of [...]

It's that time of year - pumpkin spice has saturated our market and our waistline. In the middle of all the commercial noise of the holidays, I pause to reflect on the gifts of 2019, the places where I had growth and learning and success. In honor of the 10th anniversary of Nesso Strategies, here [...]

By the time you read this there will be about 60 days left in this decade. I heard this last week at a conference, and I paused. What had I done in this decade? And what would I do in the next? You remember 2010, right? The year Instagram was founded. The northeast US experienced the [...]

Self-awareness is the cornerstone of leadership, and plays a large part in advancing your career. Living in a 24/7 world, with incredible distractors all around, what can be done to raise the bar without taxing your time clock? What if we use the same concept that we approach employee evaluations with – start, stop, continue? [...]

Years ago, when I was first entering the world of full time management, some words of advice were given to me that recently resurfaced in a client conversation: don't handle the food. The conversation all those years back was about establishing myself as a leader (at a young age) and that no matter how easy it might [...]

Worst sentence starter ever! And how often does it start your sentences? I’m returning from my annual adventures at the USA Volleyball Adult National Championships where I competed with a new group of women. I begin training my body in January, because when the tournament becomes the most challenging (in the medal rounds), I want [...]

Duty or desire…I’m not sure this is the spectrum.  And, the more I read about employee engagement the more I wonder about it. Couple that with the complexity of character strength and personal values and the pieces of the puzzle grow. Do you operate from duty or desire? When you show up at your place [...]

Springtime has sprung, and the zoo is filled with babies. I love the zoo, and all the ways animal behavior and human behavior aren’t that far apart. Recently I walked through the elephant exhibit and noticed how fascinated we are with elephants pooping. Yes, I said it. Elephants consume between 100 and 125 pounds of [...]

In our recent Leaders’ Lab, the conversation was about succession planning. It's a complex topic that often becomes specific to the execution process for knowledge and client transfer. We discussed the very tactical approach of introducing new people into client relationships and educating future leaders about organizational knowledge. It’s premature to get so tactical, like [...]