Reflective Thoughts on the 15th Anniversary of 9/11

I was living in Chicago at the time, employed as a teacher in an independent high school. I will never forget the moment that an administrator told me, with a seriousness and fear that I had never seen from him either before or since – that the World Trade Center had been hit and that he was “not f**king kidding!”

Down in the school gym we listened to a live conversation on NPR between a reporter and someone inside one of the towers who was describing the tower-rattling boom, the stifling smoke and the NYPD’s initial orders to stay put. Little did either party know what would soon become of that man on the phone. He almost assuredly did not make it down in time to save his life.

We all have our 9/11 memories, seared into our minds much the way that Kennedy’s assassination lies forever in the minds and hearts of our parents or grandparents. But this time was different. We were now at war. We just didn’t know with who. Or how the war would unfold. Or how long it would last. Or its long-term implications, including our protracted struggles with Radical Islam and ISIS. At that moment we simply knew that we had been dealt a devastating blow, one from which we now know that we would never fully recover.

Naphtali HoffSeptember 11, 2016Comment

Leaders as teachers

Leadership may not be the first word that comes to mind when describing teachers. In fact, some exhaustive lists of teacher descriptors, such as this one, include such predictable terms as prepared, enthusiastic, and supportive, but mention nothing specific about leadership. Nevertheless, as a former classroom educator who now coaches executives, I strongly believe that there are many things that leaders of all stripes can learn from teachers.

Teachers mold us from our youngest years and give us a foundation for life, regardless of the particular paths that we eventually choose. They are, outside of our parents, the first true leaders in our lives and those that we turn to for knowledge, guidance and direction. Many of us emulated our teachers and wanted to grow up to be like one or more of them.

While there are many qualities that make teachers natural leaders, there are a few attributes and mindsets that seem particularly apropos for leaders in the workplace to reflect upon and learn from.

Naphtali HoffSeptember 4, 2016Comment

From barracks to boardroom: How Bill Sandbrook parlayed military experience into corporate success

When I asked Sandbrook whether it was harder to emerge from Chapter 11 or to resurrect a defeated leadership team, he quickly said the latter. You can find ways to get funding and other components that are needed for a turnaround, he told me, but it’s not so easy to change people’s mindsets and behaviors.

Success, he said, works from the inside out or from small to big. To use a military analogy, he sought to make winners out of people who weren’t used to winning. Once they developed a greater sense of control, efficacy and success on a personal level, it was just a matter of time before the company would benefit. As of this writing, the stock trades well over $50 per share.

business, coaching, leadership, relationships, teachingNaphtali HoffAugust 26, 2016leader, leaders, leadership, military, training, executive coachingComment

Put the past where it belongs

Success is not about the resources that we have access to but rather the resourcefulness that we bring to each situation. The most successful people in life were not necessarily the ones who had it all laid out for them on a silver platter. Plenty of folks with the standard “success ingredients” such as intellect, strength, charisma, wealth, good working environments, strong business plans, etc. have done surprisingly little in life.

What can we do to become more resourceful, so that we can take proper advantage of possibilities, manufacture opportunities and manage setbacks in a way that allows us to move forward? Consider using these techniques:

Prepare well in advance. We never know exactly how things will work out. The best-laid plans often go sideways, many times for reasons that we could never have predicted. The readier we are for situations, the easier it will be to live in the moment and chart a different course to success.
Be an avid learner. Again, the more we know the better we typically do. As part of being prepared, take the regular time needed to be well-versed on whatever we are trying to achieve. Many pundits suggest at least 30 minutes daily of growth-oriented reading.

coaching, leadership, relationships, spiritualityNaphtali HoffAugust 9, 2016leader, learning, forward thinking, moving onComment

Walking the tightrope of life

Too many folks have confused priorities or, at the least, lose out on the means in order to enjoy the ends. We all know that life is about more than money, perks and notoriety. We have to be able to live, not just work. And for too many of us, this crucial balance gets lost in the rat race.

Folks with strong work-life balance:

Lead purposeful lives. Balanced people give serious thought to how they want to live their lives. They confer with those who are most important to them and develop and then commit to a road map that will help them get there.
Adjust as needed. Like most things in life, well-conceived plans can easily go sideways if we let them. People who stay on track continually ponder and dialogue about what is working or not, and adjust as needed.

business, coaching, education, leadership, relationshipsNaphtali HoffJuly 15, 2016leader, leadership, balance, lifeComment

How to foster workplace passion

It is well-documented that many folks are not passionate about their work. According to this white paper by Deloitte University Press, up to 87.7% of America’s workforce do not contribute to their full potential because they don’t have passion for their work.

At the beginning of "StrengthsFinder 2.0 "(p. ii-iii), author Tom Rath presents some equally disheartening data. He relates that Gallup had surveyed in excess of 10 million people worldwide on the topic of employee engagement. In that survey, only 1/3 strong agreed with the following statement: “At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.”

In a related poll of 1,000 participants, all of whom responded that they disagree or strongly disagree with the above statement (“At work…”), not a single one said that they were emotionally engaged at work.

business, coaching, leadership, relationshipsNaphtali HoffJuly 10, 2016leaders, leadership, transitional leadership, passion, engagementComment

Be aware of your blind spots

Let’s be frank. We all have them, regardless of our robust talents and successes. We may know a lot about our work and our industry and think that there’s nothing else for use to learn. Perhaps we see ourselves as connecting great with others and fail to identify problematic relations. Maybe we think that we run great meetings, while participants feel disengaged or that we do not solicit sufficient input. Regardless of the issue, we need to be cognizant that things aren’t always as rosy as we may think and we'd benefit from getting and maintaining as clear a picture as possible of our job performance.

Why Leaders Feel Lonely and What they Can Do About It

The loneliest job may very well be that of a leader, whether it’s the leader of the free world, a school principal, or a CEO.

Most employees have others in the workplace that they can turn to for advice, feedback and / or companionship. They can ask questions on how to get things done and work through tough times with their peers, without unreasonable concern that they will be unnecessarily or unfavorably judged (or worse). They can share a joke in the office, fill their March madness brackets, and comfortably discuss what’s going on in their personal lives. They can also “hang” with their associates after work, as a natural extension of their time together in the office.

Leaders, on the other hand, have fewer people to turn to when things get tough. Who in the organization, after all, has had to sign off on the types of decisions that they must make each day? It can certainly be difficult to confide in and bare their souls to direct reports. And those who sit above them in the corporate or organizational food chain (such as the chairman of the board) are also not the ones to whom they want to display weakness or vulnerability.

Naphtali HoffJune 7, 2016 Comments

Think Positive and Achieve

One of the biggest challenges for leaders, particularly newer ones, is to remain positive in the face of inevitable setbacks. So many things happen that can derail us from what we are trying to achieve, such as changing market conditions, weak sales figures, low worker productivity or morale, and more. Leaders who begin with great optimism and energy could easily lose the wind from their sails and spiral into a downward funk when they start to experience obstacles, setbacks and self-doubt. Compounding matters is that many of us can be overly harsh and unjust to ourselves, in a way that we would never be with others. This can cause stress and despondency, resulting in lower self-confidence.

One way that leaders can help themselves to see beyond the moment is to engage in positive thinking. This means that you believe that the best is going to happen in every situation rather than the worst. Positive thinking helps you to approach unpleasantness in a more productive way and deal with the things that must be attended to so that you can move forward as quickly as possible.

Naphtali HoffMay 9, 2016Comment

BLOG