Emotional Intelligence

[This reading is from Jessica von Borck, Director of Land Use Planning at Stanford University.  She is a recent MOR program alum.  Jessica may be reached at [email protected].] “’Cause love’s such an old fashioned wordAnd love dares you to care forThe people on the edge of the nightAnd love (people on streets) dares you to change […]

Emotional Intelligence, Strategic Thinking, and Layoffs [Today’s Tuesday Reading is a collaboration with Jack Wolfe, MOR Associates Senior Consultant and Executive Coach, and Rick Fredericks MOR Associates Program Leader and Leadership Coach.  Jack may be reached at [email protected] and Rick at [email protected]] This past week MOR wrapped up two pilot offerings for our MOR alumni community, Practice Groups. […]

[Today’s Tuesday Reading is from Brian McDonald, President of MOR Associates.  Brian may be reached at [email protected].] During this current health crisis it may be helpful to take a few minutes to step back and think about the leadership challenges and responsibilities that are inherent in this increasing critical threat. Before you begin this, it […]

Two days from today on the fourth Thursday of November, people in the United States will celebrate a national day of Thanksgiving. A similar holiday is celebrated on the same or other days by people in many nations.   In the United States, a day set apart for giving thanks has been observed, most years, […]

… they surround us   No matter where you look, you will find both unwritten and written rules – rules at work, rules that are personal to you, rules for your family, rules about your social interactions, rules at home, rules everywhere. Some are “written” by others including your organization, and many, likely the majority, by […]

Where are you on the burnout scale — exhaustion, cynicism and inefficacy — to fully engaged — energy, dedication, and absorbed?1   In a 2018 paper, Seppälä and Moeller2 introduce a young woman who is in a new workplace. She really liked her new job and was highly motivated to perform well. She undertook, and was highly successful at, organizing a […]

Been gobsmacked1 recently? You are in a team meeting and make a proposal you believe is well thought out. You feel your work is solid. A coworker viciously attacks your proposal. Or, a friend, who also is your boss’s, boss’s boss, unexpectedly calls you early one morning to strongly admonish you for a comment you had […]

Today’s Tuesday Reading is a response by Dr. Nick Dedeke, Executive Professor of Supply Chain and Information Management at Northeastern University in Boston, MA to the recent Tuesday Readings on “luck.” [Nick may be reached at [email protected].] Recent Tuesday Readings have prompted me to reflect on the subject of good luck. Good luck is a phenomenon […]

Today’s Tuesday Reading is an essay by Maria Curcio, Director of Administration, Harvard College Admissions & Financial Aid. Maria is a 2016 alumna of the MOR Leaders Program. [She may be reached at [email protected].]   In his article, Why Luck Matters More Than You Think, Robert H. Frank1 discusses luck in terms of wealth and success:   “Wealthy people overwhelmingly attribute […]

… and Why It Matters Today’s Tuesday Reading is an essay by Julian Koh, Associate Director of Telecommunications and Network Services at Northwestern University. Julian is an alumnus of the MOR Leaders Program. [He may be reached at  <[email protected]>.]      I was recently fortunate enough to take a vacation where I had two very interesting conversations […]

… Let it go. “Holding a grudge is like swallowing poison and expecting the other person to be hurt by it.”                                                              —— Mark Goulston, M.D. author […]

Ever have the fear that someone is always watching you, just waiting for you to foul-up?   Michael Gervais, psychologist and co-founder of Compete to Create, a high performance mindset training course, wrote in a recent Harvard Business Review essay “How to Stop Worrying About What Other People Think of You,”1 that our “fear of other people’s […]

… Yes, both I and you are most likely members of this club   Procrastination, according to Merriam-Webster, is to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done. Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences recipient George Akerlof once found himself faced with a simple task: sending a friend and colleague a box of clothes the colleague […]

Self-awareness, one of the key elements of emotional intelligence, is one’s “capacity for introspection and the ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals. Self-awareness is how an individual consciously knows and understands their own character, feelings, motives, and desires. There are two broad categories of self-awareness: internal self-awareness […]

At one time or another, we have each tried and failed at something, sometimes miserably. And, as a result we all have some fear that if we try to do the same thing, or something similar, again, we will again fail.   Not always. But, sometimes. It might be that when you have a new […]

Harry Davis is the first individual to connect leadership and performance art that I ever encountered. He is the Roger L. and Rachel M. Goetz Distinguished Service Professor of Creative Management at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. We met at the 2008 MOR Leaders Conference1 where Professor Davis was the featured speaker. His […]

Over the past year, I have written on many topics, but never on courage. I’m prompted to do so now by a Time Magazine article “America’s Reigning Expert on Feelings, Brené Brown Now Takes on Leadership,”1 which follows the recent publication of Brown’s fifth major book, Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.2 Fundamentally, the book […]

… Discover the Value of Idleness Being born in the middle of the Great Depression means that the words “lazy” and “idle” take on special meaning. In the southeast Texas town of Shepherd where I first lived, regular jobs were few. My maternal grandfather had one of those jobs, railroad section foreman responsible for maintaining […]

… Just how many hours did you get last night?   If you are like me, I typically answer this question by saying something like, “not enough.” Each of us by design, by inattention, or the events-of-the-day, end up trying, usually unsuccessfully, to cram more into each day than is reasonable, practical, of good for our […]

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.”                   – Brenè Brown   The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines vulnerable as capable of being physically or emotionally wounded, open to attack and damage.   Robert Stolorow,1 psychologist, author, and a founding faculty member at the Institute for Psychoanalytic Study, has […]