Through life experience in various settings – whether in business, at church, or at home – I have observed that the most difficult challenge we face is change. Whether it involves changing attitudes or behaviors, most of us don’t like it. As shown below in Geoffrey Moore’s diagram on change management, over 80% of people ...
May
15th
2013
Monday night in yoga during a pose, my instructor said that sometimes the most difficult part of yoga is not knowing how long the pose is going to last. I agree! He encouraged us to practice “open-ended effort” and use our breathing to work through the discomfort, the challenge of the pose and the unknown ...
May
8th
2013
In recent months, we have seen many changes, such as weather patterns on the planet creating changes in our environment unlike any we’ve seen in recent years, foreign and domestic threats and acts of terrorism, and family changes due to high unemployment rates and more expensive educational programs. Human beings have an uncanny ability to ...
May
1st
2013
Conflicting priorities. New initiatives or opportunities. Emergencies or unexpected problems. The list goes on and all are things that can cause you to feel overwhelmed and like you’re going to drop the ball (or several balls). It doesn’t have to be that way, though, if we say a word many of us simply don’t use ...
Apr
24th
2013
“One of the things we desperately need is a spiritual renewal in this country. We need a spiritual revival in America.” -Billy Graham With the spring tax filing season successfully behind us, we have an opportunity to start fresh and focus our energies on renewing our body, mind, and spirit for the important tasks that ...
Apr
16th
2013
Leadership Spotlight: Mary Rapp MacBain, CPA.CITP, CGMA This month we are proud to feature Mary Rapp MacBain in our Leadership spotlight. Mary is the President and CEO of the Kansas Society of CPAs. She describes her role implementing the strategic plan of the KSCPA and leading the KSCPA team as a “dream come true.” She ...
Apr
10th
2013
If You Can’t See It, Should You Believe It? My oldest daughter wrote an essay recently on the Holocaust book Night by Elie Wiesel. Even though the book illustrates the hopelessness of this unspeakable event, in true form to her wonderful personality, my daughter chose the subject of faith as the basis for her essay. ...
Apr
4th
2013
Treat Yourself to Some “Brain Candy” One of the best ways to stay informed and to grow as a leader is to make time to read personal development books that offer new ideas, inspiration and insight. During the course of our coaching and training sessions, we frequently suggest books to our clients to support the ...
Mar
28th
2013
Take Time to Be Grateful As you work toward the end of your busy season, which is now in sight, make sure you’re doing the appropriate level of “internal marketing” by taking the time to acknowledge those in your firm who have helped you make it all happen. Perhaps it is your firm administrator who ...
Mar
20th
2013
Having It All Isn’t Just a Women’s Initiative I have the privilege of speaking at women’s conferences and working with firms whose leadership teams are committed to further the opportunities for women in the profession. Being a woman, I appreciate the ideas, programs and empathy for women professionals as we balance fulfilling on both personal ...
Mar
6th
2013
Let’s Stop Paying Lip Service to People Development Yesterday, I had three conversations with leaders of firms in completely different geographies and of a variety of sizes about slightly different yet completely related topics: a lack of traction in a mentoring program, an inability to get engagement reviews completed by both staff and managers and ...
Feb
27th
2013
Embrace Yourself As A Leader Lately, I have been contemplating how leaders are identified as I think of our recently elected political leaders and my own friends and family who I see in leadership roles. Webster’s Dictionary defines a leader as “a guiding or directing head.” I have noticed that when we come together in ...
Feb
20th
2013
Make Prioritization Easy with WTD Lists! If you are like me, you’re always looking for ways to be more efficient and organized in getting your increasing list of tasks completed. At ConvergenceCoaching, we employ an organizational technique that allows each of us to have an “at-a-glance” view of our own “work-to-do” (“WTD”) lists for the ...
Feb
6th
2013
Bringing Hope Back I have decided that 2013 will be the year that I focus on, generate and spread one of the most powerful, yet underrated feelings you can experience: HOPE. According to Webster’s Online Dictionary, when you have hope, you “expect with confidence – or trust” that something you want to happen will or ...
Jan
16th
2013
A Season Of Peace My “grown up Christmas wish” this holiday season is peace and healing – in our nation, our lives, our businesses, our schools, our families – in our world. No matter what holiday you are celebrating this season, as we welcome in 2013, let’s pray for peace. And, as a leadership coach, ...
Dec
19th
2012
Leadership Spotlight: Alan Hawrylak, CPA, Managing Partner, Hartman Leito & Bolt In this month’s Leadership Spotlight, we would like to introduce you to Alan Hawrylak. Alan has been a friend of ConvergenceCoaching for many years, and in that time we have had the opportunity to witness him step into the role of Managing Partner and ...
Dec
12th
2012
HELPFUL HINTS FOR THE HOLIDAYS We have officially entered the holiday season! Does this mean excitement or anxiety, anticipation or dread, welcomed activity or a feeling of being overwhelmed? It doesn’t matter whether you are religious or not, or have kids who believe in Santa Claus or not. The impact of the season affects us ...
Dec
6th
2012
Failure Is Not Fatal Although, it feels like it sometimes. Sometimes we have high hopes and expectations and we’re working our plan for our career or organization – then, suddenly it comes to a halt because of a mistake we make or some other unforeseen circumstance occurs. “Success is the ability to go from failure ...
Nov
28th
2012
With Gratitude I am the luckiest person on the planet. First, God allowed me to be born into a great (great!) family. I still get to text every day with my mom, and eat at least one meal with both parents most weeks. My mom is a mix of Maria Von Trapp, Mary Poppins, Dr. ...
Nov
20th
2012
To Live Better: Die a Little In past blogs, I’ve written on challenging topics such as goal setting, people development, and succession planning, along with resolving conflict, starting an exercise program, and most recently being vulnerable. In each case, I’ve tried to explain “why” these topics matter in our lives, and have offered ideas on ...
Nov
7th
2012
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