Business

Layoffs can cause fear and grief. Here’s how teams can process those feelings using Appreciative Inquiry

By |2023-06-10T19:58:02-04:00June 10th, 2023|Business, Deborah Grayson Riegel in Fast Company|

Tens of thousands of workers have been laid off so far this year. Layoffs can cause feelings of fear and grief. You may be wondering, Who’s next? and Why not me? and What now? While you might not be ready or able to answer these questions, you can’t expect that these feelings of anxiety and

How to be a more vulnerable leader—even when it makes you uncomfortable

By |2023-06-10T19:58:17-04:00June 10th, 2023|Business, Deborah Grayson Riegel in Fast Company|

It is increasingly common for leaders to show vulnerability. These days, rather than feeling compelled to put up an impenetrable, flawless façade, many leaders are actively encouraged to share their worries, hopes, fears, setbacks, and challenges with their teams. The benefits of vulnerability include creating psychological safety within the team, increasing the team’s potential, building

Coaching a Direct Report Who Asks for Your Help

By |2023-03-26T10:19:35-04:00March 26th, 2023|Business, Deborah Grayson Riegel in Harvard Business Review|

Evolution has made humans helpful. We have evolved as a species to be “prosocial,” behaving in ways that are positive, helpful, and intended to promote social acceptance, connection, and friendship. Asking for, offering, and receiving help have aided our long-term survival. That being said, there is a difference between being inclined to help someone and knowing what

Are You Taking Full Advantage of Your Network?

By |2023-01-27T14:40:01-05:00January 27th, 2023|Business, Deborah Grayson Riegel in Harvard Business Review|

Over a breakfast of lattes and pumpkin muffins at my local coffee shop, a colleague and I reflected on how weird it felt to be meeting people in person post-Covid. We discussed the awkwardness of handshakes versus fist bumps, whether to sit inside or outside, and what to say or do when someone coughs and

The Best Public Speakers Put the Audience First

By |2023-01-27T14:28:43-05:00January 27th, 2023|Business, Deborah Grayson Riegel in Harvard Business Review, Speaking|

Several years ago, I traveled from New York to Geneva, Switzerland to be the closing keynote speaker for the World Communication Forum. I was excited to have the opportunity to speak with global leaders about how nonnative English speakers can present their ideas — and themselves — with greater clarity and confidence. For my allotted

How to Encourage Your Team to Give You Honest Feedback

By |2022-11-20T10:44:04-05:00November 20th, 2022|Business, Deborah Grayson Riegel in Harvard Business Review|

If you’re a manager, it’s not enough to be giving feedback to your direct reports. It’s part of your job to solicit feedback from your direct reports as well. As much as you might believe that you know your strengths and weaknesses well, without external self-awareness — an understanding of how what you say and

Stop avoiding conflict and start advocating for yourself

By |2022-10-29T13:04:42-04:00October 29th, 2022|Business, Deborah Grayson Riegel in Fast Company|

Some conversations feel more manageable than others. It’s easy to talk with your colleagues about the Netflix show you’ve been binging, the vacation you have coming up, or even the annoying coworker you have in common. Other conversations feel trickier, especially those where we are concerned about rocking the boat, worried about hurting someone’s feelings,

Stop Saying ‘It’s Just My Personality’ and Start Saying This Instead

By |2022-09-25T20:41:16-04:00September 25th, 2022|Business, Deborah Grayson Riegel in Inc.|

Wharton Business School Professor and best-selling author Adam Grant wrote, " 'That's just the way I am' is a missed opportunity for growth. Personality is not your destiny. It's your tendency. No one is limited to a single way of thinking, feeling, or acting. Who you become is not about the traits you have. It's what you

Ask for What You Need at Work

By |2022-08-22T20:31:16-04:00August 22nd, 2022|Business, Deborah Grayson Riegel in Harvard Business Review|

I was two years out of graduate school when I was offered my dream job. It had almost everything I wanted: work in a field I loved in a mission-driven organization, an impressive title, smart colleagues, global travel, professional development opportunities, and an easy commute from my home in New York City. But it was

You’re Not the New Boss They Wanted — Now What?

By |2022-07-28T12:04:48-04:00July 28th, 2022|Business, Deborah Grayson Riegel in Inc.|

In an ideal world, we would get to choose our boss. We would carefully consider who communicates effectively, leads with high emotional intelligence, can teach us the skills we need to succeed, can push and inspire us in the ways we want, can motivate us without micromanaging or under-leading, can coach us to grow, and

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