Insights

The word passion is often used as a holy grail for leaders. The trouble is, what passes for passion is often bad behavior. Taking over, not listening, showing preference for certain employees, ignoring feelings, considering a need for support as weakness, yelling, or too much focus on short-term results. The list is long. And the statistics on […]

Last week I attended a fantastic event at Cosmetic Executive Women focused on Prestige Beauty Branding*. Something that really stood out was when the panelists were asked their views about Amazon, the retail giant they are increasingly forced to work with, whose positioning does not align with their prestige images. It got me thinking about […]

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscape, but in having new eyes.”  ~Marcel Proust Lisa was overwhelmed. From a traditional small town, she had come to New York for a career shift and found the “anything goes” culture jarring. A mom of two, she was having trouble connecting with her colleagues who […]

  In the early days of Clear Strategy, I gained an amazing insight. Half of the clients who were coming to me for job search ended up staying in their jobs and getting promoted. More than once. It turned out their career management problem was not that they needed a new job. They needed leadership […]

Last week eight brave souls signed up for my 30-minute free coaching sessions. Congratulations! It was exciting on so many levels. The first lesson is a “listen up” for job searchers — I sent three sign-up reminders and only had two people register until that third reminder. It’s a huge lesson to all those, including […]

In the balmy night air, I was at the estate of an art collector in the hills above Cannes, France, watching two hundred beauty and press executives dance the night away for the international launch of Dior’s latest fragrance when a voice told me, “Claire, you don’t belong here.” I was there because it was […]

Last week I was invited to Fast Company’s Innovation Festival  for a session by architecture firm M. Moser on how  sound, light, air, comfort, movement and communication impact our work day. Change is not easing up. Companies need to push their employees. And more will always be better. Yet innovative companies are seeing that taking care of employees lets us […]

This week a client (the boss) used the techniques she had learned around providing difficult feedback and I was thrilled to hear how she made it work. Recently she hired a part-time employee. After an initial month that she chalked up to learning curve, the employee’s performance was just not aligning with my client’s expectations. […]

Clarity Creates Confidence — The simple approach to owning work and life     Things can get confusing. Work doesn’t feel right, but you’re not sure how to fix it or what’s next.  As a leader, you may be clear on your mission but need to get more cooperation from your team.  Or work is great, but […]

Recently I was working with a client on how to ask for what she wants at work. She said, “I’m the type where if someone says, ‘Want the last french fry?’ I say, ‘No, you go ahead.’ “ And even as she shared this bit of information, she was smiling — she knew there was […]