What the world says is good for us and what we really need can be so different. A great example is believing our career purpose is solely personal wealth and status...

It may creep up on you over time, or suddenly jump in. You may have heard it for years, or it recently arrived. You may have denied it's presence or accepted your fate. What is it? ...

Most of us keep our spiritual house in order at work. We prefer to feel calm, confident and connected at our inner core rather than the opposite. But there's a limit - a pressure threshold - that when crossed...

I was in Europe late last week, talking to possible business partners. Here's how spiritual engagement turned a business meeting from dark to light.

We were due to meet a French company. I had heard they had already tried and failed with another US company. We were prepared for a difficult time...

Do the same things go wrong repeatedly for you? If so, you'll appreciate this upgrade.

As we drive to get better results in our job we constantly use our mental Choosing Engine to decide what to do. We all have one. Outwardly it looks like the engine is fueled with our great knowledge and experience. But that's the tip of the iceberg. The most powerful fuel comes from our inner core. That's the place where our deeper beliefs and attitudes lie..

In Tanjore in South India lies a Hindu temple where, for a small payment to the owner, you can be kissed on the head by an elephant. Believers say it brings incredibly good fortune to those who do it...

Just like our muscles signal us to slow down physically, so our inner spiritual core signals us to stop a downward trend and get to a more energized place.

You can sense it in your "lack" thinking. Things like: "This is a problem I'll never fix," or "My career path is out of control," or "I'm overextended and stressed out - my way isn't working any more."...

Here's a test of being spiritually engaged at work.

Scenario 1: A colleague bumps into you at work and decides to start bad-mouthing a mutual colleague. Do you join in? Or, being spiritually aware of the destructive power of gossip, do you surrender the temptation and let the conversation (or you) go elsewhere? ...

When someone criticizes you at work, how much does it help? Do you get defensive? Or do you enthusiastically start changing your ways? ...

"What's the fruit of engaging your spiritual inner core at work?" I asked Sharon, who runs a small business...

Has your leadership advanced to the place of knowing that you have more questions than answers? Do you realize that the aperture of your insight is restrictive or has led you to make decisions you regret?...

"I've been trying to build an alliance with the X company, but their VP keeps changing the goalposts," said Ally, one of my directors. "This has been dragging on for months. Frankly, I don't trust him. We may need to look at alternatives."...

Last week, my company held an Innovation Leadership Workshop. Of course we began by defining innovation. Innovation boils down to using different, but readily available ways to solve new or old problems...

Are you a leader with "the right spirit?" It's the quality people admire and want in leaders, despite all the talk of leadership theories...

You'll be meeting many people at work this week. What if you could substantially improve the productivity of your relationships, especially where things have not been too good lately? You know the ones...

Work is such a meeting-intensive place. Do you ever find yourself wondering why you're in some of them at all?

Don't say: "I bring nothing to the table." And definitely don't think it about others. 

Here's a common slip that disconnects people and leads to failure.

This week, I'm sure you will be discussing business problems with your team, colleagues or customers. Inevitably, there will be frustration that things need to get done better. You will know that improve performance requires people to do more...

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An incredible leadership blunder came up in a conversation with a business leader I met this week.

"We were having a good time at our 2012 holiday party," said Janet, the President of a growing outsourcing business in New York. "My boss, the Chairman and owner, asked if he could say just a few words. So I gave him the mic...

Here's a solution to a common leadership error for anyone who accepts the power of his or her inner spiritual core to improve performance.

Picture yourself at work. A big customer problem has just come up. What do you say to start looking for an answer?

Please don't say: "Who Caused This Problem?"...

As I was merrily wishing everyone sustained performance AND joy at work in 2013, I lost it with VP Joanne.

"Ugh! Please don't say that again," I said. "You're aggravating me."

"What! I can't ask everyone here why my work-life balance stinks?" she replied....

Look back. See your growth in 2012.
Look forward. See the challenge of 2013.
Look back. See the mistakes in 2012.
Look forward. Yes, you'll make more in 2013...

Do these Monday emails help you? We're feeling slightly needy this holiday season because we need your support to keep things going. We're volunteers in a non-profit, so a 2012 tax-deductible donation of $50.00 or more (click here) will bring you a special leadership gift for 2013 and satisfy our need wonderfully...

Planning a nice break this holiday? Or will your business commitments keep you active right to the wire?...

End of the year's coming. Will you be going to holiday parties, bonus celebrations, or leaving bashes?

"People confuse fun with fulfillment, especially as the holidays approach," said Joe...

Of course, nobody wants to be a bad boss. Inc. magazine recently published a survey. If you're a bad boss, they say, what you don't do causes people to purposefully make errors and reduce effort...

You're not under too much pressure. You're not stretched far too thin.

You are simply letting your inner core, your spiritual center, be more determined by outer than inner forces...

"Today's leadership issue isn't absenteeism, it's presenteeism! People show up, but they're not really showing up," said the speaker at ANE's breakfast event...

"I need to have a very difficult conversation with my team," said Brian.  "Things are not going well, and I'm scared we will miss this year's target. Everyone's going flat out, and I can tell they sense it. I'm worried I'll make things worse, if I push them. What do I say?..

People become numbed by the pace of change. The leader's work isn't just about vision and strategy. We also have to help people discover a deeper reality to working, one that restores the wonderful feeling that all the senses are engaged again...

Storms are always coming our way. Each one presents us with a choice at our spiritual core. One pathway is narrow and yields our power, like when we say "I can't do it!" or, even worse, we join others in the "We'll never get through it!" brigade. Limitation is the result..

Heather and I were discussing adapting to change. "We want to comfortably skate across the surface of life without pain," she said. "But like Jonah, we must go into the belly of the whale before coming out into the light."...

What's your name for the unique essence of everything that's good about you? You might call it your purpose, your destiny, God, your courage or even your drive. It's deep; it's inspiring, and it wants to have more influence in the world, especially in your job...

An insightful comment from Joe, a finance executive:

"We are now so well connected to each other that it's creating chaos in our lives that we struggle to manage."...

"Interviewing candidates is a big time-waster," said Donna. "I spend an hour talking to a candidate. Yet I can feel a good fit within thirty seconds. The rest is me going through the motions."...

When it comes to being more spiritually connected at work, meaning is more important than words. My working vocabulary is regulated by my analytical mind, but this leadership calls for being more open to my heart. When I do my work of being spiritually connected, there's more meaning from fewer words, more listening to the truth, and more powerful solutions to problems...

"I had a traumatic discussion with my boss," said Tommy. "After working night and day for nine months, they now want us to reduce headcount by ten percent and increase margin. I told him we can't. I just called my team together and told them. They're going nuts."...

"My boss says my Division's only as good as our last quarter's results," said VP Joanne. "It's a grind. The last week of every quarter we scramble to get over the goal line. Then we feel good, recover for a few weeks, and go at it all over again."...

"I'm constantly being criticized by my boss, Diane," said Charles. "It's gotten so bad that I dread going into meetings with her. She belittles us. The tension is awful. When she is out for the day, I feel elated. But it's affecting my whole life. Should I quit?"...

Any leader who intentionally connects to his or her spiritual core stays on the successful pathway we call Calm, Confident, and Connected.

"Every day, I faced the pressure of being an out-of-work executive," said Gerry, the speaker at our recent ANE dinner...

When you meet people this week, remember that you are not simply exchanging ideas and feelings. You are also sharing parts of each others' inner spiritual core. Push yours too hard and people may feel disrespected...

"My work day is a whirlwind of texts, tweets and emails which I get caught up in," said Don. "My time doesn't feel like it's my own. I start okay but I get stacked up and backed up. Things run out of control from there."...

"I'm drowning in work," said Simon at an investment bank. "I get so many emails and texts from people that I'm constantly pulled around all day. Meetings get canceled and added constantly. Now my boss needs a revised forecast by 8am tomorrow morning, so I have to work this evening. What's the solution? I'm going crazy."...

Janice called me. "What can you do with someone who is so bad as a colleague that it feels like they are evil?"

"Evil's a strong word, what do you mean?"...

Fully Present: someone who does the spiritual work of calming his or her inner core in order to be inspiring when leading others...

Bob called on the fourth day of his new job. "This place isn't what I expected, I guess I made a wrong decision," he complained. 

"How can any of us really know the complete truth when we decide?" I countered...

Resentment: Bitterness to others due to not forgiving yourself.

It was Laura again. Last week she exploded a Gratitude Bomb as she successfully left a bank in NYC.

"I did say thanks to everyone as I left, including my boss. The whole experience was very positive. But now I'm stuck feeling that I don't really mean it."...

Victimhood: Believing your job is solely an outside-in experience.

Wednesday, I got a call from Laura at a NYC bank. "I hate my job so Im quitting", she said. "It's been two years of hell, so many weekends, no bonus. My boss has no empathy and constantly corrects my work. She never trained me. The team members I inherited are awful. She won't let me fire them. The whole place is just crazy...

Are you all set for the week? Will you deliver more than last week? Will your time and attention be tightly focused toward the issues and strategies that support growth? Will everyone be expanding their capabilities? You're all set, right? Bravo!...

Are you in transition? Has the big decision to change job or career been made, or close to being made? Instead of rushing to polish-up and upload your CV, stop and think about how you can manage your spiritual core better...

You want more out of your work, to feel like you are really making a difference. You have been successful and taken time to improve, but now you, and possibly others, realize the pathway you're on will not get the best out of you...

Can you remember work moments when you were completely overjoyed? Times when you just knew that things were going right? Do these occasions happen more or less often for you these days?...

ANE leaders never use information for low level purposes. Gossiping is one example. Shading the truth to promote oneself over others is another. They are so destructive to an organization's spirit...

"One day I turned around and realized that the leader I'd become was not the leader I wanted to be. I had lost my spiritual impulse. I needed a new bridge between my personal values and leading the company." Thus started the speech by Arsenal Capital's Dr. Donald Deieso at ANE's recent Leadership and Spirituality Summit...

Tough week or good week ahead? Will it "get to me" or not? It's a choice we can all make this Monday morning. 

We all know the workplace can be so corrosive to our spirit and that of our organization. But the simple truth of leadership is this: We can't lead by example, be the inspiration, and support people, if we let the corrosion reach our spiritual core...

It was a call with an ANE Leader in Germany. 

"ANE leaders should share practical things," she said, "especially those that help us stay fully present for our team. Discovering a tool that works for someone else can have a big impact. What are your top three?"...

It's a new week. When you think about growing your business, your job, or your career, today where will your thinking begin? Is it with the good or the less-than-good? 

Starting with "I/We cannot...." is the prelude to saying things like "Yes, but...." which reinforces our inability to do...

We all have this tendency to put our spiritual and business lives into separate compartments. We start our week feeling calm, confident, and connected, but when pressure builds our spiritual side can evaporate and negative thinking takes over. It's not that our spiritual core goes away,...

Lunch time, and I was having a bad day. The grind of work was getting me down. As I looked back at the morning's situations, I realized I could have performed much better. Thinking that made it even worse. I was on a downward spiral...

"What happens on Monday is nothing like what happens on Sunday," said a business associate, referring to attending her place of worship. "At my job, it's practical and about the facts, not spiritual. Plus, if I'm that nice to people at work, you can bet they'll try to take advantage of me."...

A quiz. What do these leadership behaviors have in common?

Complaining about back-to-back meetings. Texting while leading a team meeting. Doing emails while on mute on a conference call. Arriving unprepared for business meetings. Avoiding performance feedback discussions. 

Answer:They are all symptoms of half-absent leadership. Recognize any of them?...

Do people really listen to you? And you to them? Just nod if you can hear me.

Actually I'm not talking about superficial nodding. I mean the deep listening that comes when leaders choose to be fully present. They put aside disruptions and their personal needs in favor of seeing the greater good come from conversations. In their communicating they go all in - body, mind, and spirit...

What's it like to be on your team? 

No, I'm not after a job! I'm asking about the experience of being someone on your team, because it has everything to do with the way you connect to your spiritual core at work...

The leadership response to pressure is not more pressure. As someone who has made his fair share of errors this way, this still feels like a radical idea...

"Where do I get started on actually applying ANE ideas to my job?" someone asked this week. 

"With a prayer or affirmation," is what many ANE people say. In whatever way fits your spiritual background, this way of connecting to one's spiritual core at work really helps...

"What's the return on spiritual investment for my job?" someone asked. "You say you want me to try ANE's leadership and spirituality events, but how do I justify the time and expense to my boss?"...

What is it that causes one team of people to perform brilliantly but another, in the same situation, to miss by a mile. If you've ever been on a team where I was the leader, you know why I ask!...

I have to admit to feeling a bit awkward sometimes about being a spiritually intentional leader in the secular workplace. In wanting to help business leaders and professionals, I've learned that any hint of dogma can be a turnoff, especially when talking with those who believe their survival requires extremely competitive behaviors...

We can never achieve our full potential as leaders unless we take time to reflect and be at peace, and then connect with colleagues we trust....

Do you know the feeling of satisfaction when you leave a situation knowing that your very best abilities have been in play for the greater good? Not that the outcomes were what you wanted, but that your core abilities, the essence of your leadership strengths, were needed, contributed, and respected...

I hope the year has started well for you. It takes no time at all to get re-absorbed into all the busyness of work, doesn't it?

Don't forget that there's a fantastic resource available at your job this week. One that can keep you calm, confident, and connected in any circumstance. I'm talking about your spiritual center, your essential core...

Somebody challenged me this week: "What's the increased value to someone's career of participating in ANE? How come you're not selling that you can get me promoted?"...

A New Equilibrium wants your 2012 to be a year of wonderful growth. Wherever you are in your life, in 2012 we want you to feel more of the incredible sense of excitement, anticipation, and satisfaction that comes from knowing that your journey really counts, that your life has significance, that your connections to people are powerful and deep, and that nothing can shake your confidence in the incredible leader that is you...

This job you have, this journey of leading others toward something better, is an incredible gift you are privileged to hold for a while. This week, as your thoughts turn to gift giving, let this idea that your gift is already received fill you with warming gratitude toward people. Do you give gifts to lift your spirit or theirs?..

Do you have relationships with colleagues that truly sustain you? This is much more than knowing that someone delivers on expectations. It's about a deeper sense of sharing one's life journey, a warm belief that together you can face and overcome any uncertainties. We've all known these kinds of relationships. Would having more of them help you in 2012?...

People love to talk about moments where their inner core, their spiritual center, was perfectly aligned to their team circumstances. Perhaps in sport, at school, or in business, we've all known those moments. Times of exhilaration at being in complete command, or when our sense of connection to teammates, of being in the zone, was absolutely superb...

An ANE Leader in the UK offers this advice after taking our Inner Spirit Quiz.

"Do you get enough silence? Just think about your phone calls, conferences, meetings, travel, conversations, and so on. Too much noise depletes and dilutes our leadership....

Do you know the incessant drumbeat of "More" at work? More clients, more profits, more investments--all very necessary for successful growth of any organization. But if we follow the drumbeat selflessly, our inner core, our spiritual center, becomes worn down...

If you let it, the business world will tag your leadership style with many labels. Each one is an attempt to fit you to someone else's definition of "perfection." Be careful. Such leadership typing only touches the surface; it never reaches the core of who you really are...

What does it mean for you to feel a really deep connection to the people you work with? Not some fleeting passing discussion where mix-ups happen, but conversations where you know with certainty that what you have to say is heard at their deepest place...

Have you noticed how rapidly leaders who fall prey to greed and self interest are being exposed? Greed is an inordinate and insatiable desire for wealth, possessions, or power...

"You lead by focusing on clear accountability and motivating your people," said one of my bosses as she was training me. "Your success always follows if you start there."...

Resentment and anger really mess up organizations. It's destructive enough when individuals act this way, but when an entire team practices such fearful, negative thinking, the consequences can be dire. And who is accountable? In large part the leadership for not seeing the danger and, in many cases, tacitly ignoring it. (Think, Enron.)

ANE leader Don forwarded a recent New York Times article, Do Happier People Work Harder? A large research study shows people feeling worse about their jobs than ever before, many of them reporting frustration, disdain or disgust...

Advice from an ANE leader named Will in the UK:

All these signals of economic uncertainty build up our fears. It's as though things beyond our control have taken over, others are gaining and we are losing, and our jobs, careers and families are at risk...

What does it mean to be more spiritual as a leader? To me, it starts by recognizing that there is a power greater then myself to which I am very deeply connected. Then, it means intentionally doing something to tap into that greater power to help me lead people to better outcomes. How each of us does this,...

Do you have high standards of performance that you expect from people?  Most leaders do, despite often not knowing what it really takes for someone to succeed. But performance pressure is always present, whether from inner or outer sources. The key question is: When you think people are falling short, how do you best respond? ...

What unites us in A New Equilibrium is our desire to be better leaders through our spirituality. So, is this something we each put into practice on the fly, or do we need focused time to make a spiritual connection during our busy working lives?...

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Which direction will you be looking to find more growth this week? From outer resources or inner?...

I've noticed that we all seem to have unconscious negative thinking patterns that invade our leadership jobs. They show up as repeated missteps and mistakes, like worms burrowing into our job and career. Do you ever think "Why is this happening, again?"...

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Which one is the better leader by example? a) The person who shows me how to do my job, or b) The person who shows me how to grow as I do my job. I know....it all depends on the circumstances. But since b) embraces a) it's a great place to start helping someone...

Connected, Confident, Calm

Remembering you have a spiritual center can be challenging but appreciating the same in others can be even tougher. There's a real tendency to become conditioned by what we think people lack or can't do, especially in competitive cultures...

Calm, Confident, Connected

How is it going for you this week in leading by example? Yesterday, I had a practical experience that I'd like to share. I was sitting with a client, and having a hard time thinking through a complex situation. At some point, I began inwardly criticizing myself for not coming up with a good answer. Soon after, I could feel my negativity starting to lead our conversation in the wrong direction. ..

Calm, Confident, Connected

"Leading by example" takes on a deeper meaning for us as ANE leaders. We pay attention to the power of our inner core, our spiritual center, so we know our deeper attitudes are communicating as much as our actions...

Did you ever leave a meeting thinking, "That was a real downer." Chances are you were part of a team focusing really hard on what's missing, rather than what's available. Repeated negativity, in a group setting, rapidly becomes the downward spiral to group victimhood, isolation, and defensiveness. Poor results always follow, often amplified by group gossip...

"In my day, we had it tough...."

Do you think leadership is harder or easier than it used to be? Seeing how rapid change brings more individualism, greed, and fighting, I wonder if you think it's more difficult to lead these days?...

There's a joyful vitality to ANE leaders who keep their spiritual center fresh. They are in a state of constantly letting a power far greater than themselves help them lead, yet they also stay solidly grounded in their goals...

We just ran events in UK and US - many thanks to all those who attended - entitled The Spiritually Intentional Leader. Hear what our Trustee Phil Herman, CEO of PH Tool, said at the end of his inspiring talk to those gathered at the Summit in Princeton:...

As ANE leaders, we make the choice to integrate the spiritual dimension into our jobs, in part because respecting this unique presence in others helps us expand it in ourselves...

Why do we ANE leaders do spiritual work to stay confident in our leadership moments? Not simply to become better balanced for ourselves. We also care about lifting the people we lead or serve...

Does your heart delight in the growth of other people, especially those in your team? Beyond helping them achieve goals or improve relationships, isn't it wonderful to help them become stronger at their essential core, or spiritual center, and grow in broader ways? There's a joyful feeling to it which is so precious to us as ANE leaders.

What is it that builds the connection between a leader and his or her followers? Think of people in your job and look closely. Is it the power of reward for delivering on target, or the way people keep their relationships nicely positive? Or is there something much deeper going on? ...

Growth is the principle that drives all our leadership. It focuses our energy toward the career stage ahead, the improved team performance, and all our life goals. It is indeed a truly motivating concept, but there are two common misconceptions...

It's the power we give to our circumstances that largely determines the course we end up taking. If we see our situation as lacking or threatening, we make fear-based decisions that always narrow our pathway forward. If we look at our circumstances from the position of sincerely wanting what is best, we power our decisions with a sense of greater possibility that broadens our pathway. It's the leader's choice. And in the modern workplace it can be very challenging indeed, especially when one's entire team is reacting fearfully to change....

The desire for resources to produce more can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it can come from a positive creative urge to improve, and, on the other, it can be the cry of someone struggling to make best use of what exists already. The ANE leader's job is to look deeper to find the most productive balance...

Is it possible, in this full speed world, to be a successful leader and also stay calm? Or is all this discussion of peaceful rest and balance providing an excuse for people to slack off?

Calmness in not simply appearing to deal well with stress. Calmness stems from the work we do to preserve the connection to our essential core, our spiritual center, as we go about leading. This instills in us a deeply centered calmness that energizes people and shows them a balanced way to grow. It also improves our decision making and relationships, and enables our teams to create in safety...

Spiritually intentional leaders have a faith that really works. More than belief, we make the decision to get our faith involved in the practical ups and downs of leading so that better outcomes are achieved for all. Growing together in how we do this is the purpose of ANE...

Want to be a better leader? Start by accepting that your mind alone can never come up with all the answers. Only then can the power of connectedness start to enrich you...

Want to understand how your inner power, your essential core, can really help others be successful? Find some people at work you admire for being truthful and ask them for feedback:

"What is it I do that helps you succeed?"

One of the key learnings of being a spiritually intentional leader is that your organization or team is in some way reflecting your own spiritual state.

(For this example, please picture the Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil cartoon character spinning and biting whatever it happens to bounce into. Is that you at your job some days?)....

The more we stay well-balanced in our leadership moments the better off we are. But when our negative responses get triggered, that calm, confident, connected feeling can be so hard to sustain. We end up making poor decisions and, even worse, we know it. We sense our spiritual wheel is wobbling, but the time and space we need to get ourselves righted gets crowded out...

There's a wonderful energy and rhythm that comes from someone who decides to become more connected to his or her essential core, or spiritual center. It lifts them beyond the deadened feelings of inertia toward the joyful experience of being fully engaged with life. The pathway of greater contribution follows quite naturally...

The whole idea behind being more spiritually centered at work is that there is a wonderful power within us, at our essential core, that we can enjoy and call upon in any situation. As ANE leaders we are learning practical ways to do this that really "stick" as permanent work habits for greater professional effectiveness and personal fulfillment.

It's one thing to be aware of our essential core, our spiritual center, but it's another to be able to engage its power as we experience all the stresses of our jobs. Stress crowds out our willingness to engage. As one ANE member put it recently, "The willingness I feel on Sunday doesn't seem to carry over to Monday with sufficient force."....

It's self-evident that in order to improve things we have to be willing to start doing some things differently and better. Driven by our circumstances, we see clearly enough where we need to get to, but all too often it seems like we don't even get to the starting line...

An ANE Member recently said:
"The energy of ANE people is amazing. Something happens in a room of these leaders, you can feel it."

Just last week ANE members in Europe met on a conference call to help each other on the theme of Staying Calm at Work. See if any of their great suggestions "stick" for you this week...

Tap into the source of your higher purpose in all the practical moments that make up your day. For example, try a momentary prayer or affirmation as a way of intentionally seeking a better pathway that you might not be consciously aware of...

People ask us to "get into the right spirit" of things. What they really want is for us to give them our whole support, not just our superficial nods but the commitment of the deeper parts of us too...

Gifted, well-fed, and grateful! I hope this holiday time has also been wonderful for you and your family, despite any wintry weather...

If only I could have been there to help John. He was a leader I respected, and now his family faces the hardest of times this holiday....

Giving and receiving gifts can be tricky. It's supposed to be about expressing genuine gratitude for relationships but, in practice, cultural expectations and taboos tend to condition everything...

Someone asked in our recent survey: How does an ANE leader deal with a superior who withholds information in order to keep power and control? This is a very real issue - at work and elsewhere - and depends a lot on each circumstance...

Being busy at work is a good thing. It brings energy and confidence to all aspects of one's life. But too much busyness can quickly knock us out-of-balance. We get tugged down unnecessary channels because of our unfettered involvement in situations... 

Saying thank you is much more than acknowledging a gift or contribution. When we put ourselves in the humble sense of gratitude, we are operating at a deeper level of connection. That's the ANE leader's way...

In these fast-paced recessionary times, the out-of-balance feeling is very common. A big part of this issue is "I" thinking, as in "I must", "I oughta", "I gotta". Our targets wind us up tight and when the busy world interferes with us, we feel like we have to push ourselves even harder...

Some of ANE's Trustees were recently composing a phrase for ANE's purpose:  We are a community of leaders committed to a journey of enlightenment that allows us to leverage our spiritual resources for professional effectiveness and personal fulfillment...

Do you ever find youself agreeing with people who say change is so hard for people?  If so you may be reflecting a need for a shift in your leadership approach...