The gifts of our life lessons come to us through powerful storytelling. Stories shape the way we see the world.

In a COVID world, resilience, patience, and flexibility are now key elements of our painful narrative.

My mom was a huge fan of the old saying “get back on the horse.”

I've always been a cheerleader for change. I've studied organizational dynamics for over 30 years as a consultant, coach, and leadership geek.

During this pandemic, I've collected a library of articles on the topic of thriving in crisis. I've listened and observed my clients as they have pivoted their way towards a new future.

Those of you who know me often hear me speak about being a "Leadership Geek". I am. I love all things leadership and have a voracious appetite for learning. I am judicious about picking educational opportunities. They need to be right for me...and my clients.

So, why did I choose to go "back to school" in March for IPEC coaching certification?

This is about to get very real. I'm about to share a bit about my personal challenges as both a solopreneur and a leadership coach.

In the last seven months, I've lost my mom, 2 dogs, and have had cervical spinal surgery. I've also managed to embark on a new coaching certification and build my business in ways that I could never have imagined.

This isn't a personal pity party. My mom raised me to be a resilient, strong, fearless woman.

One of the greatest joys of starting Think Good Leadership has been coaching leaders. I've had the opportunity to do lots of one-on-one work with high-potential individuals. Our work generally begins with utilizing a leadership assessment. As a certified coach of The Leadership Challenge, I love offering my clients the leadership assessment tool, LPI360. This 360 provides insight into the actual practice of specific leadership behaviors. We use it as a starting place for our coaching and it provides the client great insight into areas for growth.

Time flies when you are having fun! It is hard to believe that it is mid-January already! This is about the time that you are feeling one of two ways about your personal New Year's Resolutions. You are on track with your goals and are actually starting to see changes in your behavior...yeah for you! Or, you are already thinking about recalibrating those goals that sounded so good in 2018.

Yes. I admit. I have an obsession. I love all things stationery and have a special fondness for journals and planners. In 2018, I worked to use bound paper in lots of forms...at last count and final count, I put pen to paper in 9 different journals!

GEEK ALERT!!!.... I have decided to spend December sharing my super geek-ness with you, my loyal fans! I am kicking the month off with a look at the tools I use to make my life easier.

There's never enough time or money to get our work done. I get it. I share your pain as a solopreneur. Aside from being a leadership geek, I also consider myself to be a bit of a technology nerd. Today, I am featuring my list of 10 Top Apps/Programs that all leaders need in order to do their jobs better in a digital age.

Here’s something that you probably don’t hear often…I love working with millennials. Over the past year, I have had the privilege of coaching many 20 somethings and I have to say…they are fantastic.

Everyone should join a book club. I am fortunate enough to be part of an amazing group of truly brilliant women who meet once a month to drink a little wine and discuss some great books. Our choice this month was “GRIT” by Angela Duckworth. Duckworth is the Founder and CEO of Character Lab, a nonprofit whose mission is to advance the science and practice of character development.

Welcome to November. It seems like quite some time since I have blogged or written to members of the Think Good community. I am not a proponent of excuses but I do find myself needing to make a few right now!

My transition to an executive director of a non profit was anything but traditional. I originally joined my former organization as the Corporate Development Director. I had raised money before in the educational world and had run my own business. I was confident about what I could bring to the organization. I had a fairly straightforward task - build a corporate giving program that would bring volunteers and donors to serve our mission with their time, treasure and talent.

I have taken lots of twists and turns in my career journey but always with an end game in mind. And here I am.

A year ago, I made the decision that I could actually launch a business that would serve the social sector in a much bigger way than leading one agency at a time. My passion is igniting people and organizations and I’ve always dreamed of building a business that could impact nonprofits in a BIG way. With passion, industry knowledge and lots of experience in the trenches, I was off and running….

ArtsQuest is a Bethlehem-based nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to the arts through music, arts, festivals, cultural experiences, and educational and outreach programs, while significantly contributing to local economic development, urban revitalization, and community enrichment. Musikfest is run by ArtsQuest and is the flagship event of the organization, which reaches 1.5 million people annually.

I have to be honest, I have been thinking about writing this article for a long time. In the Spring, an organization approached me about doing some work on an organization managing through change. Without a clearly defined succession plan in place they were considering a number of ways to get through a leadership crisis and they were curious about my thoughts on shared leadership. In this case, shared leadership meant that two current leaders within the organization would redistribute the duties of the former CEO.