Posted by: Nancy Raulston on: January 3, 2012
I often hear people say “I just want to be able to be myself”…usually when they feel like someone is judging them. The truth is, I think, that what they REALLY want is to be able to do what they want and still get what they want — acceptance, success, an easy life. As I [...]
Posted by: Nancy Raulston on: March 16, 2011
I got several responses to my post earlier this week. What people said was “Great…..now what do I do?” Our society, especially in business, is so focused on action. That’s why we like the idea of “getting” — it sounds powerful and active and makes us feel we are taking control. It feels so hopeful [...]
Posted by: Nancy Raulston on: January 26, 2011
Winter is pruning time in my garden. I have lived in this house for 6 years and bought it from an exotic plant broker so I have a wonderful, full, overgrown garden. For the first 5 years I lived here I just accepted the overgrownness…then last year I timidly began to prune. This year, I [...]
Posted by: Nancy Raulston on: January 14, 2011
I find it really interesting to watch other people have conflict. Regardless of what the goal of the discussion is, as soon as there is a difference of opinion I can see many of them move into “I have to win!” People who have studied conflict have identified several styles. Although “dominate” is a legitimate [...]
Posted by: Nancy Raulston on: September 28, 2010
I was talking to another consultant last week. We were both pondering the question of why so many of our clients (or potential clients) seemed to not be willing to make the changes that seem so obviously necessary to us. Her opinion was that people are too afraid of doing something new, of not knowing [...]
Posted by: Nancy Raulston on: September 7, 2010
In a recent series of blog posts about “the job of a CEO”, Matt Blumberg of ReturnPath suggested a CEO should work with a coach. This represented great progress since one of the CEO’s I worked with expressed a fear that admitting to his Board that he worked with a coach might make them think [...]
Posted by: Nancy Raulston on: August 26, 2010
Faith. Is that a weird word to use in a business context? I can just hear the venture capital clients I work with screaming “I don’t want my CEO’s having faith! I want them getting results!” But what if you need faith to get results? This has been such a hard time for people. I [...]
Posted by: Nancy Raulston on: July 27, 2010
We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face… we must do that which we think we cannot. — Eleanor Roosevelt I am helping a client prepare for the staff retreat in which they will present their strategic plan. As for many of [...]
Posted by: Nancy Raulston on: July 13, 2010
“It takes more courage to reveal insecurities than to hide them, more strength to relate to people than to dominate them, more ‘manhood’to abide by thought-out principles rather than blind reflex. Toughness is in the soul and the spirit, not in muscles and an immature mind” — Alex Karras The world of Venture Capital and [...]
Posted by: Nancy Raulston on: June 28, 2010
In a book I was reading this weekend, the author described someone as “fleeing the pain of powerlessness… taking flight to the illusion of dominance”. It made me think about how often I see clients taking flight — to the illusion of strength, Or control. Or not needing help. Or knowing all the answers. It [...]
