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My quarterly coaching insight is again inspired by yoga. But you don’t have to like or do yoga to appreciate this. Sometimes, we care so much about something – and are so sure we know the best way to achieve it – that we try too hard.  

A recent coaching client, call her Anne, was a productive and ambitious over-achiever with expertise and results that top management highly valued. But she had been told she could be so brusque and direct that colleagues at various levels found it hard to work with her. She was described as sometimes intimidating, condescending, exhausting, and emotionally unpredictable. Not good!

I’ve always admired great comedians, and not just because they make me laugh. Masterful comedy is a lot like great leadership.

Here are some of the shared attributes of great comedians and great leaders:

Do you know when your mind is running on a low battery? And – importantly – what to do about it? This question popped in my head recently when my ever-so-smart phone notified me of its own “Low Battery” and offered me an optional “Low Power Mode”. Since my own energy was running low at that time, I thought this was especially brilliant. A refresher lesson on resilience!

An increasing amount of research explains some patterns that I’ve observed for many years as a team facilitator. Specifically, the teams that generate the most valuable insights in defining their challenges and the best solutions to their problems are observably different in their interactions from teams that spin their wheels or are mediocre on performance and outcomes. Specifically, on the strong teams, ideas flow more freely from all members and more ideas are put on the table as input to any challenge.

The new year is the season for setting ambitious goals. Declaring aspirations about new skills and new achievements may serve you well. But there’s another approach that may be more accessible and more valuable to you professionally: Pick a couple of things you already know how to do well and that your organization values, and simply aim to do them well more consistently. That increased consistency may be about frequency, about style, about rigor, about listening, about emotions… or anything else that influences your impact on others.