We have been in need of a whole new approach to work for decades, but it wasn’t until the global pandemic hit that organizations were forced to change.

Because the truth is, none of us were really happy with the way things were — long commutes, loads of travel, office politics, 50- to 60-hour work weeks, untold distractions at the office.

It wasn’t working. But who would have ever conceived of a hard restart for the entire planet?

I didn’t always understand that change was such a difficult proposition. I remember debating with one of my professors in graduate school who insisted that it takes pain to provoke change in organizations. I was an optimistic young woman then, and I simply didn’t want to believe that we couldn’t — or wouldn’t — collectively, proactively change when we knew it would make things be better. …

Now that we are over nine months into the global pandemic, it’s time to take stock and get more creative. It’s time to pay attention to the women leaders you work with, because they have been singularly derailed with small people clamoring for their attention as they have tried to balance working from home and life at home.

For most working mothers, it’s an untenable situation, and we’re already seeing the fallout.

“The year 2020, marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, was intended to be ground-breaking for gender equality,” a UN Policy brief about the impact of the pandemic on women notes. “Instead, with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, even the limited gains made in the past decades are at risk of being rolled back. The pandemic is deepening pre-existing inequalities, exposing vulnerabilities in social, political and economic systems which are in turn amplifying the impacts of the pandemic.” …

Not everyone is cut out for a coach. I thought about that the other day when someone asked me about my least favorite kind of coaching client. Over the course of my 30 + years as an executive coach, I’ve picked up on a few tell-tale signs of a bad coaching client. If you’re wondering whether or not a coach is right for you, here are my top five reasons not to hire a coach:

1. Someone Told You To

We’ll start with my number one rule: I don’t work with hostages. This means I don’t agree to coach someone who has been sent to get coaching. Typically, it’s a person who has pissed off someone (or many people) at work. They have blind spots galore, and no one seems to be able to get through to them. So, their boss or the board decides, let’s bring in the big guns. A professional. …

It’s a big darn deal to become one of “The 20 Happiest Companies” from Glassdoor. You have to be doing something really, really right. But not only did ROI Healthcare Solutions make that list, they also won “ Best in KLAS “- a recognition given to vendors for outstanding efforts to help healthcare professionals deliver better patient care — two years in a row. KLAS ranked them #1 in loyalty, operations, relationship, value and service.

Clearly, ROI Healthcare Solutions is making a significant operational and clinical impact on healthcare organizations, and I wanted to find out more about them. …

If you are a leader, you are in a position to cause positive change in our world. What will you do in this time of racial uprising? How will you create change for good for all people?

HP Inc. is doing inspirational things when it comes to the Black Lives Matter movement and the larger diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) social justice movement rolling across our country. Here are two big steps they’ve recently taken.

Share and Listen

First, within days of the revelations about George Floyd’s death, Enrique Lores, President and CEO of HP Inc., sent out a message to all employees that said, in essence: We have to do better. …

Despite my best intentions to start my day thoughtfully and with gratitude, more often than not, this is what I do instead: I pick up my phone. Before I even pour a cup of coffee, I get lured into the scroll of doom: rising Covid-19 numbers, protests that turn ugly, unemployment skyrocketing, parents working harder than ever, economic gloom all around.

Then I work to lift myself out of this downward spiral. Fortunately, I am a highly resilient person. I eventually bounce back even after devastating events. I find joy again.

Maybe you’re lucky and rebound quickly, even in the face of the doom scroll. But it might be good to take a moment out and consider what it takes to cultivate resilience — because that’s something we can all use more of right now. …

With the pandemic raging and disrupted work becoming the new normal, people are feeling resigned, mad and stressed out. Life is not like it used to be in “the good old days.” Everything seems strange and new. Most of us need help with stepping out of our behavioral bad habits when we experience stress.

At Henley Leadership Group, we rely on a tool called the Integrative Enneagram. The Enneagram is designed to reveal your internal operating system. It points to automatic and unconscious patterns you use to make decisions and get what you want, and what you do when you don’t get your way. …

There is so much happening in our world right now. First, of course, is the pandemic. The numbers keep spiking and, along with them, a second wave of shutdowns. Working from home and mask-wearing are now part of our everyday experience. I don’t even have to think about wearing my mask anymore; putting it on is baked into my routine and memory. I wear it not for myself but out of consideration for others.

There’s also the Black Lives Matter movement, which has gained significant momentum. And to me, its impact is even broader — it’s a movement about human dignity, empathy, and courage. Like the #MeToo movement that was launched in late 2017, I hope this momentum carries us to higher ground. I hope that we learn how to become better humans for other humans. …