Posts by Jo Ilfeld, PhD
How To Continue to Build Your Leadership Intelligence
This article originally appeared in Forbes I teach leadership intelligence in an executive MBA program. Every year as I say goodbye to another cohort of graduating eMBAs there is still so much I wish I could have taught them. The truth is that if you’re growing and shifting throughout your career, your leadership intelligence is…
Read MorePost-Mother’s Day Tribute
How can we be present for our employees without micromanaging them? In honor of Mother’s Day this month, I was talking with three clients, all three of them mothers and they were striving to support their almost-adult children, keep track and be helpful, notice when things are going wrong, but not fall into the trap…
Read MoreThe Groan Zone in Meetings: Why It’s a Good Thing
Have you ever found yourself in a meeting that seems to never end? You could have fallen into the groan zone. But don’t worry – that’s a good place to be. You know those meetings where people keep talking about the same thing over and over again, and everyone is struggling to come to an…
Read MoreThe Hierarchy of Communication
Communication is not just about conveying information, but also about understanding the message and the intention behind it. Sparked by a recent discussion with a client, I shared with her my hierarchy of communication and the most effective ways to communicate an idea or a disagreement. The top priority in communication is face-to-face communication. Sitting…
Read MoreHow to Stay In the Picture With Online Presentations
Do you hate it when you give an online presentation at work and your slides take up the majority of the screen, while you and your expressions, your thoughts on your face about what you were presenting, is all off the side, maybe not even very visible? As an executive leadership coach, I often see…
Read MoreGet Some Sunlight…and Some New Ideas
As an executive leadership coach, I understand the challenges of a Zoom meeting-filled day. It can be draining to sit in front of a screen for hours on end, especially when our space may not look like the beautiful, spacious, and well-lit background you can see on my screen in this video (thank you, Dina…
Read MoreEffective Communication: Making Requests Clear and Easy
Communication is a common area where many of us struggle. Don’t you hate it when you remember just as you’re about to fall asleep at night about the text you forgot to reply to or the email you never responded to? This happens to me frequently. With so many requests coming in through various channels,…
Read MoreCan Your Strengths Have a Dark Side?
In all my years of doing 360s, one thing that I often see is how someone’s strengths can have a dark side that can come back to derail them or bite them in the behind. One of the most common things I hear almost every single time is that someone’s growth opportunity is usually an…
Read MoreUncertainty and Change: It Needs to be Addressed
Uncertainty and change are key aspects that leaders often overlook when planning team-building events or an off-site but it is important to address these issues as they can be particularly challenging for teams. All too often, team building events can get focused on what’s ahead or what is expected from people and how you want…
Read MoreHow to Give Introverts Time and Space in Meetings
When running a meeting, how long do you give the introverts in the room to come up with their opinion about a proposal and how much space do you give the introverts in the room to come up with a proposal? This was a question that a client and I were discussing recently. She likes…
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