CEO and Founder

Feedback Survey: How to Avoid Surprises

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | May 20, 2022 |

For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on feedback survey and surprises the image shows a drawing of a woman's head with illustrations of technology and computers

Do you ever find yourself astonished when you get the results of a company feedback survey or performance review? What it comes down to is that as a founder, leader, or manager, you should be checking in regularly enough with your team members or direct reports so there are no big surprises when the final…

Are You Clear On The Outcome?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | May 12, 2022 |

For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on outcomes the image shows a woman looking at a drawing showing a maze of lines on a board

Being clear and knowing the outcome you want before you embark on something is key. It’s key to successful meetings, giving a presentation, and coaching your team to higher performance. Are you in the process of hiring someone new for your team? Then knowing the outcome is very important here, too, so that you can…

What Does a Pre-Mortem Look Like?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | May 4, 2022 |

For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on pre-mortems for team development, the image shows a team sitting around a table.

One of my favorite things ever is a pre-mortem. Unlike a post-mortem which looks backward after the end of a project, a pre-mortem actually happens before the project ends. If you are worried that your team is being more reactive and not proactive enough, then I recommend trying this out. With a pre-mortem, you’re asking…

Do You Dissect Success?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | April 27, 2022 |

For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on dissecting success the image shows some building blocks being put together to create the sign of an up arrow.

Is it important to dissect your success? Do you ever stop to celebrate your wins or are you one of those people who move on to the next thing immediately? I believe that taking the time to dissect your success is extremely valuable. Ask yourself what helped those successes? What behaviors did you change that…

Does Your Team Have A Hero Or A Martyr?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | April 20, 2022 |

For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on team performance the image shows a pair of crutches leaning against a white wall.

Breaking my ankle and relying heavily on my family led me to think about how loss and vulnerability affect team performance.

Relationship Building in Virtual Meetings

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | April 13, 2022 |

For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on relationship building virtually the image shows a woman smiling and waving at a laptop.

Relationship building in a virtual setting is not always easy. What are some ways to improve relationship building virtually? Firstly, no one wants another Zoom happy hour, I can assure you. But how can you build relationships between team members who have never met in real life? More importantly, how can you build relationship building…

How Can You Improve Strategic Thinking?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | March 31, 2022 |

For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on strategic thinking the image shows a woman's hand with a pen writing in a journal.

How can you develop better strategic thinking skills? Write it down! I’m sure you have those times when you know you need to think more deeply about something, you know it needs more strategy and work. If you’re like me, you probably tell yourself, “I’ll think about it when I’m in the car picking up…

Can you increase your creativity?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | March 24, 2022 |

For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on becoming more creative the image shows a woman sitting thinking at a desk in front of a colorful, creative background.

Do you tell yourself you’re not that creative? Then, today’s post is for you. You can become more creative by looking at the components of creativity and seeing where you can push yourself to be better. In this video, I share my creative process to help you define and refine yours. The first step is…

Life-Work Balance: Setting an Ending Time

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | March 17, 2022 |

For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on life work balance and creating work boundaries, the image shows a large ticking clock.

These days when the lines between life and work are not clear, I want to know if you set an ending time? Not only can it help your life-work balance, it can also make you more productive. Back when I was writing my Ph.D. thesis, I took a “How to Finish Your Dissertation Class”. The…

How can you find compassion when frustrations are boiling over?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | March 10, 2022 |

For this article on frustrations and compassion by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach, the image shows a frustrated woman with her hands on her head.

How do you find compassion the next your team leader, colleague or manager snaps at you? I was traveling with a good friend from college recently and at one point in the day, she started to ask me some questions and I snapped at her. I was in the middle of work emails, slightly distracted,…