Posts by Jo Ilfeld, PhD
How To Help Yourself When You Can’t Help Others
Have you ever had someone come to you for your help, and you really wanted to but weren’t sure how? It can be challenging when you genuinely want to lend a hand but realize you’re not in a position to do so. It can weigh on you. So how can you look at things in…
Read MoreForget Resilience – Look for Anti-Fragility
Here’s a new take on resilience. Credit to Stephanie Mehta for this one, who inspired this learning snack with her recent talk at the California Conference for Women. In the scientific field, resilience means when something gets pushed or changed, the material bounces back to what it was. In other words, resilience is when something…
Read MoreHybrid Work: Are We Doing It Wrong?
I was recently talking with a client about hybrid work initiatives and how to get people back in the office and how companies are really coming down on different sides of this. As the business world embraces hybrid work models, finding the right balance between in-office and remote work becomes crucial. Bringing employees back to…
Read MoreTrying Asking for Advice – Not Giving It
Have you ever found wanted to give advice to someone at work? Well, there’s a way to do it right. I recently came across a fascinating book by Katie Milkman called “How to Change.” In it, she explores the impact of advice-giving on our behavior. I think we all intuitively know this but she has…
Read MoreHow 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…
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