Leadership Blog

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From Incite to Leadership founder and CEO Jo Ilfeld, read the latest on strategic vision, leading change amid complexity, and honing the way you communicate and collaborate with others. Get resources, practical strategies, research, and more.

Giving Thanks This Holiday: Reverse Gratitude

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | November 23, 2020 |
Jo Ilfeld |Executive Leadership Coach| Giving Thanks This Holiday: Reverse Gratitude

For all those thinking about how this holiday is different and all the things that you won’t be able to do, you are not alone. When it comes to gratitude, the usual way is to make a list of all the things we are thankful for, which I imagine for many, has health at the…

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What Makes You a Bada$$?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | October 31, 2020 |
Jo Ilfeld |Executive Leadership Coach| What Makes You a Bada$$?

What makes you a bada$$? As part of an online program I am doing, the challenge was for me to record a video on what makes me a badass. As I was making a list of the things I am most proud of, at first I thought my bada$$ characteristic was persistency, for being able…

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Are You Making This Fundamental Error?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | October 15, 2020 |
Jo Ilfeld |Attribution Error|Executive Leadership Coach| Are You Making This Fundamental Error?

People’s values are often very similar. Why is it though that when we breach one of our values we find it so easy to forgive ourselves and find a reason for it yet when one of our colleagues or team members does the same, we attribute it to their personality? Watch to learn about the…

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Do You Have an Agenda?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | September 29, 2020 |
Jo Ilfeld | Executive Leadership Coach| Do you have an agenda?

Have you ever gotten to a party and thought, “Huh, I don’t think this is what I expected?” This is exactly what happens when we show up at a meeting where there is no agenda. Your challenge this week is to review your meeting schedule. If there is a meeting on there that you don’t…

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Take Control of Your Schedule

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | September 22, 2020 |
Jo Ilfeld | Executive Leadership Coach| Take Control of Your Schedule

Tell me the truth. Are you annoyed when someone is late for a zoom meeting or are you secretly thrilled that now you get a quiet few minutes to catch up on emails or finish up a project? If you’re like me and feel the latter, then it’s time for you to scratch at least…

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Time to Shake Things Up

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | September 15, 2020 |
Jo Ilfeld | Executive Leadership Coach| Time to Shake Things Up

How do you like to shake things up in your life? For a lot of us, whether it’s staying home during the pandemic, having no travel plans, we don’t have that excitement that we’re used to. I want you to challenge yourself this week to shake things up. Looking for ideas? Watch the video for…

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You Have Too Many Meetings

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | September 8, 2020 |
Jo Ilfeld | Executive Leadership Coach| Too Many Meetings

You have too many meetings. It’s the simple truth.  But as a leader, you need to set aside time weekly, if not daily for deep, strategic thought. After all, that’s why you are in the leadership role. Problem: How do you carve out the time for strategic thought when you are in meetings from early…

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What Does It Mean to Be a Good Boss?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | September 2, 2020 |
Jo Ilfeld | Executive Leadership Coach| What Does It Mean to Be a Good Boss?

Coaching my clients over the years, I have given much thought to what it means to be a good boss.  In my opinion, the single most important thing that makes a good boss is to enable the success and growth of your direct reports. Watch the video for more. 

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How Do You Turn a Painful Sunburn into a Teaching Moment?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | August 22, 2020 |
Jo Ilfeld | Learn from the Past|Executive Leadership Coach| How to Learn from the past to be Preventative

This week’s learning snack is inspired by my daughter’s unfortunate mishap. After she suffered a really nasty sunburn the other week, I took good care of her burn but at the same time I talked to her about how this painful incident will change how she thinks about sunscreen in the future. That instead of…

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Five Mistakes To Avoid With Partially Remote Employees: Lessons From Biotech

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | August 20, 2020 |
Jo Ilfeld | Executive Leadership Coach| Five Mistakes To Avoid With Partially Remote Employees: Lessons From Biotech

Article originally appeared in Forbes It’s time to return to the office. Or is it? How can newly hybrid companies best manage the divide between in-person and remote workers? Reaching out to biotech company CEOs, I learned crucial do’s and don’ts. When shelter-in-place hit the Bay Area, many biotech companies found themselves with most of…

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