3 Ways to Overcome Impostor Syndrome

• By Scott Eblin
• August 22, 2013
• comments

As a leader, have you ever felt like there must have been some sort of mistake in the selection process that led to you being in the role you’re in? If so, you’re not the only one. Most leaders do at some or more than one point.

The phenomenon is known as impostor syndrome and it’s the subject of a new book by Joyce Roche called The Empress Has No Clothes: Conquering Self-Doubt to Embrace Success. When you read Joyce’s bio, you’d think that if anyone could skirt impostor syndrome it would be her. She has served as the COO and president of a major corporation, was the first African American VP at Avon Corporation, has an MBA from Columbia and sits on the boards of directors for AT&T, Macy’s, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and other organizations.  She chairs the board of trustees of her college alma mater.

And yet, feeling like an impostor was something that stayed with Joyce for much of her career and in the careers of the dozens of successful leaders who share their stories in her book.

In a recent conversation, I asked her for three of her ...

Chill Out. Your Life Depends On It

• By Scott Eblin
• August 19, 2013
• comments

Along with my normal routine of coaching, speaking and writing, my big project this summer has been taking a 200 hour course to become a certified yoga instructor. While I don’t plan to chuck everything else and start teaching yoga full time, it’s been a really great experience – enlightening, challenging and humbling all at the same time. And, I’m happy to report,  it wraps up next week. It’s been fun, but it will be nice to have my weekends back.

I spent a good part of this past weekend working on the take home version of the final exam.  (The in-class exam is next week – wish me luck!). One of the questions on the take home was right in the wheel house of what I’ve been writing about in the Mindful Mondays feature so I thought I’d share it with you.

It’s about how chilling out can save your life. Here’s the story.

Your sympathetic nervous system is responsible for keeping your body vigilant and ready to move into action. From an evolutionary standpoint, it’s where the fight or flight response resides. When a part of the brain called the amygdala ...

How Leaders Can Get to the Truth

• By Scott Eblin
• August 15, 2013
• comments

That’s one of the dilemmas that Shawn Hunter takes on in his new book, Out Think: How Innovative Leaders Drive Exceptional Outcomes. The dilemma is what Shawn calls the “perception – truth gap.”  While Out Think is Shawn’s first book, as an executive producer for Skillsoft’s Leadership Development Channel, he brings over ten years of experience in interviewing hundreds of CEO’s, leaders in the private and public sectors and academics to the table.

3 Things Thoughtful Leaders Do

• By Scott Eblin
• August 12, 2013
• comments

How are you feeling as the week begins? Is it a peaceful, easy feeling or something a bit more frantic than that?

If there is one common denominator I see in the leaders I work with across a range of industries it’s that most of them would check in on the more frantic and overwhelmed end of the spectrum than the peaceful and easy end of the scale.

The irony is that a bit more of the peaceful and easy approach can help lessen the frantic and overwhelmed feeling that a full calendar, inbox and to-do list can produce.  The answer lies in taking a more mindful approach to leadership.

If you’re interested, there are three easy things you can do each day to create a more mindful approach to leadership this week. They’re easy to remember because you’ve seen the reminder at railroad crossings for most of your life:  stop, look and listen.

Here’s one version of what stop, look and listen could look like in practice for a mindful leader:

Stop:  Take three to five minutes at least twice today to stop what you’re doing and step back. When you stop, take ...

Your Life is Now

• By Scott Eblin
• August 5, 2013
• comments

The title of this post is the title of one of my favorite songs, Your Life is Now, by John Mellencamp.  It has been on my mind since the very unexpected passing last week of an old high school friend, the Reverend Greg Hamby. As is often the case with news of long ago friends, I learned from Facebook of Greg’s death. He broke his neck while body surfing with his son on vacation at Myrtle Beach and died in ICU the next day.

The past couple of weeks have been the equivalent of an online funeral for Greg. Hundreds of people have posted their memories of him, their stories of how he affected their lives and their shock and grief at losing him so suddenly.

Greg was a year ahead of me in school and, while I always liked him, I didn’t know Greg that well. As kids, I loved his sense of humor, his slightly off center view of the world and his passion for rock and roll. As adults, I was a Facebook friend and was so impressed with the way his life unfolded, the wisdom and humor that he shared and that, when it ...