You are the Captain of Your Own Ship

By Marcia Ruben, PhD, PCC on Fri, Jun 24, 2022

 

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STOP IT! Actually You Can!

By Marcia Ruben, PhD, PCC on Wed, Aug 09, 2017

 

 

A few years ago, some of my Silicon Valley executive coaching clients asked me if I had seen the Bob Newhart “Stop It” video. It was making the rounds in their company. When I saw it, I understood why they wanted me to watch it.

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Leadership Wisdom for Executive Leaders—Tip #2

By Marcia Ruben, PhD, PCC on Tue, Mar 29, 2011

Star leaders give willingly without a price tag attached to what they are giving. They operate from a “full cup” mentality. Their cup is full and they don’t need to take from others to fill theirs up. There is no price tag attached to their requests.

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Leadership Wisdom for Executive Leaders--Tip #1

By Marcia Ruben, PhD, PCC on Mon, Mar 21, 2011

Leadership is both an inside and outside game. In this series of blogposts, I will share leadership wisdom I have gathered and found useful in my own leadership development and what I have observed in my work with executive leaders. As the Tangle DoctorTM, it is my opinion that leaders who create productive, accountable cultures are better able to minimize Organizational TanglesTM –unproductive working relationships, snarled lines of communication, and fuzzy lines of authority-- demonstrate the leadership qualities I will share in a series of blogposts.

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VUCA Revisited –Volatility Rouses Fear

By Marcia Ruben, PhD, PCC on Fri, Feb 18, 2011

I recently began teaching in the MBA program at Golden Gate University. Being a full time executive leadership consultant and part-time professor forces me to stay current with leadership research and weave that research into a pragmatic solution for clients and business school students.

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Women Leaders: Are These Three Brain Knots Sabotaging Your Career?

By Marcia Ruben, PhD, PCC on Mon, Oct 11, 2010

Over the past several years, I have consulted with dozens of women leaders who want to excel in the executive ranks. Many have already made it to the S. V.P. level, and some to  E.V.P. or even CEO. Others are Directors wanting to move to the V.P. level. Typically, the person hiring me states that the individual has received feedback that she needs to improve her executive presence. Sometimes, the request is for assistance in improving influence skills. Other times, the assignment is more general as in, "we feel she is a high potential and needs some help in moving to the next level." Sometimes, the request is for a C-level female executive who needs to improve her emotional intelligence.

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Invest in Developing Leaders Who Must Lead in Turbulent Times

By Marcia Ruben, PhD, PCC on Wed, Dec 09, 2009

This morning, I was browsing the Wall Street Journal online, looking for some good news. I came upon two articles byDana Mattioli. Her first article, "Despite Cutbacks, Firms Invest in Developing Leaders," brought a smile to my face. Apparently, many firms realize that they need to continue developing their leaders if they are to thrive during these turbulent times.

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Beware: The Shadow of the Leader Can Become the Shadow of the Gang

By Marcia Ruben, PhD, PCC on Wed, Oct 14, 2009

I once had a boss who used to tell our national sales force, “The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang.” In my work as an executive consultant, coach, and “detangler,” I have met some incredibly brilliant and talented leaders. All of them were exceptional in some way, and all had areas in need of development. I would amend my ex-boss’s statement to, “the shadow of the leader is the shadow of the gang.”
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5 Reasons it’s So Hard to Give Tough Performance Feedback

By Marcia Ruben, PhD, PCC on Thu, Jul 23, 2009

There are no two ways about it. It is tough to give good constructive feedback. Not providing clear tough feedback to peers, direct reports, and staff exacerbates performance problem and contributes to situations that tangle forward progress. For example, I’ve had clients whose direct reports continued to come up short in developing product roll-out strategies. Rather than confront that poor performance, senior leaders complained to each other, but not the person.  As a result, customers were disappointed and company revenue suffered.
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Why Putting People Issues on Back Burner Is a Bad Move

By Marcia Ruben, PhD, PCC on Mon, Nov 24, 2008

According to a recent Conference Board Report, described in the November 20 edition of the Wall Street Journal, executives are now putting people-issues on the back burner. Top executives' highest concern is excellence in execution, and consistent execution of strategy by top management. While it makes sense that efficiency and flawless execution are front-burner issues, I believe that this is an over-correction that will come back and bite executives once the economy starts to straighten itself out.
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Marcia Ruben Ph.D, PCC, CMC

Marcia Ruben Ph.D, PCC, CMC

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