Week 22.51 Thank You

The first time I saw Marshall Goldsmith lead a group workshop, he asked everyone to pull out their cell phone. Then he said to think of someone who matters to you: your spouse,, your mother, your father, your children, your best friend, anyone who matters and that you may have overlooked. Send them a message and ask them how you can be a better __________, and then tell them that you love them. It was remarkable how profound the replies were and how unexpectedly most people appreciated being asked and willing to share a constructive answer. It has always stuck with me that we too infrequently ask people how we can be better for them, and even more importantly, how rarely we express our simple gratitude for having them in our lives. For my final newsletter of 2022, I will scratch the surface regarding all the people who made my life better this year. 

One of the best parts of the pandemic for me was seeing my parents 2-3 times per month. We just celebrated their 66th anniversary. They have always shown me unwavering support and are the source of my confidence and ambition to make the world better. I am also grateful for my two children, Lily Osman and Jake, who have each found their path and are navigating their way in our uncertain world. Like my parents had for me, they have my unwavering support, my unconditional love, and an open door. I am fortunate to have a fantastic brother and sister, wonderful aunts, uncles, and cousins, and a connection to extended family that I never take for granted. And I am fortunate to be engaged to Allegra Kochman, a fantastic architect and my partner with whom I am building a life. 

I am also grateful for the many friends I have made over the years. Some I see every few years, some from time to time, and some frequently - all holding a special place in my heart and life regardless of time spent together. I am also blessed to have been introduced to the Romemu/Shoresh communities of extraordinarily wise, heart-led, and joyfully spirited fellow journeyers. As we combine and recombine for festive and tragic occasions, small parties, and larger festivals, I am reminded of the power of communities for compassion and generosity and to elevate members beyond their expectations. Of course, I am also a member of the 100 Coaches Community, composed of extraordinarily wise, heart-led, and joyfully spirited fellow journeyers. These two communities provide ballast and lift, keep me even-keeled and provoke me to reach higher. Each of the people in both communities - too many to even begin to name - makes my life better, and I am eternally grateful. 

I am also lucky to be working with a remarkable team and continuing to attract the people we need when we need them. This past year was pivotal for the 100 Coaches Agency, during which we more than doubled the number of coaching engagements and launched vital new initiatives. At the beginning of the year, we were fortunate to have Danielle Sheriff join us to support establishing the systems we need to grow and Ayelet Shipley to work with us to explore increasing our digital presence. In July, we realized that efficiency was not the core driver of our business, and we pivoted instantly to a Relationship First model that enabled us to spend more time with our clients, customers, and coaches and hire the remarkable Andy Martiniello to be our Chief Relationship Officer, a statement about how important we hold that role. And Niya Abdulkadir has been an amazing addition to our team, bringing pose and professionalism in a way that strengthens all of our relationships. I was also fortunate to find Gene Early, PhD Early and Nilofer Merchant, two phenomenal coaches who helped me with my massive expansion this year. 

And when I say we, I usually mean working with Jacquelyn Lane, who you may have seen smiling as her Linkedin post twice went viral. Over my career, I have worked with many extraordinary individuals. Still, I rarely have the opportunity to work with someone who combines intelligence, poise, charisma, collaborative and leadership skills, and a joy for life like she does. She is like a nuclear power plant of positive energy that elevates the full range of the people the Agency touches and is a great thought partner in all aspects of the business. In life and leadership, it is valuable to remember that we do nothing alone and that everything we accomplish is due in some way to the contributions of others. As you approach the new year, please take a moment to look back at 2022 and reach out and recognize each of the fantastic people who made your life better and say “thank you.” Oh, and thank you, dear reader, for staying with me. 

With love, wonder, and gratitude. Scott

Why It's Time for Leaders to Lead With Purpose Hubert Joly Former Chairman,CEO of Best Buy & Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School (from Edelman Trust)

People have increasingly concluded that government will not, or cannot, do what it takes to address today’s major issues. Their hope — their expectation — is that business can not only do what it does well — employ people, serve customers and generate a profit — but also help address society’s biggest challenges. The 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer surveyed 36,000 people around the world and found that business is the most trusted institution at 61 percent (ahead of NGOs at 59 percent, government at 52 percent and media at 50 percent), with 77 percent saying they trust “My Employer.” For many business leaders this can feel daunting, as the problems the world is facing – from a health crisis, an economic crisis, stubborn societal issues, racial inequity, an environmental time bomb and geopolitical tensions – can appear to be beyond the reach of any individual business. In the face of this, business leaders – any leader for that matter – have three options: They can choose to surrender and decide they are not equipped to respond to the expectation the public has of them, they can try and treat some of these issues the best they can at the margin or they can decide to make this time their “finest hour.”

None of this is easy. Getting purpose right requires leaders to develop new skills, such as the ability to embrace all stakeholders in the definition of their strategies, to innovate radically or to partner with public or private organizations with complementary capabilities. People around the world are placing greater trust in business as a conduit to a better future. History will judge what we do and each of us has a choice to make. I believe now is a great leadership moment. Leaders can decide to help create a future that does not exist yet but needs to be better than what we have now.

Real-Time Leadership: Find Your Winning Moves When the Stakes Are High a new book by Carol Kauffman PhD and David Noble

The hardest part of leadership is mastering the inevitable high-risk, high-stakes challenges you will face. Whether you're making a split-second decision when your business is knocked sideways or you're finding the best strategy to navigate business-critical long-term circumstances, how can you be in peak form in those most crucial moments? Leadership coaching legends David Noble and Carol Kauffman show you how with their innovative new framework—MOVE—which equips you with the tactics you need to slow down high-stakes situations before they speed you up. You'll learn to master the moment, generate response options, and quickly evaluate those options before acting. As you get better and better at using the framework, you'll find you can recognize these moments as they arrive, like a great athlete who can read the field as a play unfolds or a great conductor who anticipates what's needed to deliver a great performance.

Noble and Kauffman are two of the best coaches in the world (both are 100 COACHES) and bring decades of experience coaching thousands of leaders, along with a deep base of research, to show why their unique two-on-one coaching method works and how it's done. The MOVE framework comes to life in these pages through the personal stories of real leaders living through their own crucible moments. Real-Time Leadership is a compelling and demystifying look at how the MOVE framework delivered positive results for them—and how it can for you, too.

The Power of Onlyness: Make Your Wild Ideas Mighty Enough to Dent the World by Nilofer Merchant

As I mention above, Nilofer Merchant is my coach, and our work has been transformative for me. You can also access her through her book. In The Power of Onlyness, Nilofer Merchant, one of the world’s top-ranked business thinkers, reveals that, in fact, we have now reached an unprecedented moment of opportunity for your ideas to “make a dent” on the world. Now that the Internet has liberated ideas to spread through networks instead of hierarchies, power is no longer determined by your status, but by “onlyness”—that spot in the world only you stand in, a function of your distinct history and experiences, visions and hopes. If you build upon your signature ingredient of purpose and connect with those who are equally passionate, you have a lever by which to move the world. This new ability is already within your grasp, but to command it, you need to know how to meaningfully mobilize others around your ideas. Through inspirational and instructive stories, Merchant reveals proven strategies to unleash the centrifugal force of a new idea, no matter how weird or wild it may seem. 

Imagine how much better the world could be if every idea could have its shot, not just the ones that come from expected people and places. Which long-intractable problems would we solve, what new levels of creativity would be unlocked, and who might innovate a breakthrough that could benefit ourselves, our communities, and especially our economy. This limitless potential of onlyness has already been recognized by Thinkers 50, the Oscars of management, which cited it one of the five ideas that will shape business for next twenty years. Why do some individuals make scalable impact with their ideas, regardless of their power or status? The Power of Onlyness unravels this mystery for the first time so that anyone can make a dent. Even you.