Posts by Bonnie Artman Fox
Until Brighter Days Come, Adversity Has Purpose
My first job out of nursing school (a long time ago), was working as a Registered Nurse at a hospital in Chicago, IL. I worked the night shift in perinatal nursing or high-risk obstetrics. Meaning women who were experiencing some type of complication during pregnancy. I’d come home at 8am, sleep for a few hours…
Read MoreGrateful For Learning From Adversity
2020 has certainly had challenges. But it won’t keep me from sharing with you my tradition of reflecting on Three Questions about the past year and asking you to do the same. What are you most grateful for? Please share what was the highlight of your year? Do you have…
Read MoreThe 3 Best Ways to Navigate Change (and Uncertainty) Successfully
Uncertainty has become the new norm. Since mid-March, in order to keep people safe from the coronavirus, we were faced with almost daily changes that have impacted the way we work, interact, and socialize. Three months later, there’s an added dimension of uncertainty with nationwide riots that contributes to people feeling on edge. On many…
Read MoreHow to Apply Keep Calm and Carry On During COVID
During a trip to England last year, my husband and I came upon the Barter Bookstore that houses the original “Keep Calm and Carry On” Poster. In the spring of 1939 when the war against Germany was inevitable, King George VI wanted to convey a message to his people assuring them that all necessary measures were being taken to…
Read MoreLeading with Stability and Hope During Crisis
Dealing with uncertainty creates anxiety for most people. It’s especially difficult when facing a pandemic. Most likely, you are facing tough decisions that impact your company’s bottom line, employee paychecks, and the health of your employees and customers. What your employees need most is for you to lead with a non-anxious presence. A presence of staying calm, not…
Read MoreAre You a Fixer? How to Know When Helping is Hurting
Are you a “Fixer”? By age 11, Maria was writing checks to pay the family bills, by age 14, she started her first job, and by age 19, she owned her first home. Due to the unpredictability in her upbringing from her father’s alcoholism and her mother’s mental illness, Maria said “I’ve been an overachiever,…
Read MoreHow One Couple Successfully Ran A Business
Family-owned businesses often struggle because sometimes personal conflict spills over into the family business. The result is a work culture with unresolved family issues that impacts how the company runs, its overall productivity, and ultimately its bottom-line results. It’s been no different for married couple, Angelo and Lauren, who are third-generation family business owners and…
Read More3 Strategies for Standing Up to the Office Bully
“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.” ~ Lao-tzu Most people either endure working with a bully or leave their job, even if they love what they do. After all, it’s risky to stand up to a bully due to the possibility of retaliation and the…
Read MoreRelease Family Baggage: Walk a Mile in Their Shoes
This month’s story around how family upbringing affects leadership and conflict management explores how Ryan found the gifts of resilience, empathy, and improvisation and uses them to his – and others’ – advantage. He leverages his history to create productive conflict strategies. Ryan tells the story of his upbringing below and then we examine a…
Read MoreDuring Conflict, Do you Give Away Your Power?
Jeremiah could feel the stress building. For months I’d been listening to my boss’s ranting about some production issue that hadn’t gone as planned. I felt responsible as a leader and was genuinely trying to do a good job. I wanted to defend myself and explain my attempt to solve the problem. Suddenly, I realized…
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