Posts by Joan Fletcher
The Benefits of Choosing Optimism in Leadership
Even in the face of uncertainty, choosing optimism in leadership will improve employee job performance, engagement, and satisfaction. 2025 was a challenging year for leaders around the world. Trying to lead through nonstop uncertainty left many people feeling defeated and discouraged. 2026 is already plagued by uncertainty – but leaders have chosen to face things…
Read MoreProven Goal Setting Strategies to Help You and Your Team Achieve Big Things This Year
Proven goal setting strategies include creating accountability groups and working with everyone to achieve organizational goals.
Read MoreDeveloping Leadership Skills Starts with a Word of the Year
Developing leadership skills is a lifelong pursuit that takes many forms. Choosing a word of the year can help you focus on meeting leadership goals.
Read MoreEffective Leadership Really Means This One Thing
I talk about effective leadership a lot. But what does that mean? What does it take to be an effective leader? Because I help leaders who are already effective become highly effective (and because I’ve been coaching executives for almost 40 years!), I can tell you the answer. Effective leadership is dependent on self-awareness. The…
Read MoreWhat Happens When You Suffer from Burnout
Burnout is a term that is thrown around a bit too much, making it easy to forget how serious true burnout is. Burnout is a horrible experience. I know, because I am recovering from it. What is burnout? Burnout is a state of complete physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that’s caused by repeated, excessive stress,…
Read MoreHow to Show Empathy in Leadership
I have been studying and talking about empathy in leadership for decades. It is not a new term or topic, but it is sorely needed in today’s fractured world. What is empathy? Empathy is the ability to notice other people’s feelings and just be there for them. Showing empathy doesn’t require you to experience what…
Read MoreHow to Ensure Accurate EQ Testing Scores
If you do a Google search for emotional intelligence assessments, you will find plenty to choose from. Many you can do yourself, and those are usually free. But when it comes to EQ testing, self-assessments are missing one key element that impacts the accuracy of your score. (To clarify: EQ stands for emotional quotient, a…
Read MoreWhy Bother Working with a Certified Leadership Coach?
Anyone can declare themselves a leadership coach. But do you know the difference between a coach and a certified leadership coach? Most people do not. Working with a coach is like trusting a first year medical student to perform knee replacement surgery. They may have some knowledge of what to do, but they are not…
Read MoreHow Emotional Intelligence Skills Strengthen Your Leadership
Emotional intelligence skills benefit everything you do, every day. It’s why I write and talk about it so often, and why I have been coaching leaders for more than 30 years on how to increase their emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to know what emotions you’re feeling in the moment, being able…
Read More5 Life-Changing Leadership Books
Like many leaders, I have read many, many books over the years to learn new strategies and mindsets for being an even more effective leader. Of all the books on my shelf, these five leadership books are the ones I turn to most often. 5 leadership books that have made the biggest impact I have…
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