What Works

Alisa Cohn's monthly set of ideas and tools for making senior executives more successful

Archive

January 2012
How to Have a Better Fight
Sean, the CEO of a fast growing high tech start-up, emailed me to see if we could have an emergency phone call. Now there aren't that many coaching emergencies, so of course I made time for him immediately. It turns out that he and his leadership team were discussing how to implement their first formal performance appraisal process. As the time approached to fill out the forms and schedule conversations, they found themselves having an argument about the right forms to use and the process for holding the meetings. Read on…

December 2011
Quick Wins Build Traction
"Ain't nothin' like success!" Carol said to me when I walked into her office right before Christmas. Good news - finally! Carol played for me a voicemail that someone had left her that morning - one of those nice voicemails you save to make yourself feel better when you are having a bad day. Read on…

August 2011
3 Keys to Driving Change
"This is why this company is completely screwed up," my client Carl greeted me for our coaching meeting. "They don't get it. They are just completely closed to any new ideas." Read on…

March 2011
Leaders infuse energy
"Cautiously optimistic," is how Glenn, the CEO of a chemical distribution company, put it when we spoke in mid-March, referring to his forecast for the rest of the year. This first quarter will probably come in about 4% above expectations, so with that in mind he and his team are - happily for a change - re-forecasting the year. Read on…

February 2011
Success in your new role
On one of those blizzardy days back in December I met Shari in a loft in Soho. An Israeli who has lived in New York for 8 years, Shari is friendly, insightful, blunt, and very intense. She has been a rising star in healthcare technology, and she was brought in by the board to take her new role, COO of a hot healthcare technology startup. Read on…

January 2011
Getting Feedback
Last Friday I had a great conversation with one of my favorite former clients. Ryan is a brilliant engineer and leader, intense, full of passion. He brought his whole self to coaching, soaking up every bit of insight there was to get out of the process and putting it into action immediately. A highlight for him was the "360-feedback" process, where I interview his direct reports, peers, and boss to learn what he's great at and what he should get better at. Read on…

December 2010
Four S's of Strategic Thinking
Emily, senior vice president of operations, works for a large international bank. She is a down-to-earth, get things done, very funny person. A world-traveler who still maintains her Brooklyn accent, she uses her persona with real charm as she undertakes the painstaking work of, for example, re-engineering internal processes to root out and destroy every last manual form needed (she calls herself "the enemy of forms.") Read on…

August 2010
Labor Day Resolutions to Work Smarter
Labor Day is the unsung hero of "New Year's resolutions." Coming back from vacation you are (hopefully) recharged and (definitely) overwhelmed by the 763 emails that have accumulated in your inbox. You dive right back into the same routine, energized by back-to-school energy, vowing you will make better use of your time...but not really changing up your routine. Read on…

July 2010
Bouncing Back Quickly
Last week Douglas, the country head of a global pharmaceutical company, opened up our coaching session with a painful scenario. Now all my clients have ups and downs - that's normal for successful executives - but in 10 years of coaching I have learned there is nothing more painful than blowing a big presentation in front of important people. Read on…

January 2010
The Three R's of Influence
Years and years ago I worked as the Chief of Staff to the Provost of a major university. The Provost is the Chief Academic Officer - the CEO of the academic side of the house. Just before I left to go to business school we conducted a strategic planning process. I remember the Provost saying "We're going to have to get the faculty to buy-in. I can't tell them what to do." Read on…

November 2009
Reframing Helps You Lead Better
Last month I conducted a leadership program in Utah that included an overnight camping trip (fancy camping - think Backroads, not Outward Bound.) The participants all signed up voluntarily even though most of them didn't know each other before the trip. We bonded through the day, and then got to our campsite for the overnight part. Read on…