When was the last time that you won big?
You could legitimately ask me to define what counts as big or at least where it starts.
But the truth is, it’s not really that relevant to establish a formal definition here. What is big for me might not be big for you, and vice versa.

What we might actually have in common is looking for the next step ahead and feeling thrilled. This is where our “Big” takes place.  
Where is your next big achievement settling?
Are you lining up with it?
How?

1/ Winning is not (yet) the point.
Focusing on “BIG” is. It will force you to become better at what you do and, in the best case scenario, at who you are too.
Indeed, I don’t care if you manage it successfully, now. I’ll care about that when you’ll be trained enough, and not missing out any more opportunities when they come across and smile at you.


2/Are you an opportunity-taker?

Are you an opportunity-observer?

Are you an opportunity-blinder?

...

I’ve always been amused by the infinite time it takes me to order at a pizzeria.
I always look at all the pizzas, although 90% of the time I end up with my favorite choice, the famous and most classic “Regina.”
This tendency has the unique capacity to piss off my boyfriends.
To be honest, let me share the whole picture here: They are annoyed not only because I take 20 minutes of our lives to make a decision when we both already know what I’ll decide, but because this familiar and aggravating process actually began even before we sat down. Before we enter the restaurant, I have burned 45 other minutes (give or take) enjoying looking at a bunch of different restaurants in the neighborhood and comparing their menus.

“Gosh… If she acts like this for a pizza, imagine how it would be for everything else.”
Au contraire!
I’ve bought properties, three times. In each of these situations the first time I visited them I...

Twice a month I coach a newcomer CEO who brings concrete goals we work on to strengthen his empowerment.
Last time we worked on a classic issue: time management.

”Jeanne, I am overwhelmed. I just have too much on my plate now. I don’t tell anyone, but I am not as effective as I should be… I am not as available to my teams as I would like. I feel stressed and frustrated about it all.”

We all experience this sooner or later, right?
Bottom-line: We managed to find the possibility of an extra day. A full 7-8 hours.
No, I haven’t told him to work on Saturdays.
To the contrary, in order to find 7-8 hours in a week over your fullest packed agenda, you ought to look closely at what fills in your days and re-allocate your time. There is no secret here, you must deal with the causes, not the symptoms. 

But more important still, we built a new awareness and commitment to enable him to sustain this new time ethic with the following “Time Ethic...

- Jeanne, would you kill someone if I offered you 100 million dollars to do it?

This is a real question I’ve been asked the other day.
Don’t worry! This request didn’t come from a client.
I am certainly a “cleaner”, but not this kind.

So the other night, I was at a friend’s place for dinner. Very early in the evening, still on our first beer, he suddenly brought up this question out of nowhere.
Even I, self-proclaimed queen of reading people, didn’t see it coming!
He is one of the most benevolent and caring people I know. But here it is; I also love this friend because he and I always have great conversations and debates since he is a brilliant mind who enjoys philosophical/conceptual/ethical dilemmas.

So here we are.

Now that this disturbing question has infiltrated your mind too, play it out with me for the sake of the soul-searching it offers. 
Ask yourself the same question, and see (the more spontaneously, the better) what your...

Leaders, should you always read the room?

Reading the room is part 1.
Acting upon your read is part 2.
Reconnecting to your intention is between parts 1 and 2.

The kickoff meeting is starting, each of us is invited to introduce ourselves to the team. The first one goes, then the second, and so on…I immediately understand that I have to decide quickly whether I stick to my plan and introduce myself my way (4 min exactly - only one story sharing who I am) or if I revert to the safer "well trodden" route (7-10 min, diluted, speaking about your resume, a couple of comments on how you felt... You get the picture!).  
Okay, decision made. I’ll probably look weird for the first 3 min, but luckily they’ll get it by the end of the 4^th one, and hopefully they will like it.

I’ve read the room, I’ve chosen not to change my way, remembering my intention there.
(We’ll come back to the “intention” thing later.)

It is...

In any relationship or transaction, what you actually deal in is trust.
It is less about ice-cream, clothes, consulting, or law services than it is about trust.
The same goes for your lover, your marriage, your kids, your friends. Same for your presidential candidate. Same for the vaccine to end this pandemic… Anything.
What you expect – and what you offer –  is TRUST.

Back to our question. Are you trustworthy?
My guess is we know when we are, and we know when we are not.

Notice that I haven’t said “IF” but “WHEN”.

Using “IF” would imply that there are only 2 categories: those who are trustworthy and those who are not. I don’t believe in this binary; There is no such thing as Manichaeism when it comes to humans. The grey area, and its thousands of nuances represents the majority.
Besides, we are all evolving and changing constantly in real life.

Using “when” is indeed a sweet reminder that...

Optimization has always been a primary interest for me –  I can truly be obsessed with it. This is my thing.
Like so many of us, it probably started in my childhood.

Lately, because of COVID, I’ve preferred to be locked down at my parents’ peaceful home in the mountains than at my own apartment in Paris. It’s where I’ve been for a couple of months.
In their kitchen, they have several cupboards, much like you probably do.
They also have a big ancient oak armoire, an ideal piece of furniture to store, say, duvets or bedding, but that was too large to travel up or down the stairs or anywhere else in the house and thus found its place in the kitchen.

Next to the kitchen there is a small cellar, in which they store most of the dishes and food, including my stash of  biscuits, nocciolata and tea.
One night, in the middle of my stay, I couldn’t find my favorite biscuits in the cellar anymore. I looked everywhere, next to the peas that are next...

- “Oh wow, great job! How long did it take you to make it (it = my online platform)?”

- “Technically, a couple of days. Mentally, a couple of years. Holistically, more than a decade.”

Sometimes, reality is more nuanced and complex than we like it to be.
My answer probably brought more questions than clarity for my interlocutor –  which is usually something I try to avoid. But here the point is different; this answer is actually the most accurate, and touches on the whole system that is required to bring about your achievements.

1. Holistically

The “decade” concerns the primary desire that led me to need that tool (my platform); to serve more people. I always had this INTENTION to be in the service of other’s dreams.
The intention is worth mentioning because I believe it all starts there; with your WHY.
An intention might be fragile and elusive; It doesn’t always come with an instruction manual on how to operate it. Still,...

There are certain people who reveal themselves ONLY in demanding situations.
Surprisingly enough, you sometimes find them occupying safe and sustainable positions, in a slow-paced company for years – sometimes decades –  taking the path of security.
I would know, I work regularly with some of them.

The problem is that they are not frequently challenged. They are not flirting with the “edge of the cliff,” and over the years they end up appreciating the softness of that “self-killing-comfort”.
After years of leading successful and smooth professional journeys, they end up calling on me, intent on soul-searching, without a clue as to what could be wrong with them. They are looking for that missing piece, and for their true fulfillment.

I call them “Sleeping Beauties”.
Sleeping Beauties are:

1. Doing OKAY… They sometimes feel bored, but they believe it’s normal.
   
   
2. Not using their full potential. (Don’t start with the...

My way-too-long-and-unplanned nap (almost 3 hours…on a Tuesday afternoon!) frustrated me so much that I had to learn something from it to weaken my guilt.
(By the way, my most effective way of dealing with guilt is definitely by growing from it. What’s yours?)

A kinder version of myself would pat me on the shoulder and say that I had no choice but to simply enjoy a short, invigorating nap because of 2 simple facts that created a perfect storm; 1/ I ate a burger and fries (the best in town) for lunch, and 2/ it was a super chilly day, below 32°F, the kind that makes you dream so badly of fluffy blankets by a fireplace… Get the picture?

Yet, I blamed myself because not only was this too long nap predictable, but it was actually utterly conditioned.

How so?
Dear Watson, would you mind opening the victim’s agenda and looking at Tuesday afternoon please? What do you see?
-Nothing.
-That’s it! NO-THING. Mystery solved. Thank you Watson.

Work by itself...