This week a client of mine, a CEO, asked me “Jeanne, would you mind making a phone call to Bianca…?”

- Tell me more. What’s happening? What do you need me for?

- Well, since I hired her two years ago I’ve been waiting for her to deliver, to show me that she deserves the job. Now this is the last call.

- Hum…
Really?

This situation feels familiar to most of us, either from the perspective of the (desperate) manager urging for results, or that of the (also desperate) employee praying for a happy ending in this uncomfortable day-to-day environment.

Here are the 6 points of my answer to the CEO:

1. Historical perspective: First off, reconnect with the origins. Why did you hire her in the first place? What are her assets that led you to believe she was the one?  Focus on these and help her find a way to tap into her strengths and recreate the conditions for her to deliver.
2. Relevant perspective: To set up a successful resolution, YOU have to be...

“It took me 10 years to succeed…, overnight.” 

I love this quote that I encountered in a lost magazine at a bus station.
It reminds me of 2 common illusions most achievers fall into at one point or another:

 1/The sprint does not exist.

The sprint doesn’t exist for one simple reason; What you desire the most, not an intermediate goal but your true ambition, your real quest, is an infinite game that will never be done once and for all.
You tend to it, you take it step-by-step, you expand and get bigger and better on your path, but still your journey is infinite.
The pursuit of it IS the matter.

Think a moment, when you become number 1 in your field, you discover that the game is still not over: You become your own challenger and compete with yourself to be better than you were yesterday - MJ-style.
The untold truth is that since the very beginning, you were and you are your own unique challenger. Most of the time you only realize it fully when...

Who is okay with frustration? My guess is no one.
Who, then, is trying to solve it? Some.
And who is open to changing their ways? A few.
Who is then more fulfilled and more aligned with themselves? The same few.

I’ve combed through my 10-year career and examined the 10 clients with whom I haven’t managed to reach the highest potential outcomes that I expected for them.
Frustration at its height!

Why do most of my clients see extraordinary results, while others see only ordinary results, and in some rare cases, downright low results? 
Indeed, in the same frame time, my expertise, my skills and my method are merely the same from one client to another. My personality also doesn’t change. My beliefs, my motives, my commitment are similar too. So, this is why it is so intriguing and meaningful to dig up this treasure trove of insight.
Should this lead me to believe that these differences in results varies entirely according to on my clients?
No.
First, I don’t...

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...