Welcome to Misti's Insights
My Coming Out Story
June is National LGBTQ Pride Month. In recognition, I'd like to share a little bit about my own journey. “Mark your calendar,” my psychology 101 professor said on the first day of class in January 1997, “There will be a gay panel here on April 15th. Your attendance...
What 17-Year Cicadas Have to Teach Us About Challenge
This pandemic has been tough for most of us. Re-emerging together is likely to add its own level of complication and challenges. While it's remarkably easy to get sucked into the difficulty of the journey, the zillions of destinations are worth the challenge... take...
Three Helpful Actions You Can Take When Dealing With Mental Health in the Workplace
I was clenching my jaw, and I wasn’t sleeping well. So, I signed up for a psilocybin study. Psilocybin is a mushroom that has been used for hundreds of years to help people with numerous mind and body challenges. It’s worth a try, I convinced myself, as I walked to...
How Getting Covid19 Served as a Catalyst for Growth
"Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict." -- William Ellery Channing I’m not the type to get fevers. Ever. As I looked at the thermometer reading, 101.4ºF, I knew it was Covid19. It was a Saturday afternoon in...
5 Simple Steps Handing off Responsibility, and Why We (Sometimes) Don’t
Here I was in my bathroom minding my own business when Bells (my niece) pops in and hit me with: “I want to thank you for allowing me to do the dishes and the laundry.” Wait, what? I thought, She’s thanking me for allowing her to do the dishes? The look on my face...
Coaching Your Team Through Fear And Uncertainty
Complacency is costly. It gives the brain too much time to think about how the world (or their job) might be imploding. Keeping team members focused and progressing, seeing and experiencing momentum, is the key to keeping them engaged and productive. Use the...
Don’t Make This Mistake When Giving Feedback
Ever find yourself witnessing a glaring mistake by one of your team members, and thinking this could be costly? Perhaps you’ve heard about the importance of giving feedback in a timely manner. You know this behavior needs to be corrected, and quickly. But how? Just...
The Gift Of Getting Covid, Turning Conflict Into Courage
Slouched down on my couch, with my feet propped up (roughly 3 weeks ago), I asked my love to grab the thermometer. When I saw 101.4 temperature, I knew it was Covid. I got scared, and so did Yvette. “What are you going to do to protect me?” She demanded to know. Fever...
Key Tactics For Transforming Conflict Into A Catalyst For Growth
In my last blog we talked about how conflict serves as a strong catalyst for growth in teams and relationships of all sorts. Today we’re diving into the top 8 tactics for ensuring each conflict strengthens your relationships. Here they are… 1. Actively listen to...
Getting Good at Using Conflict as a Catalyst for Growth
Using conflict as a catalyst for growth “Your silence is violence. If you’re not for me, you’re against me. If you don’t speak up, I won’t work with you anymore,” she said. It was six thirty in the morning when I read this. I received an email from a marketing expert...
Fostering Team Momentum In The Midst Of Uncertainty And Fear
Keeping employees focused and productive in the midst of mass uncertainty is tough, but it can be done. It requires a shift in thinking about how having difficult conversations can help to improve bottom line results. Many leaders think that better results come...
“I Wish the CEO Would Try and Open This Darn Package”, Guest Post by Chip R. Bell
It is a line we use at my house when a product or service is unusually challenging. It could be that bottle or package that requires a hack saw and a blow torch to open, or it might be the service that has way too many steps to finally reach your desired outcome. Our...
Pandemic Exhaustion Is Real: A Key Leadership Strategy To Keeping Positive Energy
Little Stories That Make a Big Impact This pandemic (along with massively unsettling political shenanigans) is causing immense weariness, and exhausting employees across the globe. Simply said, our brains are not built for processing or pivoting at the magnitude that...
No Time For Managing Your Team? Do This Effective Exercise This Holiday Season
With the sheer number of responsibilities continually increasing almost daily, how are you supposed to find time to manage them too? Just like you, your team gets paid to do a job, and wouldn’t it be great if they’d just do it? While Baby Boomers required very little...
How To Reduce Dread This Winter… Politics, Pandemics, and Climate Change
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” ― Ursula K. Le Guin The pandemic, along with politics and even climate change, have made it very hard to feel optimistic about and in control of where life is headed. Yet...
The Power of Praise: The Reason To Thank Your Team This Holiday Season
Get Your Team To Perform Better, Through Praise Who doesn’t stand a little taller, or perform better, when someone praises their good work? Most people do. So, why don’t more leaders use praise throughout the year? Could it be that we, as leaders of teams and...
The Appalachian Antivirus: How A Rollercoaster Helped Me Overcome Covid19, Politics, and An Uncertain Future
I was in the midst of the longest and hardest hike of my life; lost, beyond frustrated, and hurt from slamming my knee into a rock on a steep downhill. I had started this hike at eight-thirty in the morning, thinking I would arrive at my destination before four in...
Overcoming Decision Fatigue During Global Pandemic
Two weeks ago I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to focus and get stuff done. Covid19 created a massive change in my schedule, and left me too exhausted to make the simplest of decisions. Like, when to workout. Can you relate? At the time, I didn’t...