Welcome to Misti's Insights
Provoking Potential: The Key to Helping People Grow
Ever find yourself stepping into an opportunity lacking mastery of the critical skills necessary to get the results you want? You may not even have a clear understanding of what success looks like, but you certainly know what humiliation feels like when your results...
Why Progress Has To Get In The Way of Perfection
The problem with perfection is that it robs you of the opportunities life presents that bring you closer to your purpose and your dreams. I remember thinking, “I could die in this apartment and no one would know until my rent was well past due.” And, honestly, it was...
How To Make Time For Meaningful Work By Giving Away Critical Work
It’s entirely too easy to allow yourself to horde work because it needs to be done right. The results are too important, and your schedule is too tight to teach the person on your team who keeps asking for opportunity. And, so—you put your ambitions on hold, as you...
How To Effectively Confront Underperforming Employees
I was recently talking with Antonio, a senior leader, about an employee who had put in a request for overtime while he was away on vacation. Confused by the request, he sought out the employee and asked, “Why do you need this overtime? Is the workload too much? Are...
How To Get Out of Your Own Way
Just four short years ago, I didn’t know how to swim. I mean, I could doggy paddy, but keeping my face in the water while swimming was not possible. I couldn’t imagine it would ever be possible either. I remember the absurdity of it all when I went to my first coached...
How To Deal With That Employee Who Is Always Late
Ever have someone on your team who is always late? Annoyed, you ignore it for a while, hoping it will resolve itself. “Surely, they know it’s not acceptable,” you think to yourself as they walk into the office (or the meeting) late again. You shot them the look,...
The Strategy You Need To Reach Greater Heights in Your Career
Ever bite off more than you can chew and wonder how in the world you’re going to manage finishing strong and keeping your sanity? Whether we’re talking about finishing a critical project at work or crossing the finish line at an athletic event, the strategy for...
How Excellent Handwriting Landed an Opportunity at Harvard
The challenge with your natural talents is that they come so … well, naturally to you. You don’t think anything of them, and so you often discount them and remain head down in the work you think will move you ahead in your career. You may not always say so, but you...
How To Use Pain To Get Better Results
You want the freedom to live fully, do work that matters to you and advance in your career. However, freeing up time and energy to do it can seem nearly impossible, especially when you find yourself consumed by critical details. “It would be great if I had some A...
5 Key Elements To Helping Your Colleagues Overcome Fears After a Promotion
Ever work with someone who, after promoted, starts acting… weird? Before the promotion, they were pleasant, focused, hard working, and a joy to work with. After the promotion, they begin running themselves ragged, refusing to lean on others. Or, worse yet, they become...
Leaving A Mark That Matters
Pulling up to the departures area at Baltimore Washington International airport, I put my car in park so I could say goodbye to my 16-year-old niece, Ellei. Having just completed a two-week internship with a world-class surgeon, she was excited to get back, share...
1 Reason Why You Probably Don’t Love Your Job Anymore
Ever find yourself overwhelmed, exhausted and frustrated with a job you once loved? Hoping you’ll find your way back to enjoying your work again, you keep your head down and focus on finishing so you can finally take a breather. “As soon as I finish this project,” you...
The Key To Making Criticism Useful
Ever experience the gut-wrenching sucker punch that leaves you ready to drop kick someone, either literally or with your words? This feeling often comes right after someone tells you what a terrible job you did, how you should have done something differently, or how...
Who’s Borrowing Your Strength?
Think of the person on your team whose actions or inactions are garnering them negative publicity. You know the person—the one your colleagues and leadership team keeps worrying and complaining about. In your mind, you hear yourself thinking— “If they’d just be quiet...
How To Deal With Difficult People
You know those people in your life who drive you crazy—the ones who make promises they don’t keep, defend themselves relentlessly, and who say the exact words that leave you feeling inadequate? Sometimes they are sly with their criticism, using sarcasm to make their...
Ask This Question Before Giving Critical Feedback
Considering the potentially negative impact of critical feedback, it’s not surprising that many people avoid giving it altogether. Or, they give it anonymously, relieving themselves of any potential discomfort instigated by the feedback. But is such an approach...
How To Deal With Fear Once You’ve Taken The Risk
The challenge with building wings after you jump is that you cannot be the one to build them. Overwhelmed with the reality of the free-fall, you must keep your attention focused on the necessities of each millisecond. Unable to grasp for safety, you must remain...
Why You Should Let Go of Your Best Employees
Once you’ve gone through the process of finding, hiring and training a highly ambitious self-starter, the last thing you want to do is let them go. Yet, holding them in a position to make life easier for you may just lead to losing them altogether. Brad, a businessman...