Social Intimacy

Align4Profit Leadership Development Blog

Helanie ScottLeadership development may be the most important activity in any organization. In my quest to helping men and women become more and more effective leaders, I share weekly articles that are a quick read with a promise to give your leaders actionable tips they can implement immediately.

It’s my goal to share my experience together with candid and pragmatic advice founded on deep research.

Read and enjoy! To make sure you don’t miss any updates, let me send you a weekly article to your email.

July 23, 2020

Amplifying your D&I culture transformation strategy?

Many organizations are prioritizing, renewing, and re-committing their efforts in reshaping their D&I strategy to fast-track inclusion, mitigate bias, and become more empathetic. Many, too, recognize how difficult it can […]
October 14, 2019

How to leverage progress in habit development

We’ve looked at the first two stages of building good habits — Preparation and Activation. Now for the final stage, in which we focus on rewards, measure results, reward success, […]
September 30, 2019

How to activate good-habit development

Now that we’ve looked at the Preparation stage of building better habits, let’s see what it takes to Activate good habits, the second step in the Preparation, Activation, and Progress […]
September 16, 2019

How to prepare for building good habits

Most of what we do every day may feel like decision making, but at least half of our actions are habitual. Our habits develop from responding to cues that, over […]
August 12, 2019

Failure — the heartbeat of success

Nobody wants to fail. I get it. Yet when I talk to people who have achieved noteworthy success, they all acknowledge the important role that failure played in their success. […]
July 29, 2019

Set Your Mind on Success

Think of your mind as a device such as a smartphone that you can control. In a way, it is. You can make adjustments to your device settings — choose […]
July 15, 2019

Listening with Ting

Leaders become more effective when they listen, really listen. You know your leaders have been really listening when the people they lead feel that they are being not just heard […]
May 27, 2019
helanie at wall

4 Ways to build Resilience when you travel

I travel a lot for business, and when I travel, I always find time to explore my environment. It builds resilience. What’s the point of going to a new place, […]
May 13, 2019

Better 1:1 Questions on Progress

Now that we’ve looked at questions on Relatedness, Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose, let’s consider questions that focus on the final facet of the RAMPP model — Progress. Nobody likes to […]
April 29, 2019

Better 1:1 Questions on Purpose

Now that we’ve looked at the Questions on Relatedness, Autonomy, and Mastery, let’s consider questions that focus on the fourth facet of the RAMPP model — Purpose. Purpose is achieved […]
April 17, 2019
mastery

Better 1:1 Questions on Mastery

Your leaders can improve their questioning process by improving their observations during the questioning conversation with three kinds of follow-up questions after each initial question. Queries that examine, clarify, and […]
April 1, 2019
conversations

Better 1:1 Questions to spark the motivation of Autonomy

As I explain in How to Ask Intimate Questions, when you pose sincere questions that address specific issues of concern to your employees, you demonstrate your interest and concern for […]
March 18, 2019
communication

The Power of 1:1 Conversations

One-on-ones are a great way to check in with employees, encourage higher performance, and foster higher engagement. They provide a perfect opportunity to meet employees’ needs. When managers meet their […]
March 4, 2019
cow ruminate

Rumination Ruins Performance

Rumination can be the ruination of even the most effective leaders. Leaders who dwell too much on the mistakes they make or on events that set them back are ruminating. […]
February 18, 2019
kairos loom shuttle

Kairos for leaders

Great leaders and effective managers have all learned to capitalize on moments that matter. In The Three Questions, the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy instructs readers that there is only […]
November 12, 2018

Intimate coaching is the way forward for managers

In our CoachQuest program for developing leaders as coaches, we teach managers the process of coaching to: Be intimate and better understand themselves and others, adapting their style to influence […]
July 6, 2018
Doing Business Globally

What will it take to be a great leader in the future?

Heck, what does it take to lead today? The timeless core aspects of leadership, such as setting direction, engaging employees, and holding them accountable while influencing others remain. More and […]
August 31, 2015

Zen Attention: Understanding vs. Responding

If you are not familiar with Zen, a school of Buddhism, you may have at least encountered one or two paradoxical Zen koans like, What is the sound of one […]
May 25, 2015

Construal Leadership: How employees construe your direction

In psychology a concept called “construals” looks at how individuals interpret the world around them, and especially the way they expect others to behave with regard to themselves. You’re right […]
May 18, 2015

Coffee, Tea, and Leadership Intimacy

It’s practically impossible to watch a British movie or TV show without someone inviting someone else to sit down and, “Have a nice cup of tea.” All around the world, […]
April 6, 2015

Fit in or stand out? Inclusion means both.

Belonging to a group, a team, or an organization doesn’t have to mean conforming. You can be both unique and be a team player. In fact, that’s what you as […]