Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction In Part 1, we explored how individuals sabotage themselves with fixed-mindset self-talk and how honest self-assessment paired with self-compassion opens the door to growth. Now let’s shift the lens: what happens when that same dynamic plays out in a mentor–protege or leader–team relationship? “Some people are not...
Tag Archives: Leadership
The Resilience Rant: Reclaiming and Reframing Part 6
The Wrap-Up: What We’ve Learned, What Comes Next Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP The Rant Wasn’t Just a Rant Let’s face it—resilience needed a rebrand. Too many conversations about it either go Full Metal Jacket (“suck it up and drive on”), collapse into mushy platitudes (“just bounce back!”), or—on the flip side—dismiss resilience...
The Resilience Rant: Reclaiming and Reframing Part 2
Resilience Isn’t Victim Blaming Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction Let’s start with one of my favorite catchphrases from the feedback side of my coaching work: Any feedback that can be restated as “Stop sucking, be more better” is of limited value. That, in a nutshell, is what gives resilience such a bad...
The Resilience Rant: Reclaiming and Reframing Part 1
Why We Won’t Throw Out Resilience Just Because Some People Misuse It Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction Resilience gets a bad rap these days—and not without reason. In recent years, especially in conversations about trauma, adversity, and systemic harm, the concept of resilience has sometimes been used to shame people rather than...
7 Dirty Words Part 2: The Trap of Absolutes: How “Always” and “Never” Limit Your Thinking
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction “Always” and “Never”: Opposites That Work the Same Way “They always leave me out.” “I’ll never be good enough.” At first glance, “always” and “never” might seem like opposites. One declares constancy, while the other implies impossibility. Yet, these words share a common function: they are absolutes...
Stop Shoulding All Over Yourself: 7 Dirty Words Part 1
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Take control of the “Shoulds”: Aligning Expectations with Reality In our introductory installment of “The seven dirty words” we discussed a general approach to building mindfulness and becoming aware of using the words. Our mindfulness exercise focused on assessing your personal energy level and emotional state preceding the...
The next time you find yourself in conflict with someone you care about…
Paul M. Michaud MD, CPE Disagreements and conflict occasionally arise in even the healthiest of relationships. I think they are an essential part of nuturing a healthy relationship, but we can bookmark that topic for another time. For many years my mindset in the context of the outcome of disagreements was… win/lose, right/wrong. Specifically, I...
The Toxic Leader
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP We’ve all heard the “Toxic Leader” term thrown around like a manhole cover. In fact, I made sure the title of this post was set off by the definite article, just to make The Toxic Leader seem even more like the antagonist in a monster movie. This term...
On Defining Mentoring
I haven’t defined Mentoring any more than the Supreme Court has defined obscenity: I know it when I see it. This distaste for an intellectually superficial treatment of a term that describes something so vital, necessary and important is my motivation for the following exploration.