Susan David, Ph.D., one of the world's leading management thinkers, operates at the nexus of business and psychology. She is the creator of the concept of Emotional Agility, and uses this lens in her consulting, coaching, and keynotes, and in the development of psychometric tools to analyze, assess, and develop these skills. 

Her focus is on how Emotional Agility contributes to effective people strategies, particularly in the areas of employee engagement, wellbeing, interpersonal relationships, high-performance leadership, and organizational culture change. Her TED Talk on Emotional Agility has more than 11 million views. Susan is also a co-founder and co-director of the Harvard-affiliated Institute of Coaching.

Susan is a sought-after keynote speaker, coach, and consultant to C-suite executives. Her unique combination of pragmatic business experience and extensive scientific knowledge allows her to help leaders meet the most pressing business challenges without losing sight of their people. 

She routinely consults internationally at the most senior levels of large organizations and has extensive experience in industries as diverse as financial services, information technology, healthcare, utilities, pharmaceuticals, and mining. Her client list includes Ernst and Young Global, the World Economic Forum, BHP Billiton, Telstra, the United National Development Program, JP Morgan, GlaxoSmithKline, and Nestlé, among many other multinational firms. 

Susan is author of the definitive Oxford Handbook of Happiness (Oxford University Press), Beyond Goals (Gower). She also authored the top-rated Harvard Business Review article “Emotional Agility” which was named as a Management Idea of the Year and was the impetus for her #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling book, “Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life.” Her work is frequently featured in the national media including Harvard Business Review, TIME, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and Inc.com.

Susan David

Here's a secret: self-compassion does not make you weak or lazy. 

There's a misconception that you need to be tough on yourself to maintain focus as you move toward your goals. On the contrary, research shows that self-compassionate people aim just as high as self-critical people do. The difference is that self-compassionate people don't fall apart when, as sometimes happens, they don't meet their desired result.

Instead of expecting your disparaging inner critic to be waiting in the wings if you fail, turn instead to offer yourself words of kindness and support while you work your way toward your goal.

Susan David, Ph.D.

Psychologist. Harvard Medical School. TED Speaker. Author of the #1 WSJ bestseller Emotional Agility. Co-Founder of Institute of Coaching.

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It's hard to maintain a sense of calm when you're juggling a deadline at work, a weekly calendar full of meetings, and ongoing family responsibilities. 

If your emotions are threatening to send you over the edge, try to identify exactly what you're feeling.

Stress is different from anxiety and anger is different from frustration.

Correctly labeling your emotion is the first step to achieving greater balance.

Just show up. You don't have to always get it right or be a perfect person. 

You DO have to be willing to show up to your uncomfortable feeling and say,"You're here. I'm here. Let's talk."

When we show up to our difficult feelings, we prime ourselves to anticipate pitfalls and prepare more effective coping methods for critical moments.

Let's try the emotional agility stress-buster.

Scenario: You often get stressed out when faced with a long to-do list.

1. Give yourself the space to simply feel that way. Say it, whether out loud, or in your head: "Okay, this is my go-to reaction when I have a heavy workload. I am feeling stressed." 

2. "I still have the power to decide how to act in this moment. I will choose not to snap at my coworker, because I value kindness." 

3. This stress is telling me to divide my work and approach it one step at a time instead of getting overwhelmed by everything at once. 

4. "I am feeling stressed, but I am not defined by my stress." 

How'd it go?

Display rules are the lessons we teach our kids about what is and is not an appropriate emotional response to any given situation. 

A display rule might manifest itself through a directive like “Buck up! Boys don’t cry,” which signals to a child that uncomfortable emotions are signs of weakness and to be avoided. This kind of response deprives a child of the critically important opportunity to sit with their feelings. 

It’s critical—because over time, the way we talk about emotions becomes the way they talk to themselves. These early lessons shape their coping strategies, wellbeing, and adaptability for life.

A strategic human resources leader & leadership coach with over 25 years of bringing people-focused solutions to the most niggly business challenges to achieve results. With experience across the spectrum of HR practices, David’s specialities include:  talent management, executive coaching, process improvement, organizational change and transformation and leadership development.

Dave cofounded “get keep grow inc” a  Canadian employee engagement and retention professional services corporation.




Please note views and opinions expressed are my own and do not represent the views of my employer

David McLean

Guilty as charged 😂




Image credit: apologies I can’t provide an appropriate attribution

Coaching or Mentoring? Why this distinction matters more than ever. The following is an original post from Jeroen Kraaijenbrink  who I recommend following on LinkedIn for his thought leadership and content curation!

Both roles support growth, but they do so in fundamentally different ways.

→ Coaching 
Cultivates autonomy, critical thinking, and personal ownership. It relies on powerful questions, reflection, and non-directive guidance.

→ Mentoring
Draws on lived experience, offering advice, stories, and perspective to guide others through similar paths.

At the intersection? Shared human competencies: empathy, listening, trust, and meaning-making. And this is where it gets interesting.

In today’s complex world, we need coaches and mentors who can go beyond behavioral change, and build true strategic capability. This means helping people not only grow, but think, act, and lead strategically.



✴️✴️✴️ link to Jeroen Kraaijenbrink  original post in the comments box below 


✴️Acknowledgment: original post by Jeroen Kraaijenbrink and infographic Image credit: Timothy Timur Tiryaki, PhD    



#coaching #executivecoaching #mentoring #leadershipdevelopment #chro #hr

How many hours per year do you spend in meetings?  If I could improve one thing in any organization…I would focus on meeting effectiveness.  Frequently organizations would benefit from discplined meeting planning- including having real clarity around who should be in the room and what are their responsibilities and role in the room?

Confused Responsibilities? Try the RASCI Matrix 

Ever worked on a project where no one was quite sure who was supposed to do what? 
That’s where RASCI comes in - a simple framework to bring clarity and accountability to roles within any team or initiative. 
  

What Does RASCI Stand For? 

🔹 Responsible: Who executes the task? 
🔹 Accountable: Who owns the result and signs off? 
🔹 Supportive: Who provides assistance or resources? 
🔹 Consulted: Who needs to be involved before a decision is made? 
🔹 Informed: Who should be kept in the loop? 
 

Why and When to Use it? 

➡️ Each role has a specific purpose. Confusing “responsible” with “accountable,” for instance, is a common pitfall that leads to delays, blame games, or unclear ownership. 
➡️ It prevents overlapping efforts and fosters alignment while accelerating decision-making through explicit ownership. 
➡️️ Use it for project planning, strategic initiatives, cross-departmental collaborations, and complex workflows involving multiple contributors. 
   

💡 Some Advice 

Keep It Lean: RASCI should help - not overwhelm. You don’t need to assign every role to every task. Focus on what’s essential to move things forward with clarity. 
  
Have you used the RASCI matrix before? How do you make roles and ownership clear in your team? 


✴️ I highly recommend following Timothy Timur Tiryaki, PhD on LinkedIn 


Acknowledgment: original post and infographic by Timothy Timur Tiryaki, PhD  



#hr #chro #leadership

Your cultural operating system (COS) is at the core of strategy execution. Are you leveraging your COS?   “Forty-six percent of business leaders say that culture drives employee productivity, engagement and retention — and 90% say that the importance of a company’s culture has increased in the current business climate.” - Ron Carucci  

“Ironically, fewer aspects of organizations are more misunderstood than culture. Easily confused, and often over-simplified as “employee engagement” or “the values,” organizational culture is far more complex. The forces that shape people’s behavior, for better or worse, are intricate. That’s why, when attempting to change or mature culture, you have to dig deep. Simply hanging a new set of values on the wall and launching a campaign with great fanfare to promote them does little more than make people more cynical.”- Ron Carucci  

“Unlocking and honestly studying the levers of organizational culture is key to transforming your business for the better. When evaluating these levers of organizational culture, it’s important to remember that there’s not necessarily a one size fits all approach to certain types of behavior. It is up to leaders to determine if the current direction is shaping the organizational culture in a way that will help it achieve its goals” - Ron Carucci  


Acknowledgment: quotes above from an original article by Ron Carucci   - article in comments below 


Acknowledgment: infographic by Jeroen Kraaijenbrink  - link to his original post in the comments box below 



#chro #ceo #strategy #execution

Does your organization have an Effective Talent Retention Plan especially for pivotal roles?

👉🏿How are you  discovering and addressing moments that matter and turnover triggers in your organization?

✴️ Regrettable turnover is impacting organizational productivity and leading to significant costs associated with employee departures and the recruitment required to replace them.

✴️ Many organizations focus on increasing engagement to improve retention, but this approach doesn’t address the entire problem. 



Advice & Critical Insights from McLean & Company: 

✴️ Engagement surveys mask the volatility of the employee experience and hide the reason why individual employees leave. You must also talk to employees to understand the moments that matter and engage managers to understand turnover triggers.

✴️ Build the case for creating retention plans by leveraging employee data and feedback to identify the key reasons for turnover that need to be addressed.

✴️ Target employee segments and work with management to develop solutions to retain top talent.


👉🏿What is your organization doing to Keep talent from walking out the door?  



Acknowledgment: post content based on research from McLean & Company and image credit: SHRM



#chro #ceo #hr #employeeretention

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The Battle

Susan David

David McLean

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taplio

The Battle

Susan David

David McLean

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Susan David's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreDavid McLean's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreSusan David's LinkedIn Performance