About Me

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Dr. Lichtman is an executive and career coach, who has created behavioral, changes in the hundreds of leaders with whom she has worked. As a trained therapist, with a profit and loss business background, she has the added benefit of understanding the individual, and the interplay between emotional intelligence and success in the business environment. By building on positive attributes, Dr. Lichtman has been able to reduce the time needed to create sustainable changes.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Should You Have A Coach


Should Every Executive Have a Coach?

You are at doing well in your career. You are dedicated, skilled, technically competent, a recognized leader in your company and a valued employee. Your performance reviews are excellent, and your manager has complete confidence in your abilities. So why would you want (or need) a coach?

In a recent article in the New Yorker Magazine, (Oct 27, 2011) a renowned surgeon talked about getting a (surgeon) coach who could give him feedback on how he performed in the surgical suite. Although his outcomes were good, his reputation was impeccable and his interpersonal skills were excellent, he felt himself too comfortable, and wondered how he really did in all aspects of his work  and what he could improve.
Knowing that he could not be objective about his own behavior, he decided that an outside set of eyes and ears, would provide a mirror to his actual behavior. He wanted to improve how he worked, so he hired a coach who in fact did help become a better physician.

The Yale Center for Parenting looks at different aspects of parenting. One aspect of their research is how parental behavior contributes to the continuation of tantrums in children. By changing behavior in the parents, and coaching them in new behaviors, both verbal and non-verbal, the behavior of their children changed, and the tantrums were diminished or eliminated. Even a different way of offering praise to already well behaved and smart children, produced better results in the kids. Parental coaching changes behavior, in both the adults and the child’s, resulting in better behaved children and more relaxed parents.

In his book "Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives", Nicholas Christakisn writes about how changes in medicine, technology or finance will not work effectively without the appropriate behavioral change in the user. You can give out millions of mosquito nets to prevent malaria, but if people do not use them, they are useless. Vaccines prevent illnesses, as long as people get vaccinated. He calls this phenomenon "bio social science" and thinks that in the 21st century, it will be bio social science that is key to changing behavior.

Behavioral change requires a change in how we perceive the world and a trusted way to learn the new behaviors. Coaching can do this. Having a coach to reflect and build on what you do well, is part of how extremely successful people stay at that uppermost level. Having a coach, who can assess your skills and work on nuanced behavior, may result in better outcomes for you and your team.

We become complacent in what we do, we stop striving for better outcomes when we are already successful, we assume we cannot change others behaviors and we think executive coaching is for the  new, problematic or dysfunctional individual.  Many organizations hire coaches for new employees to insure a successful transition into a new culture. Other organizations hire coaches for  the top employees to maintain the level of success already achieved does not diminish. In fact all of us could benefit from that outside perspective of our behavior that coaching provides.

If the best singers have singing coaches, if the most celebrated athletes continue working with coaches, even when they are regarded as the best in their sport, if the top CEOs have coaches to use as sounding boards and offer unique perspectives, shouldn't you have an executive coach as well?

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Self Assurance and Listening - The Need for Balance

This wonderful article was written by my good friend, Bob Gillmett.


It is doubtful that anyone in their personal or professional lives will dispute that there comes a time when they need a little (or a lot) of guidance and advice.  In many cases it is not a matter of “if you do”, but rather one of “acceptance”.  Acceptance on two levels:  1) accepting the fact that someone else’s opinion or advice might be valuable and, 2) accepting the advice given.  To some extent we are all guided by what we see and hear and how we assimilate that information into our actions.  However the outcome of that assimilation can vary greatly by the degree to which we are willing to change based on what we see and hear and the extent to which we may seek further direction from others.
These dynamics shape our personalities, our actions and how we grow – ourselves and/or our business.  To become individuals and develop individual style, we need to listen to ourselves and act upon our instincts and intuition.  But from time to time we also need to listen to what others are telling us and adjust our actions accordingly.  This is a delicate balance – too much of either one can result in dysfunction that impacts the individual and those around him/her.
With the recent passing of Steve Jobs we’ve heard a lot about the fact that he trusted his gut and very rarely listened to others. To some extent that is true, to be sure, but in point of fact he was an ardent supporter of customer satisfaction feedback and he monitored customer experience in stores and on-line on a daily basis.  A key to garnering more customers is to get current customers to talk favorably about your product. Customer satisfaction and the attention paid to maintain and grow that satisfaction is critical to developing a successful business.  Jobs definitely listened.
Ira Waldbaum grew his family grocery store business from a “mom & pop” operation selling produce and grocery staples in a street corner location in Brooklyn, NY to a 2 billion dollar company with 140 stores employing over 7500 people in three states in 1986, when the company was sold to A&P.  He was known as a man who adhered to strict ideas of store management and worked on instinct.  But a brief excerpt from his obituary in 2002 paints a slightly different picture:  “When Brooklyn customers asked for cartons for moving, he asked where they were going. ‘When they mentioned Kew Gardens’, he said, ‘I decided to open a store there.’ “  Ira listened too.
Neither man gave up on their strong adherence to instinct and intuition.  However both men realized the needed to listen to others as well.
Achieving the proper balance of self assurance and guidance from others will equip you well for success.  Whether it’s in the digital world or the produce aisle, you will sell a lot of apples.
 

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Leadership: Apple Style



The bulk of the work that I do as an executive coach involves leadership both development and enhancement. It doesn’t matter the type of organization, the level of the individual or the functions involved: it always is about leadership.  Often I am asked to coach a new leader to make sure she/he is successful quickly; or to increase emotional intelligence (EIQ) in very brilliant introverts, whose teams are not performing as well as they could, or high potential executives who need coaching to insure continued success. For the most part, executive coaching works to develop and enhance existing behaviors as well as adding new skills deemed necessary.

Often the major skills or behaviors I am asked to work on include impulse control or self-regulation, which is one of the internal EIQ subsets. At times I am retained to coach an executive who is brilliant but comes across to her/his team as manipulative, scary, narcissistic and highly volatile.  The organization wants those behaviors eliminated from the executive and new more collaborative behaviors instilled.

Yet it is exactly those “negative” behaviors that organizations deem inappropriate and harmful that Steve Jobs displayed as the leader of Apple. From what you read about him, it is exactly these traits plus his brilliance and passion that made Apple so successful. So, the question becomes, are we entering a new era of what leadership looks like and what motivates and drives a successful team? Are the countless surveys and studies that state that leadership based on collaboration, and more humanistic approaches outdated and ineffective now?  Or is Steven Jobs really more in touch with his EIQ than we think?

Steve Jobs was aware enough to know that his volatility and emotional outbursts would test the strength of his staff’s convictions, but he also knew that he needed someone to pick up the pieces of his destruction. The COO who is now his successor, is a compassionate, silent type who makes sure things work operationally.  Perhaps Steve Jobs did know what he was doing after all.

So maybe being as brilliant and forward thinking as Steve Jobs, coupled with self-awareness about what he can and cannot do, and whom he can intimidate and whom he needed to praise, is a possible way to lead.  Just make sure you are as brilliant and adventuresome as Mr. Jobs and are willing to accept the consequences.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Future of Technology and Executive Coaching

The Future of Technology and Executive Coaching

As a non-technology individual and by that I mean I really don't understand how it all works (it feels like magic). I am a consistent user of all that keeps me informed and connected to the wider world. I can get information on any subject at any time in virtually any place. Recently Google reported that it had over a billion discrete hits on its sight. That is one in 7 people has used Google since its inception. The use of technology has revolutionized all aspects of our daily lives. Watson, the IBM built computer won on the game show Jeopardy. Computers now can beat the best chess champions in the world. Robotic arms and lasers are all digitally modulated to reach precise locations in our bodies. The use of technology has no boundaries and feels limitless.
So what does this all mean and where do we as leaders in organizations need to do to be ready for the next wave of personal technology.

The futurist Ray Kurzweil writes that in the not too distant future, technology will be part of the human body. Already we have cameras that patients swallow to see the inner working of the body (they are eliminated through the digestive system), and information chips that let us know where our animals are and to whom they belong. Kurzweil writes that these technological marvels will tell us everything we need to know about what is going on inside our bodies. He also writes "Intelligence will become increasingly non-biological and trillions of times more powerful than today".

What will not change is the human components, the emotional awareness, the ability to understand, all the aspects of our emotions that make great leaders today, will still be what makes great leaders in the future. No technology will take the place of human awareness. It is how the leader interacts with the individuals, influences decision-making, motivates and rewards the individuals, which will result in success outcomes.
It is the responsibility of the technology leaders to understand that the human component of behavior and emotional intelligence is always going to the most important factor in success. Emotional Intelligence is the cutting edge no computer will ever get and that sets true leaders apart. It is here that executive coaching can help leaders accelerate their success.

Monday, March 21, 2011

"The Good Boss", Google Style and Executive Coaching

As an executive coach, I have had many clients where the individual needing the coaching was not a good manager or a strong leader.  A poor manager impacts the team negatively which often leads to lower productivity and inadequate results.
I have also coached great leaders, adored by their teams who accomplish amazing results but cannot get along with a terrible boss.
In both cases I wonder, what is a "good boss" and why does coaching work to make them more successful?

A recent New York Times article, March 13, 2011, described the process that Google, (the mega giant of information) used in ascertaining what is a productive, successful leader as measured by their teams. The Google HR folks looked at several years worth of data, massaging the information into numerous categories in order to discover what made a "good" leader. After the complex process was completed, Google's HR folks came up with 8 significant traits.
What was so interesting about the ranking of these 8 traits was that coming in dead last - remember this is Google, the king of technology, the master of information - was "technical expertise'!

The two most vital traits for successful leadership as a boss was having a clear vision for the team and connecting with the team members in more social terms. In other words, good bosses know where they are going and make consistent, quality time for the individuals needed to get to the goal. The individual team members willingly followed bosses they trusted with the team's success.

It turns out that even at Google, leadership is not about the hard skills, but rather about the soft ones. People leave companies when they have a bad boss. They thrive when they feel involved, valued, communicated with, and trust their leader.
I am not sure that hundreds of pages of data was needed to prove that the leaders and bosses at Google have the same traits as the leaders elsewhere. Research has shown the same results over and over again. Yet, when Google did their analysis, the results were similar.

Executive Coaching enhances the social soft skills and eliminates behaviors that get in the way of success. So what does Google do for their less than good leaders, you guessed it. They get the individual a coach!!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Organization Politics and Executive Coaching:How to Navigate When You Don't Play Politics



Organizations are complex entities.  They have specific cultures and rules. Navigating the different channels: working up, down and across the organization while executing on strategic goals, makes successful leadership difficult.
Who are the influencers and who are the least powerful? How does an executive learn organizational savviness while remaining as positive as possible? How do you motivate your team and align with the senior management? What if you see yourself as” not being political”? What do you do then?

Executive coaching is a process that enables the executive to understand themselves, the team, the organization and the rules that are in play. It is a concrete process that results in deliberate behavior changes. By learning which behaviors work in what situations, the leader learns what success looks like.

Everyone is political. I am going to repeat that statement, everyone is political. Just as making no decision is making a decision (to do nothing), claiming not to be political is being political. And that has consequences. A good coach will work with the leader to understand themselves and all the aspects of the organization as they relate to the leader and the goals that are necessary for success. Being political does not mean betraying your values but rather understanding how to succeed in an environment and what the rules are. According to Ephraim Schacter, “executive coaches help senior leaders deliberately chose behaviors to optimize organizational results.” In other words, be political.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Tiger Moms and Executive Coaching: How they relate




There has so much been written in the last few weeks, both pro and con, about raising children in the “Chinese” tiger mom method. Included in this method is having high expectations, practicing behaviors that give rise to success, and being totally committed to that success. (I am not going to discuss what success means in this blog posting or go into Amy Chua’s book).
One of the underlying assumptions in this Tiger Mom philosophy is that intelligence is the most important piece and that focusing on those skills that enhance academic accomplishment, will lead to success. What is not stressed is the importance of Emotional Intelligence and how self-awareness and being socially savvy leads to higher levels of success.
From Willie Geist (no this is not sarcasm on my part) of Morning Joe who spoke of the best leaders are the ones who can build strategic relationships, or David Brooks of the NY Times who wrote, “They (the kids raised this way) grow up skilled and compliant but without audacity to be great”, the notion that there is more to happiness, success and greatness than academic excellence or high IQ.

So what does all this have to do with Executive Coaching?
Over the years, I would say that the majority of coaching I have done is to enhance and build on executives’ emotional intelligence. Executive coaching is first and foremost about believing that the executive will succeed. It is similar to the tiger moms’ belief that the child will succeed. Both the coach and the tiger mom look at building new skills through practicing new behaviors. One of the major differences, and there are many, is that my executive coaching stresses the importance of emotional intelligence. It is as important, if not, more important that the technical and scientific skills that got the executive to their current position. Many executives reach a level where leadership is required and that means knowing yourself and how to get others motivated to reach a goal. This is where EIQ comes in.
The people at the top are not always the smartest in terms of IQ, but most have superb emotional intelligence.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Can We Change?

Yesterday I had lunch with an old friend who is also the COO of a major organization. He asked me if people can really change. If someone as high up and capable as he is questions this possibility how can I convince him?
YES people can change behaviors. With practice, positive rewards and a change in their belief system, they can be different. I have seen it work.