Anti-Perfectionism for Performance Enhancement

We don’t often hear about the drawbacks of perfectionism. Instead, we celebrate obsession embodied by elite performers. That can be misleading. Stories of the obsessive work ethic shared by world class achievers like Kobe Bryant and Steve Jobs are everywhere; there are far more stories of people in pursuit of elite achievement who strain to prove their personal value through high accomplishment. Those stories end poorly. Far more often than not, perfectionism leads to decreased productivity, strained relationships, heavy anxiety, and an overall lower quality of lifer

Narratives of Hope in Your SEL Toolbox

We all know the language of teachers possesses the power to inspire or injure, to heal or humiliate. Language sets the academic and emotional climate of the room. The greater awareness of the relationship between language of the teacher and positive learning outcomes, the greater chance we have of getting the climate just right. So, we have to ask ourselves: “Does my language optimize learning, achievement, relationships and emotional intelligence?” 

Engagement Across Difference

"Remember that with diversity comes difference. Students at Northwestern, frankly, students everywhere across the United States, increasingly lack the ability to talk across difference. In that way- they're much like our country, but as I've said before, this ability to engage across difference is core to a university's mission. "One cannot have true and authentic engagement by either the faculty or students without a commitment to free speech and to academic freedom."

Understanding Anger: ‘Parts Work’ in Executive Coaching

As Dr. Schwartz puts it, “there are no bad parts, only burdened ones frozen in the past that need to be unburdened rather than punished,” (Schwartz, 64). Often, punishing the parts of you who are responsible for less-than-ideal behaviors will burden them further – a degrading cycle that an alarming amount of people find themselves caught in. Instead, heal them, change them, let them evolve.