About Neil Bierbaum

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So far Neil Bierbaum has created 96 blog entries.

Easy Desk Exercises to Avoid Back and Neck Pain

In the world beyond lockdown, online meetings will most likely become the norm. That will mean a great deal more time at desks and on screens than before. Here is a life-changing, two-minute exercise set that you can do in between Zoom sessions. This post is also available as a YouTube video (click here). Or jump to the audio version .  THE WORLD is gradually moving on from total lockdown and into the world beyond. It’s a world that incidentally kicked off with the news that [...]

By |2021-05-26T16:25:11+00:0019 May 2020|Categories: Congruent Life|

Equanimity: A Word for Our Time

Equanimity, along with compassion, is one of the most revered virtues in every spiritual and philosophical tradition. Yet it’s almost entirely absent from our corporate leadership lexicon. That says a lot about who and what and where we are. It’s also why equanimity is a word for our time. IF YOU learn to observe your own mind, as mindfulness teaches you to do, you’ll notice two particular things about your thoughts. Firstly, you’ll notice that your thoughts are always—literally, always*—about the future and the past. So you’re always [...]

The Courage To Lead — What It Takes To Use A Coaching Style

It takes courage to lead. We all know that. It’s even become a catchphrase. Here are five forms of courage – all with parallels in parenting — that are required for a coaching style of leadership. TO DEVELOP a coaching style of leadership takes time. Time for yourself to develop the competence and time for people to get used to it. It also takes time to do the actual coaching stuff, like gaining understanding before asking questions. Then asking those questions. Then waiting for people to respond. Then giving [...]

By |2023-12-05T12:29:20+00:003 Dec 2019|Categories: Coaching, Leadership|Tags: , , , |

Delegate Effectively by Doing It the Coaching Way

To delegate effectively, and free up time for yourself as a leader, you need to do more than just hand out tasks. It’s about setting up a feedback and learning cycle so that you elevate everybody’s level of work. Here’s how to do it using a coaching style of leadership. PERHAPS THE greatest wish of most corporate leaders today is to alleviate the time pressure they’re experiencing. They know that they could achieve this if they could only delegate effectively. Yet, despite having been on so many leadership programs, [...]

By |2023-12-05T12:37:49+00:0026 Nov 2019|Categories: Coaching, Leadership, Team Performance|Tags: , , |

9 Reasons Why Coaching Conversations Are the Most Valuable Leadership Skill

Being able to conduct coaching conversations is perhaps the most important and valuable leadership skill you can develop. Here are the 9 key elements that make coaching conversations so effective. AS YOU may well have experienced for yourself, leadership usually involves a shift from being a subject matter expert (SME) who solves mostly technical problems, to being a leader who solves mostly people and performance issues. As you’ve probably noticed too, problems have a solution and go away. Issues, on the other hand, are ongoing. They advance slowly, step [...]

By |2023-12-05T12:42:17+00:0018 Nov 2019|Categories: Coaching|

Getting Motivated (5 of 5) | Agitation, Stress — Could You Care Less?

The world is in a mad rush. Everybody wants everything yesterday. Welcome to the state of agitation, the precursor to stress. It’s a bad neighbourhood, and not one you should care to hang around in.   IF YOU’VE ever been stuck in traffic when you’re running late for a meeting—and presuming you’re not a Zen monk—you’ll recognise the state of agitation. It’s that state when you’re pushing hard against life to make things happen within a certain time, or in a certain way, and life is having none of [...]

By |2023-12-05T13:02:46+00:0030 Oct 2019|Categories: Mindfulness & Meditation, Motivation|Tags: , , , |

Getting Motivated (4 of 5) | Making Monday Great Again!

People experience the state of flow twice as often at work than they do at home. So, what’s the big deal about Friday? Find out how work is good for you, and make Monday, yes Monday, your best friend! IT’S ALWAYS been fashionable—and in many cases it’s probably true—to see work as a grudge activity. The words we use say it all. The grindstone. The salt mines. Sigh, you do it because you have to. And so on. Plus, it’s normal and natural to complain about your boss in [...]

By |2023-12-05T13:04:35+00:0024 Oct 2019|Categories: Motivation|Tags: , |

Getting Motivated (3 of 5) | Getting Through the Dip

One thing you can know for sure about getting motivated: when you’re starting out with any activity, you almost never feel like it. Sadly, getting through the dip is the only way. Enter the state of animation. YOU KNOW that positive feeling you get when you’re in the flow state? Or that sense of accomplishment when you’ve finished a task? We all want that feeling, right? Well, guess what? There’s no other way to achieve it than to simply get stuck in. Perform the activity. Do the task. Duh! [...]

By |2023-12-05T13:09:40+00:0022 Oct 2019|Categories: Motivation|Tags: , |

Getting Motivated (2 of 5) | It’s Not About Your Feelings

You don’t have to wait for your feelings to come right before you can get motivated. You can choose your motivational state and act to bring it about. Your feelings will follow. WHEN YOU’RE weary, as the song goes, or feeling small—or feeling down—you tend to focus on, well, your feelings. You try to nurse them into a better shape. You need to feel better, you tell yourself, in order to get motivated, to get going. Similarly, when you’re struggling to get going on a Monday—or to drag yourself [...]

By |2023-12-05T13:13:00+00:0021 Oct 2019|Categories: Motivation|Tags: , |

Getting Motivated (1 of 5) | The Five Motivational States

Getting motivated, and knowing how to get people motivated, is both art and science. The good news is, you don’t have to become a motivational speaker to do it. You just have to understand these five motivational states. IN THE days before actual coaching, the only option we had for getting motivated were those dreaded motivational speakers. They whooped onto the stage and spewed out platitudes like, “Today is a gift, that’s why we call it the present!” and then disappeared into the ether. Most often, they left you [...]

By |2023-12-05T13:15:16+00:0014 Oct 2019|Categories: Motivation|Tags: , |
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