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Turning Potential Into Results

Mirror, Mirror … in my head

By Camille Smith / April 3, 2019

On a recent family outing to Santa Cruz’s Museum of Art and History, I played in front of a mirror designed to distort.  One side of the mirror gave me super long, thin legs. The other side showed me shorter, rounder. I jumped back and forth to see  different images. Walking away from the mirror’s…

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5 Holiday Gifts

By Camille Smith / December 9, 2018

For the past 15 years since my parents passed, a friend of theirs has sent me a picture of the Christmas wreath she’s placed on their graves in Bath, Ohio. This has always touched me deeply because it reminds me of the sweetness of friendships unbound by distance or circumstances. I’m sharing a story from…

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Express Yourself

By Camille Smith / October 2, 2018

Work is one of the ways we express ourselves in life. My thanks to Leslie Tucker of Roundstone International, Inc. I’ve worked with Leslie and always been amazed at her insights and brilliance.  Most of this blog is directly from her recent posting; I added the action steps. Watch her video about the opportunity that work is…

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Listening beyond the “snap”

By Camille Smith / September 4, 2018

It happened last week.  On my way to a meeting, I discovered I was driving without my license. My knee-jerk reactions: stomach drops, hands clench the wheel, eyes dart looking for the coppers. My thoughts: Do I have time to go get it?  I forgot my cell, too. What if my client calls me along the…

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Books can’t give you experience

By Camille Smith / May 10, 2018

I adore books. My shelves are filled with titles that promise insights about leadership, coaching, human dynamics, strategy, compassion, values.  After madly highlighting these work-related books in my effort to absorb their wisdom (and thus become wiser myself), I take a break and read fiction.  As it often happens in these non-work readings, the Ah-Ha…

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These times are our times

By Camille Smith / January 12, 2018

I’ve been trying to write a super-duper, kick-off-the-year message that would inspire you in your quest to make your unique contribution and be your best self at work and at home. I’ve been coming up blank.  Writing something about the January-ness of it all – a new beginning, out with the old/in with the new,…

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Walk your Talk … Vertically!!

By Camille Smith / November 27, 2016

When I tell people I’m taking an indoor climbing class at Pacific Edge, their “Good for you!” is usually followed quickly by “Why?” My Whys I have several whys.  Every day, I ask leaders to commit to something without knowing how to do it and without a guarantee of success. I ask them to step…

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Learn to Interrupt (yourself, not others)

By Camille Smith / August 30, 2016

Before last month, if you would have asked me if I was a good listener, I would have quickly and assuredly said “Yes.”  Now, my response is, “I’m learning to be a better one.”  Why the change? I’ve been engaged in dialogues, the art of listening. Dialogue is the discipline of collective learning and inquiry.…

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Be an Olympian at Work

By Camille Smith / July 9, 2016

  The Olympics are here!! With them come all the excitement of underdogs versus shoe-ins, veterans versus first-timers and photo-finish dramas. Athletes commit long before they know if they will have the opportunity to compete.  They commit to the idea, to the possibility of being an Olympian and promise to do what it takes to…

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What Washington Politics can teach us about Office Politics

By Camille Smith / February 4, 2016

Both networking experts and relationship gurus tell us the same thing: If you want to develop a relationship that lasts, don’t begin it by discussing religion or politics. Why? The topics are too emotion-laden, too side-taking, too side-making, too divisive.  This conventional wisdom advises us to steer clear of discussing either topic at work. It’s…

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