Liz Trocchio Smith
Certified Executive Business Coach
and Trusted Advisor
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Monday, August 3, 2015 Good morning, If today were the last day of your life, would you want to be doing what you’re doing? Every day of his working life, Steve Jobs looked in the mirror and asked himself that question, he told a Stanford graduating class in a justly famous speech. “Whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to…
Monday, July 27, 2015 Good Morning. Leaders need to always not only look the part, but act the part as well. Just because you have the big title, don’t forget these attributes to go with it. Confidence Confidence without the ability to back it up is useless, but if you’re truly competent, own it. Candor Clearly–don’t be dishonest. Beyond that however, truly professional people are forthright. They assess the situation,…
Monday, July 6, 2015 Good Morning, Let’s say you have a big audacious project you want to knock out of the park. You assemble a dream team of your company’s best designers, engineers, and marketers. You put them in a room, give them loose directions, and ask them to innovate. Surprisingly, this plan usually doesn’t result in success. According to a recent study of 95 teams within 25 top corporations, close to 75 percent…
Monday, June 22, 2015 Good morning, There are three stages of speaking to other people. In the first stage, you’re on task, relevant and concise. But then you unconsciously discover that the more you talk, the more you feel relief. Ahh, so wonderful and tension-relieving for you… but not so much fun for the receiver. This is the second stage – when it feels so good to talk, you don’t even notice…
Monday, June 1, 2015 Good morning, I came across these on the wall of a restaurant a few weeks ago and knew they would be worthy of MMC. Warren Buffett’s Ten Rules: No.1: Reinvest Your Profits When you first make money, you may be tempted to spend it. Don’t. Instead, reinvest the profits. Buffett learned this early on. In high school, he and a pal bought a pinball machine to…
Monday, May 18, 2015 Good morning, The month of May is college graduation month and this past weekend, the graduating students, now alumni, of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas celebrated the 100 year graduation at the University. #43, President George W. Bush delivered the commencement speech. Texans love #43, and let’s face it, most Americans do as well, regardless of their political affiliation. President Bush’s wife, Laura is a graduate of…
Monday, May 11, 2015 Good morning, I have wanted to share this story for some months now, but have been waiting for the right time. With Mother’s Day yesterday, there is no better time than now. I have a friend named Liz (seriously, this story is not about me!) whose mother’s name was Carol. Ironically, my mother’s name is Carole as well, just spelled different. Liz and I share a friendship that goes back…
Monday, May 4, 2015 Good morning, In the short 4 months of this year, I have attended 2 funerals of very close friends. The Celebration of Life were touching, emotional, memorable, and fitting for each. The “Celebration” I attended last week, was actually planned and written by the deceased, my dear friend Sherm. Sherm knew he was dying, and, like the selfless, kind hearted man he was, he wanted to make it…
Monday, April 27, 2014 Good morning, I had the privilege of attending a standing tradition of Texas A&M University called Muster. My dear friend Vicki, who is the widow of a friend, confident, coach and mentor of mine invited me and my husband to join her and her son to go to this annual tradition that occurs every year on San Jacinto Day. If you have ever attended Muster, you understand…
Monday, April 20, 2015, Good morning, Every now and then you get that opportunity in your life to do something you can’t pass up. One of those “bucket list” items that you know will be so great. Last night was one of those times for me. When me friend Karla threw out that initial email that she had tickets to the Academy of Country Music Awards being held in my own…
Monday, April 6, 2015 Good morning, I have often heard many people confuse Coaching with Mentoring. If you are one of the many who don’t get the difference, let me share some information with you that will help you separate the two. “Coaching” is a process, using questions, to help a leader develop new skills or modify behavior. “Mentoring” is offering advice, when requested, to support a leader’s career goals….
Monday, March 30, 2015 While reading a recent article in Harvard Business Reivew, I learned a few things about Millennials that I found interesting and worthy of sharing. Some were obvious, but others were new to me, even though I consider myself pretty hip with several nieces and nephews who keep me “in the know”. Millennials are often maligned for their constant technology use and obsession with the social approval signaled by likes,…