Welcome back to the look and sound of leadership.

An ongoing series of executive coaching tips designed to help you be perceived in the

workplace the way you want to be perceived.

I'm Tom Henshel, your executive coach, and today we're talking about essential skills

that shaped a leader.

KC and I were celebrating a bittersweet event.

Her coaching was ending.

Again, for now.

She and I had first worked together when she was a young rising star at her global firm.

The company felt she could become a future leader, but only if she learned to play more

nicely in the sandbox with others.

To help her, they had given her a coach, me.

That initial coaching had gone very well.

Over the years, she and I worked together several more times.

I had a front row seat as she made her way up an extremely competitive ladder.

Now she was poised for a promotion that would have her reporting directly to the CEO.

She had achieved a lot.

KC didn't take her achievements for granted.

She knew she had worked hard for them.

She was proud that her very first 360 degree feedback report had been full of words like

rough edges, harsh, judgemental, and sharp elbows, while her most recent report was a blanket

of words like generous, kind, caring, and inspirational.

...