Testimonials
Wes Harvey
When looking for a coach to bring out your inner potential and guide you on a path of self-discovery, one word comes to mind when choosing the right person. Passion! Laura has a passion to become the best version of herself that she can be and in the process is looking to do the same… Read more “Wes Harvey”
Margaret Mary Layne
“Laura Prisc was an invaluable asset in helping the Museum solve a troubling personnel issue between two very valuable, professional employees. These two particular members of our staff had to work together on a regular basis and it just was not running smoothly. The sessions that Laura set up and the assignments given to each… Read more “Margaret Mary Layne”
James Wells, IPMA-SCP, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
Laura presented an excellent program, “Building Healthy, Smart Teams,” during our local SHRM Chapter’s September 2012 meeting. She shared useful information and practical insight into the key characteristics healthy teams possess and demonstrate, which we can apply in our workplaces, volunteer organizations, etc. Laura added value to our Chapter’s meeting and we would welcome her… Read more “James Wells, IPMA-SCP, SPHR, SHRM-SCP”
Peter Hein
Laura provides a service that I feel more people should look into as it is very valuable. It is not just another rah-rah team training seminar, but a well thought out one-on-one program. We started with goals (work and changes in careers) but also how to achieve them which lead into discussions of leadership… Read more “Peter Hein”
Kyle Mork
Laura has been a fantastic asset for our company and for me personally for well over a year. She has provided both coaching and consulting services, as well as handled group sessions with our managers. She has a unique ability to discern the core issue and help you work through possible solutions. She has become… Read more “Kyle Mork”
Angela Miller
Laura has been a mentor to several protégés in the Everwise program. Her insight and knowledge has been highly valued and her protégés have made measured progress toward their professional goals. Her commitment to development is evident and she is a delight to work with. Laura brings deep expertise in effective communication, personal brand and… Read more “Angela Miller”
Ryan Deaderick
Laura has been a joy to work with. She can seamlessly move between the roles of teacher, mentor, and coach to provide useful insight and challenging questions. I have worked with Laura for over a year and a half, and have grown tremendously as a leader and individual during that time. She has helped me… Read more “Ryan Deaderick”
Maureen McIntosh, LCT. M.Ed.CCC ACC
I have been working with Laura weekly for the last five weeks. She is personable, reliable, full of integrity and has managed to help me stay focused and on task. She is excellent at holding me accountable, a benefit of working with a great coach. I easily recommend Laura as a great coach that will… Read more “Maureen McIntosh, LCT. M.Ed.CCC ACC”
Tim O’Neal, Manufacturing Leader
I am Tim O’Neal, a manufacturing leader at the Dow Chemical Company in West Virginia Operations. My leadership team played the Leadership Game. From the start, it was clear that this is no game. To my team and I, it was an experience. The principles and laws from John Maxwell are spread throughout the discussions… Read more “Tim O’Neal, Manufacturing Leader”
Amy Dennis
I hired Laura to help me explore ways to broaden my career path. It was a pleasure working with Laura. I learned a lot about myself. I also learned to think more deeply about what I want for myself and why. Laura is a great motivator and pushes you to be your best.
David Houser, West Virginia Market Manager PrimeLending, A Plains Capital Company
“When you meet Laura, it becomes very clear very quickly that she’s on a mission to wake people up to become their best selves, to become intentional leaders, and to live their lives on purpose! And she’s well-equipped to do it, continually investing in her own growth to ensure she’s ahead of the curve with… Read more “David Houser, West Virginia Market Manager PrimeLending, A Plains Capital Company”
Terry Hollandsworth
Working with Laura in communication training improved my self awareness, communication skills, and the relationships with my customers. I highly recommend her services and value her guidance.
Patrick W. Klesel, MBA
Laura is a great listener who positively motivates me to achieve my goals through a proven coaching strategy.
Betsy Eberg, CEP
I loved working with Laura! I learned so much about myself during the 6 months I mentored with her. Laura taught me how to be more self aware, and this has shed light into many areas of my life, both personal and professional. I am more intentional in my behavior. I now recognize that intent… Read more “Betsy Eberg, CEP”
Tisha Schmidt, MBA
I had the opportunity to work with Laura following a job elimination. Laura led me through a Strengths Finder tool , which produced an updated resume that highlights my strengths rather than a resume that lists job duties and tasks accomplished. Laura also facilitated personal goal setting. I had spent much of professional life working… Read more “Tisha Schmidt, MBA”
Barry Pearson, Group Manager Administration & Quality at Toyota North America
Every successful company strives for the next big idea that gives them the advantage over their competition. Focusing on human development has clearly become an area thru which companies separate themselves from the competition, and at TMMWV, we are no different. Two years ago, we began looking for a more comprehensive approach to human development… Read more “Barry Pearson, Group Manager Administration & Quality at Toyota North America”
James Owrey
It was a pleasure to participate in Laura’s Maxwell Mastermind Group during Fall 2012. She has a great acumen for teaching and demonstrating principles of leadership, particularly from the works of John Maxwell. Her caring nature combines perfectly with her commitment to accountability. This is an “actions-to-outcomes” approach that keeps participants both engaged and motivated.… Read more “James Owrey”
Kara Rogers
The word that exemplifies my work with Laura is “intentional”. So many things in my life are on auto pilot, or I am multi-tasking so much I start “flying by the seat of my pants”. While I can and do get things done in both of these modes, it isn’t the best or most efficient… Read more “Kara Rogers”
David Rosier, General Manager Toyota North America Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia
“We engaged Laura because we recognized most of the team we considered our core leaders were not leading at all. In fact, they were so caught up in the details of day-to-day management activities, they weren’t growing themselves or developing their direct reports. We need leaders at every level of the organization if we are… Read more “David Rosier, General Manager Toyota North America Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia”
Melanie Gorman, SVP YourTango.com
It was a joy to spend a weekend with Laura. I reached out to work with her after coming to a realization that the feedback from my supervisor, team, and clients were riddled with my own interpretation. I wanted to know definitely what I’m good at; what my strengths are and where I can be… Read more “Melanie Gorman, SVP YourTango.com”
Intentional Leadership — Month 9 — Attitude
Building LeadersEleven years ago, I went through a life-changing leadership training process. During the course of that journey, we studied the Fish! Philosophy, based on how the fishmongers at the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, WA, approach their work. Essentially, there are four things these men are focused on as they approach their work, and really their daily lives, and one of them is this: Choose Your Attitude!
It really made an impression on me, because truly it is a choice. We have no control over what life will throw at us, what others will do or say to us. All we have control over is how we choose to react or respond. We can choose what our attitude will be about what happens to us. And frankly, if we don’t choose, we put ourselves in the victim mode. I don’t know about you, but I’m not cut out for that. Yes, I do have my less-than-stellar moments of frustration, impatience, etc…but I typically recover pretty quickly and move on to problem-solving so I can move forward.
Olympic Gold Medalist, Scott Hamilton, said, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” Well put, I say!
No matter what happens to each of us in our lives, the best way to create the kind of life and success we desire is to commit to having a positive attitude. When you do this, you don’t waste your time and energy complaining or wishing things were different. You recognize you are the captain of your ship, and have the power to navigate your course. This allows you to focus your energy on creating more of what you do want, and moving farther away from what you don’t want.
As you do this, you become the kind of leader that attracts others. Think about it: Whom do you want to spend a lot of time with — someone with a positive, up-beat attitude, or with someone who has an negative attitude?
Think about your attitude, and ask yourself this: Is my attitude an asset or a liability? Will it allow me to propel myself forward into living the life I desire, or will it hold me back? Will it attract other like-minded, talented, creative people to me, or will it attract those who are focused on doom and gloom?
How important has your attitude been to your success in life so far?
What do you allow to influence your attitude — both in positive and negative ways?
What kinds of choices can you make each day to maintain a positive attitude?
How has your attitude made a difference in your role as a leader?
Tomorrow, we will begin our four-week journey focused on Attitude. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the subject.
Intentional Leadership — D5, W4, M8 — and Wrap-up on Change
Building LeadersDear Faithful readers: Please forgive me for missing my usual blog post on Friday, which would have been D5 of W4, of this 8th month of our Intentional Leadership journey, focused on change. Something that one couldn’t have anticipated happened early Friday morning that demanded my attention and kept me otherwise fully engaged all day. I apologize for missing a step in our process.
However, I’m confident that by now, at the end of our 8th month on this journey, that you are in the swing of our Friday routine and would likely be on track with taking a proactive approach to planning your weekend, without my weekly reminder.
My Friday was supposed to be spent immersed in a full-day off-site team-building and vision-defining meeting. Again, something unexpected happened to derail that plan. Saturday required some follow-up to the Friday events, and some quality time, alone, with my husband. It was delightful!
Today, I spent some time with my son and mother-in-law at the WV State Honey Festival! Now, I am catching up with you and preparing for the week ahead. I will be traveling, again (have had a lot of opportunities to travel these past six weeks) this week, to The Greenbrier Resort for the WV State Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Business Summit. This is a great event each year, as it allows me to catch up with friends and associates from around the state whom I don’t have the opportunity to see very often, and to meet new people I’m not yet aware of. It will be a time of reminiscing, learning, and divine appointments. Have to say, I had some amazing meetings, conversations, and connections with a few folks last year; I trust this year will be just as rewarding.
I also need to prepare for this week’s Empowerment Mentoring lesson on Comfort Zone — and how being in our comfort zone isn’t always a good thing.
I hope you don’t mind my taking this space to do my usual month-end wrap-up on Change.
As I’m sure you’re aware, the only constant in today’s world is change; it is an unavoidable reality of life. As a leader, we must take responsibility for anticipating change, understanding its implications, and guiding our people through it. This requires a blend of qualities and skills…bravery, flexibility, determination, casting a clear vision, providing frequent communication, and consistent behavior.
As you know — and maybe you feel this way, as well — many people abhor change, would rather go through all kinds of other unpleasantries, or even give up on their potential to avoid it. You will be tested in this arena, needing to put forth all of your abilities and talents to overcome the resistance of the status quo. This can be a grueling, thankless journey, but if you are driven to be a leader, it’s the path you have chosen.
Change and growth go hand-in-hand. If you aren’t growing, you aren’t going anywhere. If you stay the same, you will become stagnant, and we all know, nothing grows in stagnant pools.
I encourage you to embrace change. Plunge forward with courage. Help others see the possibilities in the future, through the path of change. Remember, if you are going through change and you have some level of confusion, it’s a good thing! Yes, a good thing. If you are going through change and you aren’t confused, it means you already know what you need to or have given up trying to understand it. If you are confused, it means you are going through a growth process.
Embrace change! If you don’t, won’t, or can’t…give up on leadership — you can’t lead if you can’t navigate change.
Now, having said that, I trust that since you’ve made it through this 8th month of our journey so far, you won’t give in to complacency. So, I’ll “see” you on Monday, as we move into our 9th month, focused on Attitude.
Intentional Leadership — D4, W4, M8 — Change
Building LeadersAs we come to the end of this month focused on Change, spend some time reflecting on your past…what is your history when dealing with change?
Write down two of the biggest changes in your life. Spend some time with your journal, exploring how you recognized the need for change, how you handled it, what lessons you learned, and what you would do differently if you had the opportunity to do it over.
What can you learn from these previous experiences that will allow you to recognize the need for change sooner, and navigate your way through change more smoothly in the future.
Remember, experience is NOT the best teacher! In fact, experience alone will not teach you anything. The wisdom is gained by reflecting on our experiences, so we can glean some lessons and apply them to other situations in the future.