Testimonials
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”
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”
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”
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”
Patrick W. Klesel, MBA
Laura is a great listener who positively motivates me to achieve my goals through a proven coaching strategy.
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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.
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”
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.
Intentional Leadership — D2, W4, M6 — Perseverance
Building LeadersThey say experience is the best teacher. I beg to differ…Experience is the best teacher when we choose to reflect on our experience and learn the lessons inherent in them. This is when we gain wisdom. If we don’t do the reflection, then we have merely lived through a string of experiences.
Sometimes, we don’t recognize the lesson until much later, following an experience; it may be days, weeks, months, even years later before we can see the positive impact a challenging time had on us.
Think back to a difficult season in your life. What was it and how did you face it?
Looking back, what benefits were there for you as a result of that difficult time, that you weren’t able to see then? (Did the situation redirect your path in life? Did it bring you closer to family, friends, co-workers? Did it prepare you in some way for your current work or some other challenge you’ve faced since then?)
How does your new perspective motivate you to persevere as a leader in your current situation, know that there are unforeseen rewards on the other side?
Intentional Leadership — D1, W4, M6 — Perseverance
Building LeadersPerseverance offers a number of rewards, some of them may even be sweet!
Think about Milton Hershey. Yes, THE Milton Hershey of Hershey’s chocolates fame. He was fired from his first job as a printer’s apprentice, for lack of attention to detail. Next, working in a candy store, he discovered his passion and opened his own shop in Philadelphia. Although he had plenty of financial support, he went bankrupt. He moved to Denver to work in his father’s mining venture, but missed the opportunity.
Again, he went to work in a candy store. Learned some new things, and moved east, again. He opened another candy store in NYC; again, he went broke!
No one would have been surprised or would blame him had he given up and gone to work, again, for someone else. But he didn’t. He summoned his courage and tried, again. (There’s that word, again — “AGAIN”!) And aren’t we all thankful he did? Personally, I’m partial to the semi-sweet variety of his chocolate and am enjoying some now, as I write!
The key is, he was persistent. And his name is synonymous with chocolate.
And what about Walt Disney? I believe he went bankrupt seven times before his dreams for Disneyland were realized. I’m sure we could all think of several other similar stories of passion, adversity, perseverance, and eventual success.
Leadership and failure are inseparably linked. When you attempt to bring your vision to life, you will experience bumps in the road, you will find you have fallen into a pot hole or even a giant sink hole along your journey…or you may be blazing an entirely new trail, with all kinds of unforeseen obstacles ahead. The trick is to learn from these setbacks, grow through them, and move beyond them. You will feel the amazing sensation of satisfaction — along with your success — when you do. And my friends, there’s not much like true satisfaction in knowing you stuck to it and accomplished what you set out to do.
Spend a little time today thinking about your greatest setback in your life to-date. What was it?
How did you get through it?
What was the bittersweet reward?
What did you learn from it that you have carried forward and use in other situations?
What window are you bumping up against?
Shifting MindsetPerception = Reality.
This beautiful bird spent the better part of four weeks fluttering up and down this window. You see, it thought it was flying into a tree. And it was persistent! It literally fluttered up and down this window most of the day; occasionally flying off into the trees you can see beyond it. The window has reflective film on it, to keep the heat of the sun out of the office. If you look at the window from the outside, you see the trees and bushes (which you can see as you look beyond the bird in this photo) reflected in the glass — pretty clearly, too. No wonder the bird thought it was flying into a tree…and behaved in a frustrated manner that it couldn’t get into the tree. It’s perception was that the window was a tree, and so it continued to try to find a way into the tree, because that was its reality.
Clearly…it wasn’t a tree and the bird was unsuccessful!
This is one of the key concepts I teach when I’m teaching communication skills. It fits in nicely with my two key lessons — self-awareness and intentionality are key to your success.
Understanding the power of perception is important because someone is always watching you, especially when you are a leader. And they make up stories about what’s going on based on snippets of information — often incomplete — combined with their beliefs, values, past experiences, and rumors. What they come up with may be accurate, close to accurate, or a million miles away from the truth, but because they don’t have access to the whole story, the one they create makes sense to them, and they move forward based on it.
My question to you is, how is someone’s else’s perception of you affecting your performance and chances of success? How is it impacting your relationships?
What about your own perception about yourself? About your abilities, skills, and talents?
This quote says it all. What you believe to be true about yourself will determine your future. Knowing that, it’s important to examine how you perceive yourself and understand why it is so. Then, what can you do to make it different, if you need to make some changes to move forward into your potential?
And, what perceptions do you have about others that may be affecting your path forward?
Please, don’t waste your time and energy fluttering up against a window that is NOT a tree, and expect it to magically become what you want it to be! Make the effort to have clear vision and understanding about who you are and what’s going on in your life…and then move forward with confidence!