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This winter was a great opportunity to observe the impact of snow days on our work and lives. It’s not surprising that people accept the slow-down that a big storm and unplowed roads impose on us.

The most successful leaders I work with are also the steadiest. They don’t get thrown off their game by bad news and don’t overreact to problems, even messy ones. Such strong grounding is admirable, effective, and contagious. So what capacities keep these managers so well grounded?

In recent coaching engagements, I’ve been struck at how surprised my clients were to hear some of the unrestrained praise I collected about them from their closest colleagues and superiors, as part of my 360-degree feedback interviews. The positive energy and motivation such feedback generates in a leader is an enormous pay off that many organizations underestimate or simply forget to tap into. Compared to praise and appreciation that comes from just one employee or manager at a time, the collective themes that can emerge from a 360 assessment are especially validating.

We all have been on the receiving end of comments, feedback and even jokes that don’t “land” well. They miss the intended effect by an inch or a mile – generating annoyance instead of appreciation, defensiveness instead of learning, and confusion or even offense instead of amusement.

It is the season of New Year’s resolutions, when we are tempted to make big new personal declarations – that get added to our lengthy to-do lists.  As a devoted fan of lists, I’ve concluded that long to-do lists are a bad thing.  Whether lurking in the back of your mind, on the back of a napkin or digitally in a cool iPhone app, such lists, because they are a symbol of all that is not yet done, can drain our mental energy, motivation and sometimes self-esteem – before we even begin to tackle them.  So take a pause before you add to your list of resolutions.  And perhaps even prune your list now.

I’ve heard the phrase “refuse to lose” in the media quite a bit recently to describe Olympic champions, NFL players and tennis superstars at the US Open.  It seems a perfect way to describe the conviction of champion athletes.  We don’t need the mega-dose of talent that they have to learn from their mindset and adapt it to our own goals.