Speaking in a recent video podcast on the topic of resiliency and empowerment, the executive leadership coach, author, and Human Capital Management Lecturer Lee E. Miller summarized the crucial characteristics that have helped him face challenges throughout his career: “Every adversity is a source of opportunity if you take advantage of it.”
In an interview with Susan Ganz, founder of Ganz Strategic Solutions and host of the podcast R.E.S.T. (Resiliency and Empowerment Seminar Today), Miller recalled his professional journey from Harvard-trained trial lawyer to human resources executive at Barney’s, TV Guide, and USA Networks to his current career as a consultant, author, and professor.
“I think resiliency is an attitude,” he said, a point he illustrated by recounting how he had launched his consulting and coaching business only months before the September 11 attacks upended the economy. His perseverance then led him to co-author the book A Woman’s Guide to Successful Negotiating with his daughter and build a career that has endured the 2008 recession and continues to endure through the current economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through his coaching and teaching (he is also an adjunct professor at USC and Seton Hall University), Miller focuses on helping individuals and businesses to champion themselves first and foremost.
“The higher up you get in an organization or when you’re in business for yourself, it’s all about getting other people to support you, to support your ideas,” he said, “and that’s all about influencing and negotiating.”
