Why change is hard and what to do about it
We’re already in February … how are those New Year’s resolutions going? Do you even remember what they are? I once made a resolution to do 100 ab crunches a day – ambitious, right? Well, I never made it past Day 3. To be fair, I was a teenager with wild ideas and more energy […]
How Interruptions Are Burning You Out
We’re constantly interrupted. A Slack ping here. A shoulder tap there. Someone knocking at your door asking “Got a minute?” And if you’re like most leaders I coach, you probably said yes. Because you have an open door policy. Because you want to be approachable. Because that’s what good leaders do, right? Here’s what happens, […]
Focus Is Power: How Time Boxing Changed My Productivity
We often think we don’t have enough time to do everything we need to do. Yet there’s a principle called Parkinson’s Law that says work expands to fill the time available for its completion. In other words, if you give yourself all day to write a report, it’ll take all day. If you give yourself […]
How fragile are you? A leader’s guide to navigating uncertainty.
Recently, I was on the phone for several hours talking with my daughter who’s living overseas for the first time. She’s navigating a new culture, a new language, and the reality of being far from home. As she shared her challenges and homesickness, every part of me wanted to protect her. But I can’t. I’m […]
Authentically Imperfect
The Power of Vulnerability Dusk is setting earlier in the day and there’s a crispness in the air. It is fall and school has been in full swing for a month. In the same vein of learning, I am launching my blog. Welcome. When I launched my coaching and consulting firm, the plan was simple: […]
Leadership at Work and Home
For some, the concept of “leadership at home” might sound peculiar, as many view leadership only in the professional domain. But that depends on your definition of leadership. In my decades of leading leadership development programs, I’ve found that when people describe a leader, they rarely focus on what the person does, what they manage, […]
The Be-Do-Have Paradigm
You might find yourself buying into the belief that if you acquire this or that, you’ll be happy, accepted, loved, beautiful, successful, etc. When you’re not busy accumulating, you’re likely busy doing. Sometimes, there’s even a level of pride in sharing how busy we are.
Conflict as Catalyst for Growth
The mere mention of conflict often evokes a sense of dread. Yet, conflict isn’t inherently negative; it’s simply change knocking at the door. The stress arises when parties are entrenched in their viewpoints, unable to hear each other.
The Art of Listening: A Lesson from My 19-Yr-Old
The other day, my 19-year-old daughter accused me of invalidating her feelings. Let’s rewind a bit for context. She expressed a desire for something in her life, and as her mother, I instinctively felt it wasn’t the best for her. But her point was striking: it wasn’t about the future possibility of changing her mind; […]
Rethinking Imposter Syndrome
I often hear people talk about suffering from imposter syndrome. But let’s pause and dissect this for a moment. Imposter syndrome often comes with a feeling of shame. It’s that nagging feeling of, “There’s something wrong with me for feeling like an imposter.” But here’s a thought: what if we’ve been looking at it all […]