Let's say your colleague shows up for your Zoom meeting crying. When you ask what's wrong, they share that they're having a tough time balancing the demands of work with three young children at home, caregiving for aging parents, and dealing with a spouse who travels constantly for work. So, what does this colleague look like? Did you
Feedback is a daily staple of my work as an executive coach. I am often giving direct feedback to the leaders I work with, sharing 360-degree feedback from the leader’s colleagues, and then helping them process and reflect on the feedback they receive. One piece of feedback that the executives I coach receive over and
Even if you’ve been lucky enough to survive the last year, you’re probably not operating at your peak performance, emotional highpoint, or (as they say) living your best life. And whether you’ve been holed up at home alone or trying to manage a busy family while working full time, you’ve likely noticed that other people
While many of us have worked remotely for years (myself included), for many people, the shift to working while physically distanced from colleagues and managers requires some getting used to. Benefits like wearing pajama bottoms to work and going for a mid-day run can be mitigated by the costs to your motivation, self-confidence, and self-esteem
Several years ago, I was watching a Today Show segment about helping your children and teens create healthy habits. The subject of the piece was a notable nutritionist, whose kids were reluctant to eat their greens and work up a sweat. The most memorable quote came from one of her pre-teens who said, “Walking makes me sad.”
I was recently coaching a leader who asked me, “Is it OK for me to tell someone on my team that they can’t cry at work?” Normally, as a coach, I would respond to her question with a question of my own: “What makes you ask that?” “What about crying feels like it shouldn’t happen
It’s been called a “second pandemic” — the mental health implications of the global health crisis, political unrest, economic uncertainty, rising unemployment, social isolation, remote work, home schooling, and so much more. And while it can feel like the first pandemic has been with us long enough for employees to have accessed the necessary resources
How can you take the America’s number one fear—public speaking—and make it even scarier? Oh I know! By adding in almost no time to prepare. And who would do such a thing? Oh, just bosses, clients, the real speaker whose flight was delayed. So, in other words, it happens all the time, when you least
In order to leverage the diverse strengths of your team and allow them to share and shine, you need to delegate. Delegating, when done well, not only reduces your own workload, it develops your employees, gives you and your team a bigger range of skills and impact, provides emergency back-up (since you’re not the only
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it
“The new normal.” “Tremendous uncertainty.” “Unprecedented times.” These are three phrases most of us rarely heard (or said) before March 2020, but now we are flooded with them. And every time we hear them on the news or at work, we are reminded that our lives as we knew them have changed. Many days bring
"Everybody is stressed" used to be hyperbole. But today, it's reality. And none of us know how long this is going to last. Between working remotely, homeschooling our kids, health concerns, racial tensions, economic challenges, and more, the list of worries and tensions can seem endless. If you're a leader whose intention is to treat
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," begins Charles Dickens's historical novel A Tale of Two Cities. For most of us, we know how to communicate with our team in both of those scenarios. In the best of times, we seize the opportunity to celebrate wins, offer positive feedback, highlight the impact of individual contributors and
Today's rapidly changing business environment calls for a new approach to sales, customer service, and relationship development. The need to become your clients' trusted adviser in an uncertain world is very important during this time. But this can be tricky in this virtual landscape for several reasons. First, when your customers are feeling reticent to buy
Most of us have come to appreciate (or at least tolerate) working virtually. It makes setting up meetings simpler, decreases commuting time, allows for more flexibility, and levels the playing field for team members who were already working virtually with nonvirtual colleagues. But for all its benefits, one thing that working online doesn't make easier is
