The midlife career shift
“Midlife: when the Universe grabs your shoulders and tells you “I’m not f-ing around, use the gifts you were given.” – Dr. Brene Brown First, I am NOT talking about “midlife crisis” nor am I assigning an age to “middle life” for the purposes of this article. So, how do we define “midlife”? I’m going […]
Comfortable being uncomfortable
How can you shift your mindset to welcome discomfort as growth? Thank you for making me uncomfortable.” This was a comment from one of my clients this week. I paused for a second before responding with a grin and, “That’s what I promised!” As this client and I originally contracted, he agreed that discomfort equals growth. […]
When life gives you lemons…get creative
Why do we feel compelled to water the lemons down with sugar? To gloss over an event that might be disappointing, heartbreaking, difficult with niceties, head nods, artificial smiles all under the guise of acceptance? “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Yuck. No. First, I personally do not like lemonade. However, I do love […]
Gaslighting burned out employees – not #quietquitting
In employees putting their collective foot down, setting boundaries that honor their priorities and values, and asking for a humanity-driven work environment a totally inaccurate, negative, rather insulting term has been born. Enough. Let’s call it what it is. #gaslighting I’ve spent this week with a multi-generational client group who, thankfully, hadn’t heard the term […]
Find your swagger
True swagger is about confidence, presence, and power. Look up the textbook definition of “swagger” and you will find a somewhat negative description: arrogant or conceitedly self-assured behavior; bold or brash self-confidence Sorry, Merriam-Webster, but I respectfully disagree. In reality, in all aspects of life and business, true swagger is about confidence, presence and power. You […]
When there is no “right” answer: how to make hard decisions
When is the last time you removed “should” and replaced it with “want” while trying to make a tough decision? The results can be transformative. Many questions in life have fairly straight-forward, accepted “right” answers. Questions like: Should I apologize for doing something wrong? Or, should I say “thank you” and “please”? These are pretty […]
Proactive vs. Reactive Living
The endless cycle of reactionary, victim-oriented living is a truly catabolic, energy-draining mode of existence. What will it take for us to channel that into productive, anabolic energy? Energy that allows us to anticipate and plan with confidence? Over the last few weeks, as I’ve read, watched, and listened to friends, newscasters, pundits, and experts […]
The individual art of appreciation
Appreciation vs. Recognition. Subtly different. Equally important. How do you like to be appreciated? When is the last time you actually thought about that question? When is the last time you considered how someone else might like to be appreciated? Notice I’m asking about appreciation rather than recognition. It’s subtle but different. How? Appreciation is […]
Killing the myth of executive presence
Executive presence. The phrase makes me alternately cringe and run screaming from the room. It is, quite possibly, the most ambiguous, potentially negative piece of gooey, undefined feedback any manager or leader can give to an employee. In its squishiness as a piece of developmental feedback it leads to people questioning themselves. What are […]
Leading yourself with – and through – grief
This past week I honored the one-year milestone since my sister and best friend passed away after an excruciating battle with colon cancer. In her memory I donated to her favorite charity via a charitable giving fund I’ve set-up in her honor. My family spent the day in the sunshine, laughing with friends visiting from […]