Individual

How To Manage Workflow For Pressure-Prompted Procrastinators

Posted by on Jul 23, 2019 | 0 comments

This post first appeared on Forbes.com Confession: I don’t always practice what I preach. As a coach, I work with my clients to build habits that will support them in achieving their goals. Our approach typically involves creating structures that promote steady effort and accountability. Clients practice mindfulness to learn how to self-manage their emotions; leaders schedule a weekly “meeting with myself” for planning and prioritization; some create spreadsheets for tracking networking targets and follow-up; others write in gratitude journals. All of these are effective in cultivating the...

Read More

Don’t Be So Sure: The Perils of Certainty

Posted by on Jul 23, 2019 | 0 comments

This post first appeared on Forbes.com. I was certain that my flight to Chicago was at 10:30, so I aimed to leave for the airport by 9:00. But at 8:30 when I checked to verify the exact takeoff time, my chest seized up. My flight was leaving in less than an hour! I yelled for my husband to take me to the airport now. By the time I made it through security, the boarding gate had closed. I watched my flight take off without me. Maybe something like this has happened to you. You felt so utterly sure of something that you did not consider the possibility that you were wrong, not...

Read More

When Should You Take No For an Answer?

Posted by on Jul 23, 2019 | 0 comments

This post first appeared on Forbes.com The consequences of overwork are evident in my coaching practice. In startups, established companies and nonprofits I see teams in a constant state of fire-fighting and leaders who are unable to prioritize, where the quality of work is suffering, individuals are experiencing stress and anxiety, and valuable people are burning out. In a previous post, I wrote about building the “no” muscle—learning to say “no” to certain activities in service of being able to say “yes” to the right things. But what if you say “no” and your colleagues won’t...

Read More

How to Prepare for Critical Feedback

Posted by on Jul 23, 2019 | 0 comments

This post first appeared on Forbes.com “I’m totally terrified,” said a colleague. Was she skydiving or going for a big job interview? Nope. She was preparing to receive feedback—in this case from an interdisciplinary group of experts who were reviewing a draft of her book—and she was afraid of being pummeled by their critique, even though she was also excited for the opportunity. It felt a little like facing a firing squad. The fear of receiving criticism is not unique to her. Many of my clients enter their 360 feedback sessions with trepidation about what they will hear and how they will...

Read More

Want to Make a Difference? Focus on Contribution, Not Impact

Posted by on Jul 23, 2019 | 0 comments

This post first appeared on Forbes.com I nominate “impact” as one of the most annoying and potentially harmful buzzwords in business today. Countless clients tell me they want to make an impact. Whether they are leaders in growing startups or tech giants, Millennials seeking meaning or mid-career professionals pursuing their next big job, they define success as having this thing they call “impact.” But what is it really about? Impact is defined as the striking of one object into another, a collision. This kind of impact is violent, even shattering, like a hammer through plate...

Read More

Overworked? A People Pleaser’s Guide to Saying No

Posted by on Apr 20, 2019 | 0 comments

This post first appeared on Forbes.com “I have more work than I can possibly do, my team is stretched to the breaking point, and the requests keep coming,” said an executive coaching client in a large tech company, her eyes welling with tears. She was not the only one to whom I gave a tissue this week. Overwork is widespread in the U.S., and research indicates that it is bad for people’s health and productivity.  An excessive workload can be caused by many different factors—a demanding organizational culture, poor planning, failure to delegate or a lack of adequate...

Read More