A woman sitting at the top of a mountain overlooking the vista

Why Is It So Hard to Explain What an Executive Coach Really Does?

As an executive coach, I’ve been told more times than I can count:“Use more keywords—productivity, performance, ROI. Talk about leadership impact, business growth, and measurable outcomes.” And sure, I wrote ...
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My Career Shift from Coding to Coaching: A Quest for Joy and Purpose

How often does a dream come true? For me, it did when both my husband and I received job offers from Microsoft - The Mecca for tech professionals at that ...
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Unlocking Leadership Through Inner Alignment: Rebecca’s Coaching Journey

Rebecca, a 45-year-old senior leader at a manufacturing company, recently received some familiar-sounding feedback from her boss: “You need to delegate more and think more strategically.” It’s the kind of ...
Superhero

Confidence Is Not the Absence of Doubt

Carol, a senior leader in healthcare, recently transitioned from HR to strategy. She felt out of her depth. In leadership meetings, she hesitated to share her opinions, lacking the confidence ...
Four people at work setting, looks frustrated.

The Startup HR Leader’s Challenge: Turning Paradox into Progress

HR leaders in startups often find themselves caught between compliance and chaos, strategy and firefighting. As veteran HR leader Gretchen Meyer puts it: "Balancing the need for sustainable talent systems ...
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Scale Your Impact: A Simple Coaching Model To Develop Your Team

Randy, a Vice President at a Fortune 200 company, has been a superstar performer since his early career days. However, as his responsibilities have grown, he is overwhelmed by how ...
A woman is driving a car

What Driving Teaches Us About Navigating Our Careers

I was chatting with Andrea, a senior director at a major corporation in Seattle. Brilliant and hardworking, her resume spoke volumes about her accomplishments. Yet, in this new role, she ...

Demystifying Executive Presence

A senior engineering leader reached out to me for coaching. His credentials were impeccable—multiple graduate degrees from prestigious universities and an impressive professional track record. Yet, he was told to ...

Is Pushing Back Hard for You? 3 Ways to Get Better

Susan (not her real name), a director at a manufacturing company, found herself navigating a common yet delicate workplace challenge. She pushed back on a request from a partner team; ...
An open notebook that says "New Year Goals" and a hand holding a pen.

Falling Behind on New Year’s Goals? Here’s How to Bounce Back

Did you know that most New Year’s resolutions don’t make it past spring? According to a Forbes Health/OnePoll survey, the average resolution lasts just 3.74 months, with 65% of people ...
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My Holiday Knitting Project and The Threads of Life

Crochet and knitting have become my cherished hobbies, a comforting ritual during the holiday season. Growing up, I often watched my mom knit cozy sweaters for us and other family ...
New Year 2025

Feeling Anxious Setting Goals for The Year? Try These 3 Techniques

A typical "water cooler" conversation around this time of the year is the New Year's resolution. Of course, my standard answer used to be "be more organized," which hardly happened! ...
A woman touching her forehead in front of a laptop

Why High Achievers Overextend—and How to Break the Cycle

Julia was a director of engineering at a Fortune 500 company, a mother of two, and a caregiver for her aging mother. Her life was a whirlwind of work deadlines, ...
A Man standing in a reflective posture

Reflect and Rejoice: Celebrate Your Year Through Reflection

As the year winds down, many of us find ourselves juggling last-minute deadlines, holiday preparations, and the anticipation of spending quality time with loved ones. Amid this busy season, carving ...
Goal achieving

Why Goals Often Fails—and How to Build Habits That Stick

Have you ever worked on a leadership goal like improving your executive presence or a personal goal such as eating healthy? The usual advice on achieving goals is to "break ...
Holiday Family Dinner

From Chaos to Connection: Gracefully Managing the Holiday Family Gatherings

Managing family visits during the holiday season presents a delightful yet demanding task. Juggling multiple family members' diverse opinions, needs, and desires can be an energy-draining experience for hosts and ...
Clock, brain, bulbs

5 Misconceptions That Get In The Way Of Sustainable Success

Over the years, through my coaching work with tech leaders and executives, I’ve helped them uncover hidden misconceptions and limiting behaviors that often hold them back. Many of these leaders ...
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Resilience in the Face of Adversity: Lessons from National to Personal Level

The U.S. presidential election, a defining moment that shapes the nation's future, has tested the resilience of Americans in profound ways. Whether viewed through the lens of political upheaval, economic ...
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Navigating the AI Disruption: Embracing Uncertainty and Leading with Agility

A middle schooler in Bangladesh has been using ChatGPT as a study aid. A senior leader at a top-tier organization in the U.S. has been investing in AI integration across ...
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Strong Leaders Also Need Psychological Safety

Psychological safety has become a prevalent concept, encompassing the feeling of safety individuals experience when sharing their thoughts and feelings without risking their status. While this is often attributed to ...
A man thinking

Facing Results vs. Relationships Tension? The Answer is to Integrate, Not Choose

Soren was recently promoted to a new leadership role, managing some of his former peers. One of them had also been a contender for the same position. Determined to excel, ...

Why the Advice to “Set Boundaries” is Hard to Follow—and What to Do Instead

"Set a boundary.""Just say no.""No is a complete sentence." Every time I hear this well-meaning advice, I cringe. It sounds simple, but taken literally, it feels like I’m being told ...
A man is looking down with his hands in his face.

Overcome Setbacks Using 3As : Acknowledge, Analyze and Act

Peter has been feeling down for the past few days after learning he didn’t get the promotion he was counting on. The disappointment hit him hard, leaving him with a ...
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Is “Authenticity” Backfiring On You? Here Is Why

During a meeting, Prakash, a Vice President, expressed frustration with his team’s lack of progress. This cost him a promotion. Theresa, a senior developer at a tech firm, was encouraged ...
A Busy Woman:

Are You A Go-to Fixer For Your Team? You Are Not Helping.

Elizabeth was a director-level leader at a large tech company. She had a high sense of responsibility. Most of her time was spent fixing problems created by others at work ...
The author on a spring afternoon in Seattle

What life stage are you in – Survival, Success or Significance?

Pastor Rick Warren said on The Oprah Show, "Everyone lives at one of three levels in life: Survival, Success, and Significance." Survival—You live from week to week, looking forward to ...
A woman sitting down with a pensive look

Beyond Success: The Path to Significance

A few months ago, I met Megan, a high-achieving corporate leader in her early forties, happily married with two young kids. Despite her stellar success, she felt like she was ...
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High Achievers’ Burnout: Let’s Invest in Human Skills In the Era of AI

Recently, I had a session with Ana, a highly accomplished Vice President at a corporate firm. Ana looked exhausted. She understands she's been overworking, leaving no room for rest and ...
Two men are talking in a business setting

Applying Engineering Principles To Solve People Issues

Ron, an engineering manager, faced a persistent challenge with one of his direct reports, Jackson. Jackson's behavior left Ron questioning his motivation and even his competency. Despite Jackson’s belief that ...

Hesitating Challenging Others? Try These Five Graceful Steps

George, a VP at a Fortune 500 company, had a reputation for being insightful yet reserved. Despite his analytical prowess and humble personality, he often found himself silent during crucial ...

Beyond Busy: Transforming Work Habits with Neuroscience Insights

In a recent coaching session, Tatiyana, a senior director at a leading global engineering company, opened up about a pressing issue: "I'm grappling with two primary challenges. Firstly, it's incredibly ...
A Woman with a hand behind her ear

5 Barriers To Effective Listening

In today's ever-evolving landscape, effective listening has emerged as a crucial skill for leaders. Yet, it remains a challenge for many. What stands in the way? While lack of trust, ...
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Navigating a New Boss? Trust the Leader in You

Susan has been a valued member of the company for quite some time. However, the arrival of a new boss has brought unexpected challenges. This leader, who is reserved and ...
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Struggling to Align Your Team? Embrace the Power of Open Listening

Phillip recently got a new assignment involving leading a change initiative in a new region. While very excited about the career growth opportunity, he soon realized that the team was ...

Relentless Self-Development may Diminish Your Potential

In this "growth mindset" and "learn it all" era, it's often easy to be driven by our inner critic in disguise of all those positive things. "What do you mean"? ...
Two people in a job interview

Job Interview: Is Your Eagerness Hindering Your Presence?

Vinod, a director-level leader in Tech, had been searching for a job for some time without much success. Perplexed, he sought my advice to determine what else he could do ...
A man looking out through the window

Are You an Emerging Leader Seeking Next Level of Growth?

Are you an ambitious mid-career professional in tech, STEM, or any high-paced culture? Do you long to make a meaningful, fulfilling impact? Many, like you, sometimes wonder what else they ...
Pillars and a woman

Foundation for Growth: Four Simple Practices Make My Clients Successful

People come to coaching for many reasons. Some want to lead a significant change management initiative, while others want to improve team productivity or develop leadership skills for the next ...
Conflict at work

What Causes Conflicts In Teams

No one wakes up thinking, "I will ruin the day; I will create trouble today." But even when everyone on the team is decent, stress, conflicts, and drama happen. I ...
Sharmin Banu coaching in front of an audience at an HR Conference

How an Embarrassing Setback Helped Me Become Better

When we hear advice like "turn setbacks into growth experiences," we often dismiss it as cliché or unrealistic for ourselves. However, a few years ago, I was in an embarrassing ...

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