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; ...
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 ...
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 ...
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! ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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"? ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Secrets of High-Value Creating Teams: Learnings from Legendary Professor Hawkins
In our global, highly complex world, the heroic leadership figure has increasingly become a relic. Manfred kets de vries, 2011a: 56 Over the past 6-7 years, I've recognized a need ...
Preparation, Not Luck: Pfizer’s “Moonshot” Lessons Applies to All Of Us
I've been diving back into the pages of "Moonshot - Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible" for the second time, and the narrative continues to captivate me, ...
My Interview w/ Mindful Leader Practice
My colleague Anu Arora and I had a great time reflecting on the journey that made us who we have become. We first reflected on our time on the International ...
Three Strategies That Reduced Stress for a Busy Executive
Sheela, a senior executive at a renowned Fortune 500 company, sought my coaching services to improve her quality of life. She said her demanding job was taking a toll on ...
How Not To Think About An Elephant – A Neuroscience Way To Attain Goals
What if I say, "Do not think about an elephant?" - I bet all you will think of is an elephant or several elephants in your mind. Well, it turns ...
My Learnings From Turning A Cynic Into A Collaborator
Imagine you shared an idea with a co-worker, and they said, "That's a terrible idea." How would you feel? Most of us would feel discouragement and react with either active ...
Are You Sabotaged By Your Inner Hyper-Achiever?
A tech leader, let's call him Jason, said, "I can't relax; I always have to do something useful. Nobody makes me do so; it's me. This is how I am" ...
How to Approach Difficult Conversations When It’s Uncomfortable
Are you dreading a challenging conversation, particularly in a work setting? Do you fear that it might not go as planned? You're certainly not alone; many of us share this ...