In corporate, coaching means helping someone do their job by giving them advice. Some examples are "have you considered XYZ?" and "If I were you, I would do it this ...
Read More

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Author and Harvard professor Sarah Lewis mentioned this famous Churchill quote in her book The Rise: Creativity, the ...
Read More

Even five years ago, calling into a meeting was not very encouraged. But this Covid19 pandemic suddenly turned the culture upside down. Nowadays, organizations are having difficulty bringing people back ...
Read More

On my way to walk this morning, I saw my neighbor Katherine in her signature pink sweatshirt. Both of us were glad to have company for the walk. The weather ...
Read More

Recently this post by an organizational psychologist at Wharton, Adam Grant, went viral on LinkedIn. He said: The clearest sign of intellectual chemistry isn't agreeing with someone. It's enjoying your ...
Read More

Result and efficiency-driven high-performing individuals often have a blindspot when relating to others. It can create unintended harm to team morale and trust. Others tolerate such "jerk" behavior as subject ...
Read More

As we grow in leadership roles, having a vision and communicating that to our teams becomes essential. Senior leaders often bring it to me as their challenge. Even though they ...
Read More

A few months after the pandemic started, we decided to get a kitten. Even though my daughter had been asking about it for a while, I was not looking forward ...
Read More

Anyone familiar with software development knows agile is the way to go when developing new software or a product. But when it comes to a career, what does it mean? ...
Read More

When I ask “What do YOU want” people sometimes get confused. Common responses are: "Wouldn't that be selfish"? "I always think about others, I want others to be happy; am ...
Read More

Engineering and STEM Leaders often receive this feedback, "you need to be more strategic," when they are passed up for a promotion. Yet, they have minimal idea of what that ...
Read More

Recently I was sharing the story of my career change and someone commented, “...and you never looked back”! I was caught by surprise. The fact is, I did look back, ...
Read More

“What do you feel now?” I ask my client Tom in the middle of our session. “I think it is, …”, he replies. “What do you feel”, I ask persistently ...
Read More

Q: Why is it important to set an authentic goal? When we are too focused on outside-in recognition like a job title, money, etc., we narrowly define our goal. It ...
Read More

The beginning of the year motivates us to start things right. Ironically it often creates social pressure to declare a popular resolution rather than thoughtfully develop a meaningful and sustainable ...
Read More

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! ...
Read More

Holiday's are in the air. You must be looking forward to all the festivities, traveling, seeing the family, or simply winding down. Me too. I am heading for a two ...
Read More

After 12 years of coaching software engineers to VPs in the tech industry, I found this common theme: feeling fulfilled about our work and contribution is challenging. Managing a thriving relationship ...
Read More

"All humans are entrepreneurs not because they should start companies but because the will to create is encoded in human DNA." - Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn. If you are ...
Read More

"Not enough time," "Not enough support from others," and "Lack of ideas" topped the list for my survey question: "What is in your way of a more satisfying career?" It ...
Read More

It was the summer of 2009 when I started my coach training class; the instructor started the session with a guided meditation. The purpose was to be ready and present ...
Read More

Theresa, a senior developer in a tech firm, said that their management encouraged them to be authentic. It prompted her to be passionately sharing some of her opinions. There was ...
Read More

 Feeling stuck and unmotivated in your job? Not getting enough recognition or the upward mobility you deserve? Getting feedback that you are not doing enough? A software engineer in the ...
Read More

A client of mine has a Ph.D. in Computer Science and works on a cutting-edge research project for one of the top tech companies. He has been feeling overwhelmed with ...
Read More

Conflict is a common issue my clients face in their workplace. I found this talk, A Zen Approach to Conflict Resolution by Diane Musho Hamilton, insightful to manage such situations.  ...
Read More

As engineers and tech leaders, we are rewarded for our analytical skills in finding code defects and design issues early on. We often keep applying this same trait to the ...
Read More

"I am busy all day, trying to complete my to-do list before calling it a day. Yet, some things always remain undone, and, worse still, new things pop up. I ...
Read More

"He doesn’t work well with others.” “He has issues dealing with bad news.” “He is a star performer, but he is lacking executive presence.”  These are some of the typical ...
Read More

It was the Spring of 2011; I was volunteering as a treasurer for a non-profit organization. My motivation was to hone my accounting skills while expanding my network. It was ...
Read More

“Finish your homework before you play “ - Our parents’ well-meaning advice worked well in our early days, but as adults, it is backfiring. These days, most of our work ...
Read More

Too many times, I hear that you can’t survive without multitasking. Checking emails during a meeting, responding to a door knock while trying to focus on your work seems to ...
Read More

I was answering the audience questions during a recent speaking engagement when the host said, "pay attention, Sharmin is coaching.” Even though I was pleasantly surprised that he saw it ...
Read More

Time management is one of the topmost challenges for almost every functional human being. When my clients come with this question, I tell them that time is a fixed resource ...
Read More

In my recent survey, an amazing 79% of people said that Managing-up/Self-promotion is the most challenging aspect of their work. I didn't expect it at all! I then started thinking about it ...
Read More

Too often, we send employees to training to fix the areas of weaknesses. We expect people to be well-rounded to be successful. The fact is, excellent performers, are rarely “well rounded”; ...
Read More

Do anxiety, outrage, frustration, or sadness often grip you? Do they get in the way in high stake situations? Do you wonder why you are not getting what you want? ...
Read More

Growing up, I didn’t think I was very courageous. One day I saw this quote saying: Courage is not the absence of fear. It is acting despite -- because something ...
Read More

“There’s not enough time.” “Time is running out.” “I wish I had more time.” These are some complaints we hear frequently. High-performing, high-achieving professionals often ask for time-management strategies. After ...
Read More

I was talking to Andrea, a leader in a big corporate here in the Seattle area. Brilliant and hardworking she was; her resume spoke for itself. As a senior director ...
Read More

A few weeks ago, I had a headache almost every time I was in a Zoom video call. This phenomenon has become a common issue these days as so many ...
Read More