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 ...

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 ...
Moonshot book

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, ...
Sharmin Banu: Executive Coach Extraordinaire

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 ...
Clock, brain, bulbs

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 ...
An elephant

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 ...
A Cat Image by Heinz Hummel from Pixabay

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" ...
Two men are talking in a business setting

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 ...

Want to Take Your Career to the Next Level? Manage Your Attention Wisely

“I don’t have the time to pause and think; my days are filled with back-to-back meetings. When someone asks me a question, I tell them what I know and go ...

You were given Feedback to Improve your Executive Presence – What do you do now?

The other day, a senior leader contacted me to hire me as his coach. His LinkedIn profile was immaculate - multiple graduate degrees from top-notch schools and a strong track ...
A Woman -Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Job Searching for a Career Path Change? Act Like a Farmer

A job change is a daunting task. It becomes even more challenging when it involves a discipline, industry, or role change. A common misconception is one can do it by ...
A connected graph of people.

Idea Dating: Tap Your Network for Clearer Insights

During a recent coaching session, my client Francis had an eye-opening moment. Despite consistently positive performance reviews, he no longer found satisfaction in his current role. When I asked what ...
Smile face, balloon, job promotion announcement

Sustainable Success: The Multifaceted Journey Beyond Social Media Posts

It is the season of job promotions. I've been getting several such news through LinkedIn posts from my clients. However, these celebratory posts only scratch the surface of their entire ...

Nick’s Path to Emotionally Intelligent Leadership

Meet Nick, a talented young professional in his mid-thirties who holds a managerial position in a corporate. One challenging aspect of his job is that his team members, older than ...

Organization Politics – How We See It Can Change the Meaning

"I like doing my job, but I hate politics. Almost everyone says that they hate politics. If no one likes it, then who creates it in the first place"? My ...
A Lion

Be Like a Lion: Enhance Leadership Through Pauses and White Spaces

Carol, a Vice President at a communication company, wanted to up her leadership presence. But she didn't know how to create that learning space as she felt overwhelmed by her ...
Idea generation

Ambiguous Project With Not Enough Guideline? Follow This 5-Step Process.

Myriam is a product manager at a multinational company whose job is to understand current industry trends, anticipate customer needs, design product road maps, and get buy-in from upper management ...

Redefine Success Through Embracing Imperfection and Cultivating Resilience

The other day, I had a conversation with a woman grappling with her career satisfaction. Despite her impressive credentials, which included a Ph.D. and valuable job experiences, she was not ...
Authenticity, a bird showing its colors - Image by wasi1370 from Pixabay

Beyond “Fake it Till You Make it”: A More Authentic Approach To Building Confidence

During the early days of my coaching career, when I said, "I am a coach," my facial expression didn't match it. The truth was, I didn't feel confident about my ...

How a Small-Group Coaching Circle Helped Mid-Level Leaders Thrive

A recent Harvard Business Review article said, "The benefits of small-group coaching come from powerful learning interactions among leaders who aren't on the same team but are roughly equal in ...
Conflict at work

Intimidating to Inspiring: How A Tech Leader Solved The Approachability Problem

Vlad (not his real name), a seasoned tech leader, received feedback that some team members found him intimidating - hindering them from seeking his guidance. His management urged him to ...
A man sitting with hands holding this head

5 Strategies To Withstand Turbulent Times

The current economic crisis and the layoffs by major companies created anxiety among workers, even those who have not been directly affected. Unsurprisingly, Microsoft's HR Chief wrote about a global ...

Direct Communication Doesn’t Have To Be Hurtful

Stuart, a mid-level leader at a corporate, came to me as he wanted to be more approachable. "I am very direct, but people take it negatively." I want to influence ...
Will Smith hits Chris Rock on Oscar Stage

What Can We Learn From Will Smith’s Oscar Debacle

[I originally wrote this after the Oscars last year (March 2022).] Since the Oscars, my newsfeed has been flooded with the news and commentary about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock ...

What Simone Biles, Jacinda Ardern, and Naomi Osaka Taught Us

Simone Biles, Jacinda Ardern, and Naomi Osaka share a common trait - they all made a courageous decision to quit, to say "no" despite the societal pressure to keep pushing ...
Two people talking

Do You Dread Giving Feedback? There Is A Better Way.

Giving feedback is a regular part of a manager's job responsibility, but most are uncomfortable. David Rock and his colleagues from the NeuroLeadership Institute wrote in this article, “Typical feedback ...
Smiley face on a sidewalk

A Smile is a Leadership Tool

I recently had a coaching session with a tech leader who expressed a strong desire to enhance his approachability. While he was committed to delivering high-quality products, he was aware ...
Set goals

Goal Setting Is Not Just A New Year Thing

My January was quite busy with returning from vacation (an international trip) and giving back-to-back corporate workshops. So the schedule was a bit tight, but the process of designing and ...
Holiday, Gingerbread house

This Holiday, Build Resilience Through Family Stories and Connections

It's the season. Despite the job losses, economic downturns, and everything else, holidays are in the air. This season reminds us to connect with what is important that we often ...

Why Self-Promotion is Hard, And What To Do About It?

Recently, a friend and I talked about something she was anxious about. Ultimately, she felt much more relaxed and confident and said, "Thank you, Sharmin, you are so good." I ...
Let's Get Real Podcast cover

My Podcast Interview: Resilience Inside and Out

Earlier this month, a fellow leadership coach, Nina Simonds invited me to her podcast, Let's Get Real. Nina started this series in 2020 because, as she wrote, "I love having ...

Does Meditation, Journaling Feel Like a Burden? Try Micro habits

A senior leader at a big tech, Tim, spent a week at a meditation retreat. When I asked how he was applying it, he said he didn’t have time. As ...
Super hero employee

From High Achiever to a Leader: It’s a Mindset Shift

Stephan was a VP of a Fortune 200 company. He was one of the top performers and indispensable for high stake projects. As a result, he was stretched thin; and ...

Feeling Stuck? Look into Your Fears

Are you feeling stuck in your job? Are you having a lack of motivation? Are you feeling like quiet quitting? It must be hard to carry on like that. On ...
A man working with a laptop

Being an Introvert is not a Weakness to Fix

Have you ever heard of extroverts having to develop to become quieter? Probably not too often. But if you are an introvert, there are tons of feedback for you to ...

Self-Promotion Doesn’t Have to Be Selfish

A couple of years ago, I ran a survey among tech professionals, and it came out that "Managing up/Self-promotion" was the top concern. I was not too surprised. Talking about ourselves seems opposite ...

Finding A More Enjoyable Career: It Could Be Easier Than You Think

The other day I talked to an engineer from a big brand-name company. I asked her what is that she liked most about her job. She said when she knows ...

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