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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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? ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

“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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

"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 ...

"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 ...

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 ...

 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 ...

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 ...

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.  ...

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 ...

"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 ...

"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 ...

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 ...

“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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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”; ...

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? ...

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 ...

“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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Last year, when everything went virtual, I had to create videos for a couple of online events. It allowed me to hone my video shooting and editing skills. Recently, we ...

Tim is an engineering leader at a hi-tech company in Seattle. He is very good at his trade, has a profound understanding of the technology stack, and has decent ideas ...

Two Leaders, Similar Challenge Tory, a senior director was in charge of a critical customer-facing component of the business. During big meetings, he had to answer the senior leaders about ...

Almost half of the Americans make New Year’s resolutions, but fewer than 10% successfully achieve them(source)! The most popular resolutions are staying fit, work-life balance, and personal enrichment. All these ...

David, a tech leader and a father of two, was in a big dilemma about a job offer. The money was higher than what he was making in his current ...