Life isn’t fair. You can’t always get what you want. Even though you know this, disappointment hurts anyway. You can’t think yourself into feeling better. The shift has to be made emotionally. Hopefully, you will be able to shift to feeling gratitude or happiness after a setback. Most...
Coaching Advice
A Lesson From the Season: Change and Letting Go
It’s Fall in Washington, DC. Watching the leaves turn color always makes me think about change. Did you know that when the leaves turn, the green does not actually change into a different color? Rather, the chlorophyl that creates the green color simply falls away, revealing the amazing reds,...
What’s the Secret To Achieving Your Goals?
We’re all surrounded by goals. ToDo lists. Management Objectives. Career Goals. Personal Goals. [Tweet "You name it, we’ve got a goal about it."] Why is it we feel sometimes that achieving your goals is so hard? In my experience, our biggest limitation when it comes to setting goals is that we...
Five Steps to Own Your Development Plan
Are you wondering what’s next for your career? I always love it when I get e-mails from our blog community about the challenges they are facing. The e-mail I got recently inspired me to write a blog post on the topic. Jane (not her real name), is someone who wants to really grow her leadership....
Leaders: Our Internal Relationships Are Vitally Important
True success is not about how much money we make, it’s about our relationships, our helping others succeed. I am blessed to hear wonderful sermons at my local parish church. While the messages are about our values and how we lead our lives, I often feel that they...
Choose To Be An Authentic Leader. Read Henna Inam’s Book, “Wired For Authenticity – Seven Practices To Inspire, Adapt, and Lead”
The chapter “Face the Dragon” in Henna Inam’s book, Wired for Authenticity, Seven Practices to Inspire, Adapt, and Lead resonated with me. Generally, I have no problem speaking up and sharing my thoughts. However, I hate disappointing others, so it can be difficult for me to set boundaries...
How To Create Positive Life Change
Working with clients on creating positive life transformation tends to bring up lots of conversations about what truly creates lasting positive change in our lives. After doing this for many years, I’ve uncovered a few things about what it takes to not only create but also sustain positive life...
Live Your Own Fairy Tale by Negotiating Your Own Value
My dirty little secret: I love Disney princess stories. My favorite princess was Aurora of Sleeping Beauty. When I was four, I would convince my uncle to play-act the story with me - from the initial curse to the 16 year-old pricking her finger, falling asleep, and being rescued by the prince. My...
Three Ways to Ask For A Favor and Why You Should Do It
“Umm…I have a favor to ask”. Believe it or not, these are some of the hardest words for me. As much as helping others makes me feel good, I have a hard time asking others for help. Yet I also recognize that being willing to ask people for favors is a key enabler for us to meet our goals. Here are...
Own Your “Yes” and Own Your “No”
Recently I wrote about how one of my favorite videographers threw my script in the trash while we were filming. In half. In the can. “Scripts are for gurus,” he said, “and everyone hates gurus.” I thought he was kidding. “Um, so what do we do now that we don’t have a plan?”, I said. “We have a...