Recharge Your Career

“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggonit, people like me!” Who doesn’t chuckle when you think of Stuart Smalley.  Affirmations can sound funny, but they are a powerful tool.  They can be used to change the way others view us, to push us to perform in our areas of strength, or to bring awareness […]

I have a fear of flying. It started when I was 28 and peaked in my early 30’s. It is a frustrating fear because I consider myself to be an intelligent person. Over the years I have spent a lot of energy managing this fear and now, with advanced preparation, I fly with only a […]

This weekend I watched “Young Adult” with Charlize Theron. It is by the writer of Juno and was much more thoughtful than I expected. It is about a woman who at 37, hates her job and can’t find a good relationship. The movie tells the story of her going a little crazy for a little […]

Clients come to coaching with different needs. Some know what they want and just need to know how to get it. Some know what they want, but won’t admit it or are afraid of going for it. And many come saying that they really don’t know what they want. This weekend I was re-reading Richard […]

Please share your thoughts… Years ago I read a book on international business theory. It said that in Europe, young executives can take more risks and make the mistakes needed to learn because once they are selected from a top school, it is assumed they will reach top management. That freedom, the book theorized, made […]

This weekend I saw The Barber of Seville at the Met. It was fantastic! I loved it! And as I was reading about Rossini’s operas, I also realized that I love comic operas, not tragedies. In the Barber of Seville, there is a moment where Rosina doubts the intention of her beloved, Count Almaviva, and […]

Understand Transferrable Skills I am always surprised to hear people say, “But I can’t do that job; I don’t know Powerpoint (or Photoshop or how to write a business plan). When you want to transition, you need to look for more general skills that can be used across disciplines. And, you need to understand what […]

Get Support The same week that I took my first coaching course, I hired a coach. A lot of us underestimate our need for support, or think that we are weak for needing it. This is simply not true. One of the first things my coach told me was, “Get a group of friends who […]

Keep the Faith It’s amazing. Very likely, most of us are high-achieving people. And yet it is so easy to get into the thinking that if we leave our job, we will be a nobody. What I have actually seen, again and again with my clients and with my own transitions, is that our sense […]

Put Your Hypotheses to the Test – In Increments There is a term at the coaching program I followed*, “Forward the action, deepen the learning.”If you really want to figure out what’s next, try some things out.I don’t mean taking a course, though that can be a part of it.I mean actually do it.So many […]