The work/life balance myth

Kathryn Crawford Saxer Career Management

“I need help with work-life balance,” a beloved client said, after showing me pictures of her beautiful new baby. “Maybe I need better time management tools.” I looked at this new mother sitting in front of me. I would have to let her down gently. “You do know that work-life balance is a crock, don’t you?” I asked. “It’s BS. It’s a myth.” No, my client said, startled. This was news to her. She couldn’t figure out how to balance …

There’s always a way

Kathryn Crawford Saxer Career Management

Our general contractor took my breath away. And not just because he’s adorable. We were trying to figure out how to fit a window seat under the eaves without removing too much of my house’s framing and upsetting the structural engineer and city inspectors. “There’s always a way,” he said. “Wait, what did you just say?” I asked him, astonished. “There’s always a way,” he repeated. “We’ll figure it out.” His words were like a breath of fresh air. Rather …

Memory palacing

Kathryn Crawford Saxer Career Management

“How’s the ‘First Dreadful’ coming along?” I asked a beloved career-coaching client. He squirmed uncomfortably. The First Dreadful is one of five networking questions I work on with clients who are trying to make a career transition. The Dreadfuls are the questions you are, well, dreading: the basic questions you know you’re going to stumble over as you try to answer them. The First Dreadful — “So, tell me about yourself” — is an easy, friendly question. And a minefield. “I need …

Superpowers

Kathryn Crawford Saxer Career Transition

“I want to assess my strengths and identify the best career for me,” a potential client told me on the phone. Career development doesn’t really work that way, I told her. “We definitely want to play to your strengths in your work,” I said. “You’ve been around for 30-some years – I bet you already know what your strengths are if you think about it.” Take the time a beloved client once told me a long, complicated, technical story about …

Networking in middle school

Kathryn Crawford Saxer Career Transition

“Try not to get shot at school today,” I tell my kids every morning as they get on the school bus. “We’ll try, Mom,” they say. They don’t roll their eyes. We’re whistling past the graveyard. That’s how I regulate the terror I feel every single morning when my children leave for school. “Please don’t let a copycat try for headlines today. Please let our schoolkids across the country get home to their moms today.” Besides talking about school shootings …