The dirty dishes

Kathryn Crawford Saxer A Little Kindness

Sometimes a simple question can change your life. Or at least your dirty dishes. As a coach, I’m interested in how questions can reframe a problem. When I teach my clients how to coach others in their life — to ask those good questions — I often tell an allegorical story about my family’s dirty dishes. It’s not just me: For women in heterosexual relationships, it’s more important to share the responsibility of doing the dishes than any other chore, …

Decision fatigue

Kathryn Crawford Saxer A Little Kindness

“I need to work on work/life balance,” said a coaching client, stretched thin between a big job and family commitments. “I am so overwhelmed.” “How many decisions do you make every day?” I asked her. She looked at me blankly, unable to begin to quantify an answer. “What if we strategize about how to declutter the unimportant decisions you make every day, and see if that helps with the feeling of being overwhelmed,” I suggested. We started with a story. …

Prepping for cocktail parties

Kathryn Crawford Saxer Career Transition

Having a good story changes everything. I’ve been working with a lovely coaching client for a couple of months. She’s a senior professional working on a job search and, as an ancillary, on confidence and presence. She’s been through the wringer this year, both personally and professionally, and was a little shaky when she first sat down in my office. She looked like she was holding it together through sheer force of will. We started with the basics of networking …

Money and ambition

Kathryn Crawford Saxer Career Management

The topic of money comes up a lot in my career coaching practice. This is the story of a young college student who came to talk to me about her career path after graduation. We ended up talking about money and ambition. This young woman sat down in my office and, fumbling in her purse, started telling me about her classes. As she was talking, she poked her thumb with a little needle and glanced at the reading. Still talking, …