How to choose a coach
A career coach can help you make tremendous leaps forward in your career, but it can be overwhelming to decide whom to work with. Here are five considerations to keep in mind as you choose. Credentials. Coaching is not a regulated profession. You’ll find a wide range of quality among those claiming to be experts […]
Stop goldplating!
“I need to stop gold plating,” my coaching client told me. I looked at her quizzically. “You know, when you go above and beyond, over and over?” said my client, a senior account manager at an international organization who is responsible for a global brand. “I always make sure my work is beyond excellent, even […]
Base rates of a nightmare city
An executive coaching client was recently offered her dream job: exciting work, inspiring executive management, blue sky growth and development. But there was a problem. “It’s in the Bay Area,” she told me, her voice flat and resigned. “I hate the Bay Area.” This client, a young woman in a technical field, is a rising […]
The top right quadrant
One of my executive coaching clients is at the top of her field and looking to do something … else? More? “How can I choose between these orthogonal options?” she asked me. “It’s not like I’m choosing between two houses and can just rank attributes. These are apples-to-oranges choices.” I nodded wisely, making a mental […]
Don’t get promoted!
A new coaching client wanted a promotion. “I’ve gotten promoted every year,” said my client, a software engineer at a large tech company. “Being promoted is how I know I’m successful.” I looked at him worriedly. “I expect you’re going to run out of runway,” I told him. “One of these years you’re not going […]
The childhood dream trap
“I’ve decided not to apply to graduate school,” my coaching client told me. I looked at him in surprise. We’d spent several months talking about his dream to study mycology — specifically, how mushrooms can digest plastics and oil and help us save the world. He’d been fascinated by mushrooms since he was a kid. […]
Don’t say “passionate” at work
“Don’t use that word!” I exclaimed. My coaching client, an operations executive, looked stricken. He had just told me that he was passionate about managing opportunities that drive shareholder value. “’Passionate’ is a great word for your bedroom,” I told him. “It’s not a great word to describe your interest and expertise in your field.” […]
Weaponized empathy
A coaching client told me about a painful interaction with her manager. Her vice president told her: “I am stunned that, at your level, you don’t know the basics of your job.” And my client, a director with years of experience at some of the largest companies in the region, immediately began to doubt herself. […]
What’s your word for 2019?
A coaching client told me about getting angry at work. He was petulant with his manager and almost walked out of the meeting, he said. “If you could have a mulligan on that meeting, how would you handle it differently?” I asked him. He stumbled around, trying to come up with an answer. “I’d manage […]
Negotiating this side of crazy
My new housecleaner looked at me with dismay. And not because of the drifts of cat fur. We had just walked through my house and she offered a reasonable price to clean my bathrooms and floors. I happily accepted. That’s when she’d looked at me with dismay: I had accepted her first offer. “Having your […]