A Dream in Peril Syed and I hadn’t spoken in years. I had coached him when he was a young rising star at a Silicon Valley tech giant. I had enjoyed my time with Syed. I found him to be an interesting thinker. He had no modesty about what he didn’t know. In those days, …
Vulnerability as a tool Jacqui was a highly analytical introvert. I learned early in our coaching that she used silence to think. That is not to say she didn’t speak up. When she felt strongly about something, the words flew out of her. From our very first conversation, I knew Jacqui felt strongly about a …
Feedback from her boss Connie was in her second year at a global hardware company as chief product officer. She’d been a product leader at a hardware behemoth until this smaller giant wooed her away. Now she was in the C-suite with global reach. Her entry into the company had been an explosion. From the …
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Barking management Reiko and I were exploring the differences between leadership and management. During our conversation, she had wondered whether the two actually sound different. I said to her, “You seem pretty comfortable in both camps, Reiko. Does your version of leadership sound different from your version of management?”
Which is which? Reiko had leapfrogged her colleagues. Now, while still leading her large group of accountants, she was going to become the CFO of a division as well. Her boss, a huge supporter, got her coaching so she could step boldly into her new role while still juggling the old one.
‘Conflict House’ Ashley wanted coaching on how to argue. I had told her about a concept I call “Conflict House,” a place where people with conflicts have to go if they want to resolve their conflicts. Whether an argument is large or small, whether it goes well or is a disaster, every conflict happens inside …
A house with two doors Ashley was fed up with two of her direct reports. A bubble of anger between the pair seemed in constant danger of exploding. Their conflict had impacted productivity and quality, and she wanted it to end. I asked how each direct report approached conflict.
Losing his touch Patricio came to me with a worry. He’d been holding this worry in the back of his mind for a long time, but a recent incident pushed it forward.
Boss as coach Laurel was no-nonsense. Whether talking about her kids or her enormous workload, Laurel cut to the chase. With Laurel, there was no drama. The goal for my coaching with her, perhaps unsurprisingly, had been to “warm her up.” And we did! That was two years ago. She’d risen quickly since then. Recently, …
Wielding intelligence as a weapon Martin’s coaching was triggered when a peer named Maribel filed a complaint filed against him. As a result of our first coaching conversation, he’d gone back to Maribel and asked for more feedback. One message Martin heard loudly from her was, “You make me feel stupid.”
