Were you ever surprised to find out that a colleague was assigned a new exciting project or a new role, and not you? Jannet came to me after something similar happened to her at least twice. “I really don’t understand why I was not chosen to head that project. I always deliver on time. I … Read More
entrepreneurship
Awaken a change-maker inside you!
Minus 10, minus 8, minus 10 again. The temperatures in northern Tajikistan have stayed well below zero Celsius since mid-January. The snow-covered roads are hard to navigate, village schools are not heated. Children have been staying at home, with entire families squashed in one stove-heated room. Last fall it was the cotton harvest that distracted … Read More
New Year: think of new habits, not resolutions!
Why do so many people hit the gym and buy more self-help books in January (both gyms and the self-help books’ publishing see a huge jump in sales in the first 2 months of each year) and then… go back to the old habits? Why, for most people, New Year resolutions stay just as “resolutions” … Read More
Feeling stressed? Do something different!
When Claire put down the phone, she was hyper-ventilating. Her heart was racing. It was 3pm on the last work day before the Christmas holidays and she just learned that one of the managers had not finished the report that was due by tonight and was leaving early to attend to her sick child. Claire … Read More
Assertiveness: do you speak up?
“I spoke up about the issue!” my client Julie looked radiant. She shared that she had raised her long-standing concerns about how a large-scaled project was being managed to the top management of her company. The issue had bothered her for a long time and she’d been speaking about it to everyone but… her bosses. … Read More
Eight lessons from Deauville
1300 business women gathered earlier this month in Deauville for the ninth Women’s Forum. The sun was shining on the sea, the champagne was glittering in flute glasses, and the participants who came from around the globe exchanged, debated and networked in powerful ways. What did we learn? What beliefs were confirmed? What myths were … Read More
Smart Leadership: how good are your people skills?
A twenty-year old study of leadership effectiveness conducted by Stanford University’s School of Business concluded that about 15 percent of one’s success in leading organizations comes from technical skills and knowledge, while 85 percent comes from the ability to connect with people and engender trust and mutual understanding. Through my coaching and leadership training work, … Read More
What is blocking the path to your big goal?
Now that you know your number 1 goal (see the post from last week), the next step is to create a strong and clear strategy, a roadmap towards your goal. However an action plan on its own won’t do wonders. It needs to be founded on strong solid self-belief and confidence. If you don’t believe … Read More
Lean into Life, your unique style
Despite the mountain of controversy and publicity around Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In”, I’ll admit that I enjoyed reading it. I liked the author’s accessible style and the generosity with which she shared personal stories and experiences. Many of those stories revealed a different, more human and less perfect, face of Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer. … Read More
Are you prepared to bend geography?
A CEO who runs her company from Paris during weekdays but spends weekends at her home in the Alps. A journalist based in Paris who commutes to London every two weeks. A media trainer and consultant shuttling between Amsterdam and South Asia who’s chosen Chamonix, France, as his home base. A French project manager targeting … Read More