A New Reality Created by the Threat of Coronavirus – 7 Tips on How to Cope

Another week has gone by in this new reality – First the Bay Area and then the entire state of California is told to “Shelter in Place.” I breathe a small sign of relief – finally we are deciding to act before the numbers get bad. While there is no cure for this novel (aka new) Coronavirus, we can now perhaps buy enough time  ...  read more

Coronavirus Situation – A Positive Perspective – 5 Reasons to be Grateful

I really wanted to write about something else this week – anything but the coronavirus. But alas, I cannot escape how this pandemic is fundamentally changing all of our lives and rapidly. This is one “lemon” many of us didn’t foresee, even after the Wuhan situation in China in late January. We all thought we were far away enough to be safe. We all have heard the saying “when life give you lemons, make lemonade.” Can we this time? I am going to try with this post.  ...  read more

5 Reasons You Should Sign Up for a “Race” You Don’t Think You Can Do

Well it doesn’t have to be a race. It can be anything you usually say no to. Just try saying yes and see what you learn. I run the Hot Chocolate 15K every year for the last six years. I am thankful every year that my friend Sarah convinced me to run in it for the first time in 2015. And every year I don’t think I can do it, mainly because I don’t really train for it. And every year after I finish, I am thankful I signed up and did it.  ...  read more

What Do You Want to Be in this New Decade?

I have been writing this post in my head for the last month. Glad to finally have time to put “pen to paper.” Every year, I take time to think about my new year aspirations. Here are some of my past ones

As it’s now the new decade, I asked myself a longer term question – What do I want to be in this new decade? I find sometimes it’s the question we ask ourselves that can broaden our horizon. Here is what I came up with that has been inspiring me into new action and perspective. I hope this post can also help you think holistically and differently about who you want to be in 2020 and beyond. ...  read more

How to Handle a Difficult Situation as a New Manager

New manager

A member asked me this question recently and agreed that I can share. Let’s call this member – Alex. I really appreciated how much detail Alex shared in his questions. I was able to better guide him toward how to best resolve this difficult situation as a result. Here is Alex’s situation and our email exchanges. Thank you Alex for agreeing to share this. ...  read more

5 Tips to Becoming a Great Manager of High Performing Teams

Becoming a great manager

I think only 50% of managers today are any good.  Of these only about 20% are truly great.  There are many benefits to being a great manager.

  • Talented people want to work for you
  • You can build a high performing team who loves to learn and thrive together 
  • You receive high job satisfaction from helping others develop in their career.  
  • You also get to learn from your team and achieve amazing results together 

Do you want to achieve all these things and become a great manager?  If so, here are five tips to help you. 

Tip 1: Know your work.  You cannot become a great manager if you are not good at the work you own.  You must be the example for your team.   This doesn’t mean you need to know more than all of your team.   What it means, however is that you need to continue to hone your craft and lead from the front. For example,  ...  read more

5 Starting Tips to Be More Strategic at Work

“To get to the next level in your career, you need to be more strategic.” Have you heard this feedback before? If so, read on. It’s one of the most common pieces of feedback given to upcoming professionals as well as the least explained.

“Strategy” is one of the most overused words in the business world. Many professionals use it purely to sound smart but actually have no idea what it means. Here are some good definitions of “strategy.” ...  read more