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Good Leadership vs Bad Leadership – Can You Tell the Difference?

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A senior leader once told me – A leader’s every action is an example! I looked at her puzzled. She clarified and said, “Every action a leader takes is an example of good leadership or bad leadership.”

Why is This Important

Being able to tell the difference is key for those who work for leaders as well of those who are leaders. For those who work for leaders today, being able to distinguish good leadership from bad leadership can determine your work happiness, your potential to learn from that leader, and your career trajectory in the current company. If you work for a bad leader and don’t know it, you can be unhappy at work and not realize that it may not be your fault but that of your leader who had set a toxic culture. You can develop bad habits early thinking your leader is a good example and perpetuate that example when you become a leader later.  ...  read more

What Did You Learn from 2020 – 3 Tough Lessons I Learned

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Happy New Year! Everyone wants to forget 2020; however I think it’s a year to remember. This has been the most memorable year in almost a century. Despite all the difficulties, I feel fortunate to have my family, health, and a better appreciation for the simple things in life.

While we all hope 2021 will be a better year, it is still unclear how long we will be in our current state or if we would ever go back to the way we were prior to March 2020. While I miss seeing my parents in person, traveling, and gathering with friends, I also gained much more time with my family and loved living a much simpler life with my husband and kids.  ...  read more

It’s My 7th Year, but I Really Didn’t Think I Would Finish Today

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With the pandemic raging, my hot chocolate 15K race today was virtual. I really thought about not doing it this year or reducing the distance. I had all the excuses in my head last night. 🙂

Excuses to Skip the Run

  • My friend who has always ran with me decided not to do it today. She was worried about her knees, which have been hurting
  • I haven’t trained for this 15K, although that has been the case for the last 6 years.
  • My left calf and ankle feel super tight from the last few weeks of moving. Yes, we moved apartments in San Francisco. It took 10 days of packing, unpacking and lots of standing and walking.
  • There won’t be a crowd! I love the energy of the other runners and that usually gave me the energy to finish this run.
  • There won’t be any water or marshmallow stations to reenergize during the run

I can go on with my list of excuses but you get the idea. On the other hand, I had some good reasons to do the run ...  read more

Impostor Syndrome – Definition and How to Use it To Your Benefit

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I had no idea what Imposter Syndrome was for many years. However I clearly remember feeling like a fraud when I graduated from college. Even though I graduated with honors in Electrical Engineering, I was convinced someone was going to find out that I didn’t know anything. What was worse was I took a strategic consulting job with McKinsey. What did I know about strategy or business? Nothing. I believed that I passed the case interviews only because I got help from a McKinsey associate on how to ace case interviews and I read the Mind of the Strategist.  ...  read more

How to Be Self-Confident – Listen to Ted Lasso & “Be a Goldfish”

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I am addicted to Apple TV’s show Ted Lasso. It’s about an American football coach, who moves to England to manage an Elite soccer team. Ted Lasso has no experience in soccer whatsoever. You don’t need to love sports to love this show. It’s funny, inspiring and entertaining. Most of all, every episode is a master class on leadership.  ...  read more

First 90 days of a New Job – Strive to Achieve These Five Goals

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8 years ago, I wrote this post – Starting a New Job – 6 tips for your first 90 Days. All of the tips still apply. I want to add to it with more details

  • What should be your goals for the first 90 days – focus of this post
  • How to ramp up quickly – I came up with a 4C framework to help you remember all the areas you should learn about in your first 90 days – I will write this post in a week

As long as you have a “white collar” job, I believe these goals would apply. I just started a new job at a new company a week ago, and they also apply to me. After working 4 jobs over 10 years at a major bank, I decided to move to smaller company where I have broader role in a more fast paced setting. I will tell you more about my move across a few posts in the coming month.  ...  read more

Steve Jobs Didn’t Say These Words, But You Should Read Them Anyway

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A few months ago, “Janet”, one of my best friends, sent me a shocking message. She was diagnosed with nerve deafness! “What the heck is that?”I asked. It meant she is mostly deaf in one ear and only salvages the hearing in her other ear with strong drugs and mandatory rest. 🙁 She added her doctors did not know the root cause.  ...  read more