Difficult situations

5 Tips – How to Manage a Remote Team During Covid 19

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It’s day 24 of our “self quarantine.” Thankfully, I still get to work full time, as do my team. I am writing to share 5 tips on how to manage a remote team during our new covid 19 reality. Prior to this, only 2 out of 10 of my team members were remote. While the sudden change has been jarring, we have learned to adapt, stay connected, support each others and still make progress. Hope these tips can help you continue to be a great manager during this difficult time.  ...  read more

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

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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

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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

How to Manage and Deliver with Limited Resources – 15 min coaching call

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This is such a common issue as well as a highly stressful one. I am so glad one of the members asked me to talk about it in our January group coaching call. Here is her question

“We are asked to be financially savvy and not outsource any activity during Q1. We still have smart goals to achieve and I am understaffed. I am already running a lean organization. To continue to deliver results with all activities done in-house I need to overload the team. What should I do? Should I do the right thing and continue to explain the need for outsourcing activities or do the right thing for my career?” ...  read more

How to Handle a Difficult Situation as a New Manager

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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

Working with an Incompetent Colleague – When and How to Escalate

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I was agonizing about what to do for weeks. I have dealt with incompetent co-workers before. Most of the time, I can make up for their incompetence fairly easily or at least work around it and not be affected. Not this time. This time, this colleague is a key partner to my work. If she or her team is not doing their job to the highest quality, neither I nor my team nor my program can be successful. ...  read more

Dare to be Happy – You Can Change Your Career at Any Age

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change your career at any age

85% of workers worldwide admit to hating their jobs when surveyed anonymously, according to a Gallup poll released in late 2017.  Yet, many of us tend to stay in our jobs and careers, thinking it’s too late to make a change.  I am here to tell you – it’s never too late!  Dare to be happy and bold.  You can change your career at any age.

Here to inspire us on this topic is our newest Executive Author – Stephanie Hellman.   Stephanie is an inspiring, authentic leader with 20+ years of experience working for Fortune 50 companies, including Wells Fargo, Citibank, and American Express.  In late 2017, she made a courageous decision to leave her corporate career to find fulfillment and a more meaningful way to contribute to this world.  Her stories are an inspiration to me and I think will be to us all.

I am pleased to share my first interview with Stephanie on

  • What is her definition of success and has it changed in the last 5 years?
  • What led her to this dramatic decision in her career?
  • What does she do for work now?
  • What advice does she have for others who are at crossroads of their career?

    •  ...  read more