During my most unhappy time in my professional life, I was completely confused as to what I wanted. I knew I longed to be out of this toxic job and unfulfilling career. That was simple. But what then? What new direction would make me happy? What new role or industry could bring the joy, flexibility, reward and impact that I so longed for. And what would be best for my life overall, so I could parent my children and be prese...
Working with professionals who want more, different and better in their lives and work, I see the same recurring patterns of self-sabotage and self-defeat – thoughts, mindsets and behaviors that keep people stuck in the same cycle of disappointment and dissatisfaction year after year.
Millions of people long for their work to be less toxic, stressful and unsatisfying, and desperately want more meaning, joy and rewa...
For most people, the end of the year signals that it’s time to start calculating and reassessing your employees’ compensation. But for those who have followed the growing number of companies that have ditched the annual performance review for continuous, 360-degree and/or ratingless reviews, there may be more confusion and concern around this process. I spoke with two experts, Professor Edward Lawler, Director o...
Dear Kathy,
I follow your work and love your messages about braving up and honoring what matters most, but I need your help on that. I’m a 54-year-old professional woman, and I’ve had a great run at a number of professional directions, including writing a series of books that were very successful, to serving on boards of two renowned foundations, and fundraising for several important health causes. All that s...
Dear Kathy:
I value your advice a great deal and I really need it. I’ve launched a new financial coaching and consulting practice, and things were going well at first, but now I’m struggling to “fill the client pipeline” as they say. My worst nightmare is sales and selling – I just hate it and it feels so hard. And now I'm having a hard time making ends meet. I wish I could hire someone...
Of the thousands of professionals I’ve worked with and heard from in the past 11 years, a good percentage want help to ascend the corporate ladder – to be promoted, recognized and rewarded for the good work they’ve done and the contributions they’ve made. Many also want significantly more compensation, responsibility and leadership authority as well.
As they share about their career trajectory and...
Over the 11 years I’ve been offering career coaching and leadership development training, I’ve heard from over 100,000 individuals from around the world who share some form of this sentiment:
“I don’t know what I want, but I know it’s not this!”
They also share what they perceive to be the most critical missing ingredients in their lives and work – the vital elements or experi...
In my years as a therapist, I could see clearly in my interactions with clients that how I approached them and their challenges could either make or break their day and their therapeutic progress. If we focused on all that was going wrong for them, they’d leave my office even more deflated and hopeless than when they came in. But if we focused instead on exploring and expanding their strengths – in short, highli...
Ask anyone about “conflict” and what it means, and you’ll mostly like get a litany of negative descriptors such as: painful, damaging, draining, upsetting, infuriating, disrespectful, demeaning and relationship-crushing. There are many factors that influence our perception of conflict, including our own personal, professional and childhood experiences with it, but it's clear the majority of us dread co...
Before I launched my own business, I worked in the corporate arena for 18 years, and had many bosses during that time. Several were few truly fantastic, inspiring leaders and managers. But most were mediocre, and a few were absolutely terrible. One in particular comes to mind – an individual who was hired to lead a division but simply didn’t have the experience or know-how to do it. And worse, he didn’t...