coaching for clarity and courage
People ask me, sometimes, what you get from coaching that you can’t get from a conversation with a friend. The short answer: your coach is not your friend. And that’s a good thing. Here’s the long version: As a coach, […]
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Spend a moment to consciously relax our hands, feet, and face. Deliberately unclench your hands and let them lie loose in your lap. Let your feet sit flat and unflexed on the floor. Relax your facial muscles. Every time you […]
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Sometimes you have to email a stranger (or near-stranger) and ask a favor. No matter how far along in your career you may be, it feels awkward. I have a formula that pushes through the awkwardness, based on what I […]
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You show disrespect for host country staff. These people have been in country their whole lives, most of them have been doing this work longer than you, and their language skills are much more impressive. In a crisis, they will […]
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How to Apologize. I particularly like how the narrator uses her own mistake as an example. Ten questions to get to know your new direct reports better. Asking direct questions in the workplace is surprisingly powerful. The Two Hour Rule. I see […]
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I’m in Turkey right now, as team lead for third party monitoring of some Syria work. I haven’t seen my kids in three weeks, and I miss them like burning. It’s been nearly as long since I’ve seen my husband. […]
Read More »That title is clickbait. There are no magic questions. However, these are three good questions to ask at an interview. They’ll impress your interviewers and give you good information about the job and the organization. Why is the job vacant? […]
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This is a guest post from Dr Naomi Johnstone, who is currently working in Afghanistan for Norwegian Refugee Council. We all know that getting enough sleep, eating well and exercising regularly are important for our wellbeing – albeit not particularly […]
Read More »There are a few different reasons that people accept being underpaid, but the biggest one, I think, is impostor syndrome. At core, many people – maybe most people – just don’t believe they’re as good at their work as others. […]
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Coaching is useful when: You have a problem you’ve been mulling over You have a decision to make You’re unhappy or discontented in your career or life and don’t quite know why You are trying to make a change in […]
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The start of my very first overseas trip as an aid worker, in 2007. I’d done plenty of development work at that point, but this was my first foray into humanitarian response. This is an excerpt from my journal at […]