When you meet new people, what do you say about yourself and the work you do professionally?

This topic has come up a few times this week, mainly focused on not being confident about how you wanted to or did show up in a new environment.

One situation…downplaying the description of the work, thinking maybe people didn’t really want to know what they did…

Sometimes, we can’t see what other people see. The easy way to fix that is to ask, “How am I perceived?” And, if you hear something that surprises you, dig in and understand better.

Knowing ourselves includes knowing how we’re perceived. These insights allow us to showcase some areas more or decide to tone down something else.

As they say, perception is reality. If we have an intention for how we want to show up, that’s half the battle. The rest is what actually happens based on our words and actions…

Earlier this week, I facilitated a small group session for one of my colleagues who was unexpectedly unable to lead her regular session.  

During the great discussion, one of the participants highlighted the need for a significant change in how they responded to customer concerns.  They wanted to do something different.  When I asked if she had any wild ideas she had already thought of.  She shared that she had had one for years but always sensed resistance to trying something new.

Today is the one day each year, we get to fully celebrate the women of this world and the impact we make on our families, our communities, and our workplaces. 

The challenge comes because the other 364 days are often filled with the need to prove ourselves as deserving of equitable treatment in all areas of our lives…

Do you ever find yourself spinning when an unexpected situation pops up?  This was my experience earlier this week.

I received a heads-up that an issue had occurred with some data that wasn’t easily explainable. I became frustrated that the vendor involved couldn’t immediately address the issue or tell me why it was happening. I started spinning..

During the rapid-fire questions at the end of Bréne Brown’s podcasts, one question she would ask was something like, “What lesson is the universe continuing to teach you because you haven’t mastered it yet?”

I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently because I realize I still haven’t learned the lesson well enough about leaving thinking space and room for my personal priorities in my calendar.

I had a vision of how my Friday would go. Then I read an email and saw a Slack message, and my plans for a low-key day shifted.

How often does this happen to you?  You do the strategy and planning work for your day or week, but then life intervenes with other plans.

During a coaching session this week, one participant made a connection he hadn’t noticed before. Staying aligned with priorities is no different from managing the scope of a project. We know all about scope creep in project management, but we don’t tend to relate it to our daily lives.

I found this idea so relatable that I wanted to share it with all of you. I often talk about setting priorities and boundaries and then managing them…

When things happen more than one time, you start wondering what message the universe is sending you.

I did a lot of driving this week so got to catch up on several podcasts that I regularly listen to, and one had an author/podcaster who published a book last fall titled, Never Play It Safe.  The episode is linked below.

Do we want to fit in, or are we comfortable standing out?

I recently chatted with a leader who highlighted that some people found his style different and sometimes challenging…