Competency No. 5

We sit down with former studio executive on films from Die Hard 5 to The Wolverine, Steven Puri, who learned how to inspire a broad range of teams through this creative work. He's now sharing tips and techniques to help leaders and teams perform at their best and does so as a speaker, serial entrepreneur, and CEO of the Sukha Company, a productivity app which helps stop burnout before it starts. Hear from a new dad who is finally "getting" what parents mean when they delight in th...

When customer operations manager Jeanette Bernard lost her husband Matt four years ago, the flippant comments from others on her need to rebound fast upset her as much as the grief. “People would say: You’ll be back out there in a couple of months. You’ll be fine,” she recalls of awful comments at her husband’s funeral. “I was so mad. I will never forget Matt. Nor does he want me to.” Now four years later, and the anniversary of Matt’s death on Thanksgiving week, Jeanette still communic...

The holidays can stretch too many of us bringing heightened stress and surface-level conversations, even with those we love. Paris, France-based Coach Marie-Louise Pereira knows how to bring coaching skills and Competency No 5 (maintaining presence) into our daily flow and to our relationships with those we love. In a lovely conversation with a dear friend and peer coach, we unpack how we use our active listening skills and clear boundary setting (and even our ability to say 'no' vs 'ye...

My Master Certified Coaching submission is finally in with the International Coaching Federation! I await my ICF assessors’ feedback on whether I pass or fail. My musings on active listening and masterful coaching since I hit “submit” this past Monday, including final indecisiveness, a solar eclipse across my birthplace in New Zealand, and a stunning reminder from the late Dr. James R Doty, an esteemed neurosurgeon, on what active listening really means, and feels like, for the receiver.&nbsp...

Pharmaceutical executive Jill Staudacher took things harder than she thought when her middle son Dean moved out of home and seven hours away for his studies and baseball. I’ve struggled moving my oldest son Nicholas into his dorm last week at Harvard University—now living 1070 miles from his Wisconsin base. The college transition can challenge parents—and the teens who move away. Exact data’s scarce; but we know 16% of 18.4 million undergraduate students in the U.S. live in some form of...

The Harvard Mum essay project is my documentary essay series on immigrant motherhood, immigrant dreams, leadership, and all the deep lessons on staying calm and present as my oldest son joins the Harvard University class of 2029 this fall. He’s one of 3% of applicants to gain admittance and only one of a few Wisconsinites to do so. My Chapter 2 essay, the high school graduation, revealed the vast numbers: 3.9 million high school graduates graduated from high school as the Class of 2025. Mos...

The International Coaching Federation’s Competency 8 asks its certified coaches to work with clients in ways that great leaders do with their team: consider possibilities, create action plans, and explore learning. It also requires developing measurable achievements. In a new coaching session with MCC Coach Ben Dooley, we review a strong— perhaps an excellent contender for my second recording submission to the ICF for my MCC certification. It seems strong to me—and to Coach Ben— b...