You’re Not Stuck. You’re in Transition.
In this article, we’ll explore two very different transitions: the sudden ones that throw us off course, and the long-overdue ones we delay for years. You’ll find strategies for navigating both — including how to reclaim confidence after a layoff, and how to focus your energy on building a future, potentially a portfolio career. Every […]
One more orbit around the Sun!
As 2025 begins, many people feel the "new year energy" and a desire to start fresh. But it’s worth considering that the concept of a new year is entirely human-made. To a spacecraft that orbits Earth 16 times a day crossing all time zones, a new day starts every few hours. We are the ones […]
Quick to anger and low on patience?
Do you find yourself getting angry when others are reckless, careless, or downright irresponsible? Do you wish you had more patience, even when you feel you have zero tolerance for such behaviors? Anger, when it arises, is trying to tell us something. It signals that something important—our values, rights, ethics, or minimum expectations—is being violated. […]
Your Confidence, Your Competence
The hot topic this week is confidence. Isn’t it always a hot topic? Even the most confident people second-guess themselves when their ego takes a hit. Confidence is our judgment and perception of ourselves—essentially, our sense of how well we will fare in this world doing what we do. Interestingly, many of us link confidence […]
What have you left at your doorstep?
As you are reading this newsletter, the chances are, you are a go-getter who’s pretty good at getting what you want. You might even be a generous giver who can pour your heart out for others. But the chances are also that you are not a very good receiver. Receiving is a skill we collectively […]
Coaching a CEO in transition
This is a quote my coachee brought up in our coaching session. Despite describing himself as a hardcore Android believer, he deeply resonated with what Jobs said and concluded that “people either change the world or follow the world.” In that session, what opened up was about the forces to change the world or follow. […]
Surrounded by Idiots
This ONE by Yolanda Yu This ONE idea and its manifestations in life and career Happy This ONE Friday! Many of us feel like we are surrounded by “idiots” at work – people who are lazy, ineffective, mischievous, uncommitted, self-centered, etc. The book “Surrounded by Idiots” by Thomas Erikson explores this phenomenon and what’s creating […]
Decisions fatigue – in search of the right, safe, and no-regret
Happy This ONE Friday! I want to share a poem that touched my heart. The journeys I took with some of you this week are singing to it. We all go through phases of reflection when making important decisions in life. “Doubts and love dig up” our world “like a mole,” often keeping us in […]
"Conflict Avoidance?" Look beyond
In a few recent coaching sessions on conflict management, a major insight emerged: We’re social animals, wired to maintain harmony within our tribe. Conflict, on the surface, seems dangerous. But avoiding conflict? That means we’re not standing up for what we believe in, not defending our rights and boundaries, not voicing our opinions, and ultimately […]
The roles we play, what do cherries have in common with humans
Some of you have done this exercise with me: a constellation work to map out team relationships. Depending on where we were, I drew them on whiteboard, paper, iPad, or enlisted things on hand, tissue, scrap paper, pens, etc. But today was special: I happened to have cherries in my bag. So I used cherries. […]