Author, public speaker, and coach for managers and leaders across the tech industry.
Blog Posts
Be a thermostat, not a thermometer
As I’ve learned more about how humans interact with one another at work, I’ve been repeatedly reminded that we are very easily influenced by the mood of those around us. It’s usually not even something we do consciously; we just see someone using a different tone of voice or shifting their body language, and something deep in our brain notices it. read more
Recognition and rewards at work
“What we recognize is what we reward.” read more
How to announce organizational change in your first 90 days
Congrats, you’ve made it through your first 2 months as a new hire in a leadership role! You’re in the home stretch of this initial season. read more
30-60 days in a new leadership role: run experiments for change
Woohoo, you’ve made it through the first 30 days in your new leadership role, and you didn’t change a thing! Congrats—you’ve been building trust by soaking in information and helping folks on your team feel heard and seen. read more
How to spend your first 30 days in a new senior-level role
You’ve started in a new role: congrats! read more
Six creative ways to use coaching questions
My most-used tool these days is definitely this list of 20 great open questions. There are so many things it’s useful for. read more
Manage up without getting (too) salty about it
An attendee from one of my Delivering Feedback workshops asked:
I think the Feedback Equation we learned today could work well with my manager, but I’m concerned about implementing it.
One of my biggest fears about giving them feedback is their negative response to it, so tying it back to what’s important to him makes a lot of sense to me.
However, how would I use coaching/open questions without getting salty that I have to coach them through the situation? I don’t have power in the relationship and that makes me worried about how I will handle it if and when my manager gets negative. read more
“Should I create a Performance Improvement Plan for my direct report?”
There’s lots to be said (and felt) about Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs); they’re often a step that a company takes when an employee is not meeting the expectations of their role, and their manager (or the company) is considering whether or not to terminate this person’s employment. read more