☀️ June 2024: Career Questions, Reflective Writing, Pertinent Podcasts

📣 Latest update from last month's "big news"... I 🏁 FINISHED the creation of a video training series that I have been asked by Madecraft to make for them this spring and 🎥 FILMED it on June 6. Again, the course is on how to provide encouraging and empowering #leadership and #management to #GenZ employees! 🎉 I will keep you posted on when and where it will be released -- some time this summer. 

I also think anyone with kids ages 15-27 will find the content helpful as well. I am super excited for this new opportunity.

Meanwhile, how are you doing as summer starts and you're still facing a pile of work?! I hope these resources provide some encouragement and relief. Thanks for reading.

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🤔 What Really Motivates You at Work? I think you’d be surprised at how many conversations I have each month with clients who feel stalled, bored, or frustrated with their jobs. But it also feels paralyzing to start the process of figuring out what might be next – especially when you’re already working full-time. Rather than try to take all that on: maybe you could just start with this article?

🔎 Career Coaching? I continue to be surprised as to where my coaching takes me. I just finished with a long-term (9 years) corporate client last month, and in turn just added two new career coaching clients in the last two days... who reached out to me! I don't quite know what is going on, but I now have THIRTEEN individual coaching clients right now. I sense there are a lot of people out there looking for a change or just wondering if this is all there is. If that fits for you or someone you know, feel free to reach out for complementary 30-minute conversation.

😕 Why so many of us feel lonely at work. I'm including this recommendation because it puts into words some of the things clients are saying to me. It's a 32-minute long podcast episode and could provide some insights for you as to what you are feeling. This short article from FastCompany may reinforce the new truth for some that "work is not your family."

✍🏾 Esther Perel Journaling Prompts. I am a very big fan of her weekly podcast and also receive her monthly newsletter. I have slowly been compiling all of the questions from her newsletters into one document. Here's the link to those if you want to have journaling prompts that will carry you for several months if not years!

🌪️ Fighting Perfectionism, Stop Fearing Boredom. OK, maybe it is a little random to put those two statements together. But they are the first two episodes in a series of conversations that I am enjoying so far on The Happiness Lab. It sounds like this season is addressing some compulsive behaviors that we can tend to fall into, and they are done in an engaging and accessible way. Check them out.

📘 The Daily Reset. This is a random little book I found recently that I am using as part of my morning ritual to prepare for my day. It is simple, but so far has provided some interesting reflections.

Again, thanks for reading. Please feel free to pass this page along to a friend or colleague. Send an email to kelly.soifer@ksleadershipdevelop.me with questions, comments or feedback. I'll end with these words...

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." — Will Durant

⚡️ April 2024: Big News, Building Habits, Being Better

🗣️ BIG NEWS! I'm happy to report that I have been asked by Madecraft to create a video training series for them this spring on how to provide encouraging and empowering #leadership and #management to #GenZ employees! 🎉 I will keep you posted on when and where it will be released -- some time this summer. So excited for this new opportunity.

I don't know if it's Daylight Savings or a decrease in the heavy Southern California rains, but my energy level has picked up and I have encountered an absolute boatload (ton, oodles, slew, plethora, the whole enchilada, you name it!) of resources that I've used with clients, so this month's post is going to be a ⚡️ round of suggestions for you to check out. Here goes!

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🚼 Investing in the Development of Young, Remote Employees. I have started to develop the video course on managing Gen Z employees in the midst of teaching an internship course this semester for 20-22 year olds preparing to enter the workplace. Let's just say that #GenZ is #nojoke! I found this article practical and pertinent.

🧱 Building New Habits in Small Steps. Here’s a worksheet from PositivePsychology.com that reflects some of the coaching I often do with clients around implementing a needed change. What do you think?

🌎 The World Can Be Better. This came up during an #EqualPay zoom discussion with one of my clients. I really liked it - it compels me to reflect, accept reality, and work for more, all at the same time.

🪓 Task Chunking. Here's a great newsletter from my hero, Oliver Burkeman, about taking on HUGE, intimidating #projects in small increments. I refer to it by the highly technical term of “task chunking.” #15minutes **#timechunking **#anxiety #timemanagement

👀 How to Make Sure Your Resume Gets Seen. #fightthebots #keywords #cleardesign

🤖 Using AI to Prep for Job Interviews. YIKES: it is hard to keep up with how AI is changing the work landscape. But here are some KEY tips to using AI to prep for a job interview.

🔮 21st Century Workplace Predictions. I know, I know, everyone is making #predictions about the 21st century #workplace, but this conversation reflects what I am seeing in real time with my clients. Take 36 minutes to listen, especially if you’re considering a #careerpivot.

👍🏼 How to Engage & Retain Tenured Employees. What I liked about this article:

• It validates the importance of wellbeing, something organizations endorse but do not always implement in a consistent or strategic way;
• It validates the need for employee engagement and pulse surveys;
• However, it also endorses the importance of selecting the right questions for engagement surveys, and provides key categories that need to be covered;
• It confirms the value of a sabbatical program.

This article is a good jumpstart for companies who need to figure out how to hang on to their most experienced people. So much energy is put into recruiting and hiring and for some reason I tend to see far less investment in #retention. A big “front door” is no good if you have a big “back door” of turnover as well.

❝ ❞ Final Thoughts. I'm going for existential today as I finish up. The world is incredibly complicated and overwhelming. I found solace (and motivation) in these words:

“Today it is not nearly enough merely to be a saint; but we must have the saintliness demanded by the present moment, a new saintliness.”  

Twentieth-century mystic and philosopher Simone Weil

☔️ February 2024: Fulfilling Work, Giving Feedback, Finding Flow State

Yesterday I met with a client whom I had not met with since late December, so we greeted each other with "Happy New Year!" and then both laughed at the realization that that greeting feels a little goofy now that it is February. But I feel like I blinked and January was somehow over -- how did it speed by so quickly??

Living in Santa Barbara, we are on day 4 of very heavy rains... I am feeling some deep cabin fever, but instead of giving into it, I'll dig out my latest recommendations for you instead. Perhaps part of why January flew by for me is that I had so many enjoyable and substantial conversations with clients and teams. If you fall into either category, consider yourself appreciated! Here are some resources I have used recently...

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🔛 Questions for 1:1 meetings. Some of my clients are slowly revving up for performance reviews, or perhaps just digging themselves out of winter doldrums. Wherever you find yourself, here are some questions from Harvard Business Review:

From “5 Questions Every Manager Needs to Ask Their Direct Reports”

• How would you like to grow within this organization?

• Do you feel a sense of purpose in your job?

• What do you need from me to do your best work?

• What are we currently not doing as a company that you feel we should do?

• Do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?

From “It’s Time to Reimagine Employee Retention”

• What motivates you most about the work you do today?

• What are the talents you want to build a reputation for?

• What career possibilities would you like to learn more about?

🥪 Stop serving the compliment sandwich. Coupled with thoughtful feedback during those 1:1's are often some constructive suggestions for improvement. At all costs, avoid the temptation to "put a slice of praise on the top and the bottom, and stick the meat of your criticism in between." This article will give you the tools to provide the "radical candor" needed, but in a manageable and palatable way.

🧰 The Need for Professional Development. OK, so the title embedded in this link is actually, "Most of your employees don’t want to be managers. Here’s how to support what they do want." Apparently studies have shown that only 1 out of 10 employees want to be managers! But here lies the conundrum: "Nevertheless, the statistic reflects the reality that organizations need to consider how to help employees chart a path of longevity that does not necessarily include management. When employees do not want to become managers yet lack a viable alternative, they can be left unsatisfied, reducing employee engagement and retention for the organization." The solution? Investing in the professional development of your employees! Look to the right side of today's post -- I've included a new block of the most requested trainings I can provide to you or your team. Let's get started.

🧘🏽‍♂️ Finding Your Flow State. I sure am seeing a bunch of articles about how to focus, cut down on distractions, go into “monk mode,” schedule times for “deep work,” etc. But do I actually KNOW my best conditions for getting into the zone and cranking out creative, energetic, productive stuff? Do you? Here’s an exercise to help you define how you might get there.

Thank you for reading -- please share it with a friend or co-worker. And reach out at kelly.soifer@ksleadershipdevelop.me with questions or inquiries as to how we can work together. Ciao!

January 2024: Focus, Five Questions, and a Fun Book

I hope your 2024 is getting off to a good start. I just finished a two-week natural detox to reboot my immune system, this week I started teaching an internship course for the semester to fourteen undergrads, and I've gained three new individual coaching clients in the last two weeks. Other than trying to avoid Covid bubbling around me, I'm feeling energized. Enjoy my latest recommendations and tell me how you are doing.

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🥳 Word of the Year! This is a fun exercise I do every year and send it to my friends. Does it mean anything? Not really... but it's a fun way to spark some energy and creativity to kick off your new year. Give it a spin -- and if you don't like your first word, try again 😆

😱 The Dark Side of the Obsession With Focus. One of my favorite authors, Oliver Burkeman, author of my favorite book of 2022, Four Thousand Weeks, is back with more valuable content. Take 45 minutes to listen to this interview. I'm pretty confident you won't regret it.

​5️⃣ 1:1 Questions for the New Year. I got these from Lisa Cummings at LeadThroughStrengths.com. Answer these 5 prompts for yourself first -- they are clues to your top natural talents:

• I’ve always nerded out on these topics and types of activities:
• This comes easily to me, yet not to others (things you do or the way you think):
• I get a jolt of energy when I’m...
• I lost track of time the last time I was…
• Someone told me I’m good at...

THEN, if you lead a team at work, ​ask the 5 questions to each team member in a 1:1. Some of them will be tough to answer on-the-spot, yet get what you can in-person. Then have them come back with insights on the difficult ones. This will give you new ideas about what projects to assign each person in the future.

🧘🏽‍♂️ From Inner Critic to Inner Coach. I am so intrigued at how certain issues come in waves in my work with clients. Naturally, I'm speaking in huge generalities here, but before the pandemic, much of my coaching requests revolved around learning how to #lead and #manage. Then during the pandemic, the majority of my work centered on #stressmanagement and overall #wellbeing. Now, even though COVID seems to be showing up for yet another wave and there are two big wars happening, I'm finding that client conversations tend to be swirling around #career trajectory and #jobsatisfaction. I have more individual clients than I've ever had, and many of them are wondering what could be next... yet at the same time they are really hard on themselves and think they cannot compete in today's job market. If this sounds at all familiar, take a few minutes to look over this worksheet. Contact me if you want to talk about it!

🔭 Getting In Front of AI. I'm sharing this podcast episode as much as this particular contributor. I am consistently finding Ethan Mollick to be calm, reliable, helpful resource when it comes to understanding AI. When I randomly ask friends or clients whether they have been using AI, I'm finding that's it about 50/50 -- some are excited by it, others haven't tried it (and a couple weren't even sure what it is!). By no means am I an expert, but I have found it useful in a variety of interesting ways so far. Tell me what your experience has been.

📖 Getting There: A Book of Mentors. I started this last week and I'm enjoying it. Do I admire every single person profiled? Nope. But enough of them are worth learning from, and I always love a good story, to make it worthwhile. If you need a good reminder of how much life is "1% inspiration and 99% perspiration," and is also easy to pick up and out down in 10 minutes at a time, this book is for you.

Thanks for reading -- feel free to pass this along to a friend or coworker. And send me questions and feedback at kelly.soifer@ksleadershipdevelop.me. Onward and upward!

My Top Posts for 2023: Do they tell us anything?

Perhaps in the spirit of Spotify Wrapped, I decided to check my most viewed posts on LinkedIn for 2023. It helps me to see what gets people's attention, but it also instructs me as a coach, consultant, teacher, mentor, and information nerd!

So here are my five most frequently viewed posts on LinkedIn -- I sense a theme... 🤔:

① How (and why) you should create a backup plan for your career. This was not only most viewed post, but it was viewed more than the next nine posts added together!! And I will confirm that job dissatisfaction / frustration / boredom was a repeated theme with a sizable number of my clients. In a recent conversation with one of my clients, where I encouraged him to update his LinkedIn profile, he said, "I thought you only needed LinkedIn when you needed to look for a job." I quickly responded with several points related to the power of #networking, #visibility and #professionaldevelopment. Those are all reasons as well for why I recommended this article. So if you haven't read it yet, join the thousands who did!

② How to handle feeling overworked. I led a discussion on this #podcast with a team earlier this fall. The title describes it well. If you're feeling #overwhelmed and/or #overworked, take 40 minutes to listen to it. 

③ No one taught me the importance of managing up—here’s why you may need to be your boss’ boss. I just had three conversations this week about this very topic. Shaping the expectations of your supervisor is so important to how you are managed and perceived. Key quote: "So, now, I don’t shy away from managing up. I no longer think of 'managing up' as impolite. I think about it as advocating for my #career."

④ What Color Is Your Parachute? 2022: Your Guide to a Lifetime of Meaningful Work and Career Success. (See the #1 most frequently viewed post!) This book gets updated every year, so no doubt the new 2024 edition should be released soon. Again, it just cannot hurt to lay the groundwork for a career change before you need one.

⑤ A compelling quote. My "LinkedIn Wrapped" review will end with this tremendous thought: 

“I sit here, and I know where I am. This is very important. We tend to be alive in the future, not now." Thich Nhat Hanh #selfcare #presence

Thanks for reading, and for joining me on the journey this year. See you in 2024!

October 2023: Happiness, How-to's, Hidden Potential

🤔 Using ChatGPT to Make Better Decisions. As I inch my way in to understanding and using #AI more, I plan to share the articles I find most useful. This quote captures the value of this article: "...while it may be tempting to merely ask ChatGPT for answers, the real power of LLMs is how they can assist at each stage [of #decisionmaking]." Much of my #coaching involves listening to my #clients and helping them figure out what are the true issues they are dealing with, so this resource becomes a valuable option to work through a complex question or concern. (PS I prefer ClaudeAI to ChatGPT)

🤡 Arthur C. Brooks — How to Be Happy. Before you give a hard pass on this, hear me out. This is not a discussion about the emotion of being happy; it's about finding happiness, AKA "fulfillment" or "meaning," in life. Big difference! I will be the first to admit that a) this is a l-o-n-g interview, so I recommend breaking it up, and b) I often find Tim Ferriss annoying (skip the section where Tim fanboys Brooks' fitness 🙄)... Nevertheless, there is tons of good content that goes in several different directions and is very thought-provoking.

🌎 How to Influence Across Cultures. I have mentioned on this blog before that much of my work involves connecting with clients in many other countries. I have learned a great deal in the last several years about what it takes to work across cultures. I have also mentioned previously here that I have benefited greatly from Erin Meyers' research found in her book The Culture Map, and have repeatedly recommended her interview on Armchair Expert. Another interview in that vein (a bit more sedate than Dax Shepard on Armchair and entirely business-focused) can be found on the episode of Coaching for Leaders that I have linked here. I am bringing this up again because the applications I gained from these resources are more pertinent than ever today as we continue to expand globally (and virtually) in how work is done.  While I’m at it, I also recommend this brief article on the distinct differences in meaning between the terms “multi-cultural,” “cross-cultural,” and “intercultural.”

💤 How to slow down and find some meaningful rest. I wish I'd kept count of the hundreds of times I have had conversations with clients and friends about fatigue and the need for rest. It is a constantly recurring theme, to say the least. I highly recommend this link of an interview on slowing down and the seven forms of rest that we actually need. While you're at it, take the Rest Quiz mentioned in the conversation, which I have recommended before. Heck, if you want to keep pondering this topic, here is an article this week from New Yorker magazine as well. I like the lede: "Requiring rest, rather than work, is still a radical idea."

✅ Hidden Potential Assessment. If you have worked with me, you know I like useful assessments, and if you've read at least a few of my blog posts, you know I appreciate the work of Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist who seeks "to explore the science of making work not suck" (his own description). He has a new book coming out - here's the blurb: "His latest book, Hidden Potential, explores how to build the skills and structures to achieve greater things, and how to create opportunities for those who have been overlooked. We can all improve at improving – and when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door." That concept of "constant improvement" intrigues me. He's lecturing here in Santa Barbara on November 16 and I plan on going. (PS If you take the assessment, share your results with me and I'll share mine!)

❓Team-Building Question for the Month. As I said last month, I strongly suggest using creative ice-breaker questions on a consistent basis to help create a warmer, fun, collegial, maybe even mildly vulnerable work vibe. One team I work with calls this exercise "Thursday Thoughts" on their Teams thread and they have agreed to respond within 24 hours once the question is posted. Here is a question for the month: 

What's the last thing that made your face light up?
(Yes, like, really excited when you talked about it.)

My response:
I got to go to the Coldplay concert at the Rose Bowl last weekend. Singing loudly with 60,000 others is a good thing to do every once in awhile!

✍🏾 Journal Prompt for the Month. I take time every morning to journal. I don't write a ton on most days, but I try to take a few minutes each time to check in on myself: Anything staying with me from the day before? Anything on my mind about what I'm heading into today? How is my body feeling? What am I thinking about? This practice helps me prepare for my day by becoming present, and addressing anything that might interfere with my interactions with others.

I coach nearly every client to consider doing this, so I want to include a journal prompt here each month to get you started:

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

The link I've included sends you to the folder of journal prompts I make available to clients, if you need more ideas.

Thanks for reading ~ feel free to share this with a friend or co-worker. Send questions or feedback to kelly.soifer@ksleadershipdevelop.me. Cheers!

September 2023: Boggled, Building, BP10, More Building..

Normally the month of August is a quiet one with coaching clients because people jam in some last-minute vacations, but for whatever reason(s), this one was packed! Below are just a sampling of the many resources I used this past month. Goodbye to summer, hello to fall!

😵‍💫 Boggled by AI? Join the club! I recommend following this blog regularly. This particular post gives you an overview of the AI landscape. Definitely worth it. 

🗣️ Building a Culture Where Employees Feel Free to Speak Up. I recently trained a group of #managers in how to cultivate #psychologicalsafety on their teams. The presentation included basic concepts, case studies, breakout discussions and recognition that this is a key part of the manager's job, whether they signed up for it or not! This link provides a good article from #hbr on getting started on building this sort of space for your team.

🆕 BP10: do you want to start something new? I am currently coaching 10 individuals in career discernment - more than I ever have at the same time. That tells me something. Many tell me they are restless, or searching for something new/ meaningful / energizing... others feel stuck, while some feel daunted at the possibility of doing the same thing they are doing now for 20-25 more years. Last but not least, some feel the itch to take a risk. If you have an idea or a sense that you want to launch out on your own, I believe this assessment from Gallup is the best tool to start with. (PS I do not work for Gallup!!) I just retook BP10 after first taking it in 2019, and it gave me some new insights to my goal-setting for this fall into 2024. There are some amazing tools that come with it, plus some helpful podcasts, and it syncs well with StrengthsFinder. Email me at kelly.soifer@ksleadershipdevelop.me if you'd like to work on it together!

❓Team-Building Question for the Month. I coach the overwhelming majority of my clients virtually, and in turn they work virtually with their teams. I strongly suggest using creative ice-breaker questions on a consistent basis to help create a warmer, fun, collegial, maybe even mildly vulnerable work vibe. One team I work with calls this exercise "Thursday Thoughts" on their Teams thread and they have agreed to respond within 24 hours once the question is posted. Here is a question for the month:

“What song best describes your life right now?” 

A related one: “What song sounds like the motto of your life?”

What are my responses? (Glad you asked!): 

Closer to Fine by the Indigo Girls (admittedly, it’s back in my mental playlist thanks to the Barbie movie!)

Life motto song: Shed a Little Light by James Taylor

⛑️ Building Wellbeing in the Workplace. This is a one-hour dive into #wellbeing in the #workplace, but truly worth the time. The conversation breaks down the realities of #burnout and how it is an *occupational* condition most impacted by the way we each interact with our workload, co-workers, and company values. It's a discussion between top-drawer researchers but they use non-technical, everyday language. I found it incredibly insightful. A brief article in a similar vein from Psychology Today website can be found here.

🥵 How to Handle Feeling Overworked. I'm leading a professional development discussion on this #podcast next week. The title describes it well. If the fall is a "new year" for you and you're feeling #overwhelmed and/or #overworked, take 40 minutes to listen to it. Calmly and clearly, #MurielWilkins coaches a #client through the steps to address those feelings with real and practical value.

And if you are so overworked you can't even handle taking that on, just put this song on repeat 😉 The song of my senior year...

🎧 Recommended podcasts (for fun!). OK, admittedly, I personally find these podcasts a relaxing way to unwind from a full day -- hope you do too. They also give you a peek into my "diverse" tastes:

• Broken Record. INCREDIBLE conversations with musicians on how and why they make their music. The recent one with Paul Simon left me speechless. 
• Strike Force Five. Conversations between late-night talk show hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers & John Oliver that they are doing to help pay their staffs during the WGA/SAG strikes. Stupid fun.
• Sidedoor. From the ridiculous to the... super nerdy. Here's the description: "More than 157 million treasures fill the Smithsonian’s vaults, but where public view ends, Sidedoor begins. With the help of biologists, artists, historians, archaeologists, zookeepers, and astrophysicists, host Lizzie Peabody sneaks listeners through Smithsonian’s side door to search for stories that can’t be found anywhere else." Dork Heaven.

All for now. Please reach out with questions and feedback at kelly.soifer@ksleadershipdevelop.me. And share this with a friend or coworker!

August 2023: Blizzard in a Heat Wave?

I confess that I had big ambitions to send out a second post of recommendations in July because so many recommendations had piled up for me that I wanted to share with you. However, as often happens, my calendar got the best of me and well, here I am.

So this month will be a BLIZZARD 🌨️ of recommendations with little commentary. I hope the mental image of cold weather provides a few seconds of relief from the summer heat extremes so many of us are experiencing. Thanks to all of those I have met with this past month -- I've enjoyed so many wonderful conversations!

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🧐 35 ChatGPT prompts to prep for your next job interview. As I mentioned in my June 2023 post, I have several clients asking to meet for career coaching and I've given this link to more than one person and they have found it useful. Feel free to hit me up if you have questions.

📚 AI in Education -- The Homework Apocalyse. If you are a teacher or adjunct instructor like me, I found this article surprisingly hopeful, and incredibly helpful.

🏀 Sally Jenkins on ‘The Right Call: What Sports Teach Us About Work and Life’. I will be the first as a woman to acknowledge that I get weary of hearing sports analogies in a male-dominated workplace. NEVERTHELESS, I will happily acknowledge that this interview is right on. Don't miss it.

🤯 Leading with psychological safety AND cultural intelligence. This one got hundreds of looks when I posted it on LinkedIn. I have coached many teams on both of these topics, but I am challenged by realizing I could and should integrate the two more.

🧠 "I came out as autistic at work. Here's what happened." This is coming up so often with clients and companies I work with lately. This can be a fraught topic in some workplaces, especially those that lack awareness. We ALL need to keep learning about neurodivergence. Again, go back to my June 2023 post for some resources to get started.

📈 Leadership Scaling: "You can’t scale ahead of your people." This brief article has some good principles that are clear and worth thinking through with others.

📧 Your Email Does Not Constitute My Emergency. By #AdamGrant, a tremendous thought leader. Love this: “One of the silver linings of the Covid era is that people became more thoughtful about communicating digital boundaries — and more understanding about accepting them... We can’t let that boundary-setting vanish with the pandemic. We need it to become endemic.”

👶🏽 👵🏽 5 things to keep in mind when you hear about Gen Z, Millennials, Boomers and other generations. I have been guilty of over-generalizing about generations in my desire to make a point. Great reminders here.

💯 Tips for a Better Life. I posted this here in January 2021. But it still seems interesting to me! Tip 29: "You do not live in a video game. There are no pop-up warnings if you’re about to do something foolish, or if you’ve been going in the wrong direction for too long. You have to create your own warnings."

Thank you for reading -- feel free to share it with others. And you can reach me with feedback and questions at kelly.soifer@ksleadershipdevelop.me. Enjoy the rest of the summer ⛱️

July 2023: Halfway

Somehow we’re already at the halfway point of 2023! I have nothing profound to say about that other than time sure does fly.  

This post builds on that concept figuratively... are you "halfway" through your life? Career? Professional development? These resources might provide some "next steps" for your journey.

I've saved up so many articles, podcasts, and book recommendations that I may post again in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned -- and thanks for reading!

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🧨 Management Training for Those Who Need a Boost. Last month I posted info about a coaching bundle I offer to individual clients and got a good response. That is still available!

That prompts me to make a similar offer this month: If you are feeling a little stalled (or overwhelmed?) in your own leadership and management, I have coached other clients in these competencies. You can access them from me through a “Coaching Bundle” where I offer 6 one-hour sessions to individuals for $500, which means you get one free session 👏🏽 The 6 sessions include:

• The Leader as Coach: How to not just solve the issues that your team brings to you, but instead develop them as self-sustaining leaders.
• How to Have Difficult Conversations: I recently read that managers use up to 40% of their time on managing conflict between people or within processes. In other words, difficult conversations are inevitable -- how can we have them productively?
• Managing Oneself: How to develop yourself professionally and sustainably throughout their career.
• Career Planning: How to coach your direct reports in career advancement and professional development
• Developing Resilience: Resilience is about recovering from setbacks (as opposed to burnout).
• Building Psychological Safety on your Team. How to help your team learn to speak up, participate and advocate for themselves.

If these don't "scratch where you itch" but you feel like you need a boost regardless, set up a complementary 30-min appt with me to talk over what you need.

📝 How to Describe Your Work Experience on Your Resume.  I often work with my #coaching #clients on their #resumes. One of the biggest struggles is figuring out how to describe their #workexperience. Here are some ideas to 🍯 stir the pot. HOT TIP: keep your resume up to date on a regular basis. That way, if an opportunity comes your way, you will be ready to apply.

𝟮𝟴 Questions to Ask Your Boss in Your One-on-Ones. The response of a C-Suite client with many direct reports says it all: "I LOVE this article!!" It is worth its weight in gold, especially if 1:1’s with your manager are lacking a little energy. It also equips you to effectively manage up with your supervisor, which will get their attention over time.

⏳ Is It Too Late to Start Over? I cannot recommend this podcast episode enough! It is as if they recorded several of my coaching conversations with clients who are contemplating a career pivot. Everything advised in this episode is stuff that I have recommended to clients. Take time to listen to this one.

🙋🏽‍♀️ 🧠 Women & Autism. Listened to an excellent #podcast interview of Katherine May, an author who figured out she is #autistic as an adult. I recommend it highly. And as I mentioned last month, don't miss this great article by Temple Grandin in a similar vein, When Great Minds Don't Think Alike. I continue to have conversations with multiple clients about their discoveries in later adulthood of ADHD, Autism, OCD, etc. LOTS to learn here. #neurodiversity #women

📖 From Strength to Strength by Arthur Brooks. I just finished this book and really enjoyed it. In the past few months I have had multiple conversations with people ranging in age from early 40's to late 50's who want and need a change professionally and yet feel somewhat paralyzed as to where and how to start figuring out what might be next. (Go back to that Halfway sign at the top!)  This book captures much of the "why" behind all of those feelings, and gives language to it all. Additionally, here is a podcast interview of the author that was published when the book came out, that might give you a sense of what he expands upon in the book.

Again, MANY thanks for reading. Feel free to forward this to someone you know, and send questions and feedback to me at kelly.soifer@ksleadershipdevelop.me. 

June 2023: Coping, Coaching & Career Changes

I am approached by so many clients who feel stuck, got laid off or are just experiencing an all-too-real mid-life crisis that I have created a "career coaching bundle" where I provide six one-hour sessions for $500 (prepaid on VenMo or Zelle) where I work with individuals in a few ways:

• We start with an initial conversation around what is needed, identify some sticking points, and then confirm a plan;
• I recommend a couple of assessments (usually StrengthsFinder and VIA) and then walk through the results;
• I strong recommend 1-2 books that are related to discernment, career, vocation, self-awareness. We then work through them;
• Once there is some clarity, I can then assist with developing and enhancing LinkedIn, resumes, cover letters, networking, informational interviews, etc.
• I am then available to help prepare for interviews and follow up.

My goal is to provide something affordable and accessible for people who feel a bit lost or overwhelmed. If this captures what you might need you can reach me at kelly.soifer@ksleadershipdevelop.me to set up a time to get started.

Recommendations for this month...

✍🏾 How (and why) you should create a backup plan for your career. These 5 tips are basic, but also pretty fundamental and worth your time. Several clients I talk to are daunted by the prospect of creating such a plan, but simply avoiding the topic solves nothing! If it all feels rather overwhelming, start with this article and see if it can help you get started. (And note the career coaching bundle listed above as well 😅)

🔨 How to Build a Personal Brand. I know, I know, most people I talk to are allergic to the whole concept of "brand.". But this article captures the essence of why it is important to pay attention to it. Frankly, I coach a lot of clients on how to do this in a way that feels authentic to them. Contact me if you want to talk more about it. Additionally, here’s an interview of one of the authors of the article. I like how the interviewers really push back on the idea of branding in such a way that addresses all of our visceral reactions around this concept.

🧠 Neurodivergence at Work. I just coached a group of managers on this topic last week. This continues to be a very important issue for discussion. I am consistently (as in, almost weekly) encountering employees and/or their managers discovering that they need to learn how to manage work with ADHD, autism, OCD, dyslexia, or mental health diagnoses. While these are not "problems to fix" as much as dynamics to manage, there is a growing awareness in the workplace around neurodiversity and certainly requires further learning by executive leadership and human resources. This article by a true legend, Temple Grandin, titled When Great Minds Don't Think Alike, offers helpful insights as well.

😓 "What's Your Grief" Care Plan. Just this week I coached someone who lost two family members during the pandemic and has not yet had the space to grieve. We talked through her options for getting the support she needs. Furthermore, grief takes a variety of forms. I find that some of my clients are grieving co-workers lost through layoffs or resignations, and others are discouraged by how their company culture has been changed in disruptive ways. I cannot emphasize how important it is to address those feelings of loss.

🔍 "My Manager Tracks Us All with Google Alerts." Good (and painful?) reminder that everyone can track us online. Yikes.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to forward this others! I welcome questions and feedback, and am happy to meet for a complimentary 30-minute consultation for new clients interested in finding out more about coaching options available. Just email me at kelly.soifer@ksleadershipdevelop.me.

May 2023: Motivation, Management and Multiple Time Zones

I have had a great month with clients, and the song "I've Been Everywhere, Man" is currently running through my head as I think about them! I have virtually visited the countries of Kuala Lumpur, Thailand, and Bosnia, while also touring all over the US too, meeting online with clients from Chicago, Phoenix, NYC, Minneapolis, Pasadena, Baltimore, Boise, Boston, Sacramento, Houston, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Richmond... I am grateful for the opportunities to listen, learn, and share. P.S. Speaking of world travel, here's a new hack for managing multiple time zones on your Google Calendar - a lifesaver!)

Here are some of the things we discussed... I hope they provide some new insights to you as well!

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🎨 Leadership is an Art by Max DePree. I made a goal this year to go back and skim through at least 25 of the books on leadership that I have acquired over the years. And this one caught me a bit by surprise... I realized I had actually never read it, and had only heard it recommended. DePree was the CEO of Herman Miller furniture, and renowned as a gifted leader. Personally, I found the insights within this little book to be unique and thought-provoking -- in other words, it didn't sound like every other book on leadership. Sure, it is occasionally quaint and uses "he" more than I would like; after all, it was originally written in 1989, and the edition I read was reprinted in 2011. But its humility, emotional intelligence and generosity really stood out to me. It is a quick read, but will stay with you. (Ironically, the current CEO of DePree's former company was in the news recently, and not in a positive way. Not sure this CEO got around to reading DePree's book!)

Here's one quote from the start: The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor. That sums up the progress of an artful leader.

🤓 How to be a Good Manager in 2023. I am guiding #managementdevelopment for three different clients right now and here's a good summary of what is needed in a #manager in 2023: 5 ways to be a manager that people don’t want to quit. If you liked this one, this is worthwhile as well: “Help, I’m an accidental manager.” These are the management secrets you are never taught.

💪🏽 How Do I Stay Motivated After Surviving Layoffs? This entire podcast series is excellent and if you are looking for a new one to subscribe to, jump on this one. This particular episode captures the raw emotions that I hear in some of my clients after layoffs, and the host, Muriel Wilkins, a tremendously gifted executive coach, conducts a master class in walking someone through next steps.

And here's an extra... if you have been laid off, or need a boost as you consider a job change, this one caught my attention: This is how ChatGPT can level up your job search. I am barely wading in the waters of Generative AI (and some of it concerns me a lot), but this particular topic proved fruitful.

😵‍💫 How to talk to a problem employee about their poor job performance. You may be just finishing up performance reviews, but this issue bubbles up year-round. In fact, there is perhaps no other topic I receive from leaders and managers more than this one. We seem to be uniquely terrible at giving constructive, substantive, clear, direct feedback. Let’s stack hands on this and commit to getting better at it!! It is always better to address things early to avoid confusion and complexity. If you want another resource, I often send out this one: 14 questions to ask an underperforming employee during a one-on-one meeting.

⚕️Washington Post Opinion: ADHD is an illness, not a lifestyle. Don’t punish people for it. As I have shared here before, I am encountering more and more clients who have been diagnosed as neurodivergent: this includes ADHD, dyslexia, OCD, and autism, to name a few. The increase in diagnoses can be attributed to advances in neuroscience, greater awareness, and the stresses of the last 3+ years on our mental health and stress management. This article is behind a paywall, so I'm giving you the PDF I downloaded. I can almost guarantee you know a neurodivergent person, even if you don't realize it. Please take a few moments to learn a bit more about how it feels for those going through some significant challenges. (Additionally, the opinion writer followed up with a column on readers' responses to her column, including negative reactions to her use of the word "illness." You can find those reactions here.)

🐾 This Week in Wildlife. This is a fun photo gallery to follow...  animal photos lift my spirits every time. The muddy puffin this week is ridiculously cute.

Thanks for reading... reach out with questions or feedback (or even a complimentary 30-minute coaching session for new clients) at kelly.soifer@ksleadershipdevelop.me. 

October 2022: Reflect, Resolve, Remote, Recover

I found this illustration humorous -- of course in part because I am a devoted cat owner (shout out to 7 month-old kitten #Otisthecat) but also because I think we all tend to overcomplicate things. My hope is that this blog provides some hacks each month for you to help you wade through the noise and find some simpler solutions to complex issues. So here goes!

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🛠 How to Build a New Leadership Identity. I like this article because it captures some of the tension between transitioning from being an #individualcontributor to becoming a #manager and #leader. Do you have a "leadership identity"? If so, how did you discover and learn to define it?

⏳ Your Career Is Just One-Eighth of Your Life. Here are five pieces of career advice from a reliable source (Derek Thompson at the Atlantic - his podcast Plain English is also on regular rotation for me). Number Four on his five pieces of advice is the one I've especially taken to heart this year. And should you be in a reflective mood about your career and want to delve further, I also recommend this blog post, A Tale of Two Funerals. 

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If you find yourself at a crossroads professionally - you're hitting mid-life, you wonder if you're a good fit, you feel stuck... please go to my calendar and set up a one-time complimentary meeting so we can talk through your coaching options. I have just assembled a "coaching bundle" of various processes that could help you get started in a new direction.

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📉📈 When Success Isn't Success. I’ve had this conversation recently with a couple of people. I have found that an upside (perhaps the only one?!) of the pandemic has been that people have been drawn to the #existentialquestions of life – why am I here? what is my purpose? what is the meaning of life? This podcast certainly doesn’t solve those questions, but the conversation about it all here is very engaging.

🥊 Need Help with Conflict Resolution? I recently surveyed 75 of my clients, both past and present, and one of the things I asked was what specific issues do they need help with now. One of the most frequent responses I received was #conflictresolution. This article won't solve this struggle, but it gives some good baseline principles from which to start. #howtoargue #seektounderstand

🖥 Advice from the CEO of an All-Remote Company. I’ve worked virtually since 2010. I find that the reason #remotework is challenging is because we approach it the same way we do in-person work. Which makes no sense. I’m working hard to help leaders learn how to adapt effectively and think strategically in regard to working remotely. If you like this episode, you may find this article useful as well: 4 Myths about In-Person Work, Dispelled.

🤕 What's Your Grief? We experience all sorts of loss: the passing of loved ones; job loss; the end of a key friendship; the death of a treasured pet; even the disappointment of how much the world has changed since March 2020. This website is a good resource to get started on addressing your grief and loss, which has many layers of complexity. Here's a sample article: The Grief of Non-Death Losses. Additionally, here’s a podcast that provides a glimpse into counseling sessions on a variety of emotional issues: Dear Therapists.

What we do every day matters more than what we do once in a while. 

–GRETCHEN RUBIN

Great reminder that our habits and routines matter.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to pass this along to others. 

I am in the midst of compiling some new training and coaching resources for clients after five years of dedicating my efforts full-time to KS Leadership Development, and would love to share them with you if you're interested. Again, just set up a one-time complimentary appointment with me at https://bit.ly/KSLDApptScheduler.  

June 2022: Summer Suggestions

If you read my previous post, you know that I have a little more time in my schedule these days to read and reflect (at least theoretically!). So just two weeks later, I already have a bundle of recommendations for you. 

Since the pandemic began, my clients have needed a steady stream of resources related to stress management and the many ways that COVID and world events have turned our worlds upside down. Despite the ongoing stream of bad news that seems to bubble up every other day, I do have a list of links that pertain primarily to a favorite topic of mine: #leadershipdevelopment. Please let me know if you find any of these useful!

⏱ How to Help an Employee Who Struggles with Time Management. This is very good - a much more holistic approach that doesn’t reduce the problem to just finding a new #productivity app. I especially like the way it challenges the manager to recognize how much their own communication and delegation matters. 

⏳ Best Time-Saving Google Assistant Tricks. I have a significant number of clients who are neurodivergent, meaning that they are on the autism spectrum, ADHD, dyslexia or a few other neurological diagnoses. Sometimes, these folks struggle with staying on task or losing track of time. I have shared this link with several of them and they have told me it has been helpful. Note that these tricks are also useful if you are someone who often engages in deep work or really gets into flow, yet still needs to keep track of commitments at times. Last but not least, here's a useful link on time blindness, which is something often experienced by those with ADHD. Even if you do not struggle with this, you might manage someone who does and it could be a great opportunity to dialogue about how to work within the constraints created by that.

🤷🏽‍♀️ Best Practices for Hiring Gen Z. Given the roller coaster ride we are currently on, I cannot tell if we are still in the Great Resignation or a recession or what!? Nevertheless, talent managers and leaders are experiencing new challenges almost daily as they try to figure out how to recruit new hires, manage expectations around remote and hybrid work, and retain valuable employees. I thought this article did a good job describing what it's like to recruit and hire new graduates. We really do need to become students of who they are and what they want, because they bring some very new expectations to the workplace.

⁉️ Creative Questions. These could be used in a variety of contexts. For example, I am often asked by clients for help with coming up with creative questions to open meetings that are fun but also build trust and connection on teams, but they are useful in job interviews too. And honestly, they would be fun around the dinner table with friends too! 

• Best job interview question of all time.
• The Best Question to Ask a Job Applicant (extended article of the first one).
• 15 Questions for Team-Building. This is a new list I've compiled. 
• The kitchen sink. Here are all of my lists, past and present. Go crazy.

🗣 Ask a Manager. Where has THIS been all my life? You can also follow them on Twitter. I also recommend "Ask a Boss." Obviously, I recommend proactive professional development for managers and leaders and not reactive "hair-on-fire" crisis management, but this could be a good site to bookmark as a reliable reference for problems in a pinch.

Final Thoughts. As I s-l-o-w-l-y recover from my broken ankle, I am doing as best I can to live day by day and cultivate patience. In recent reading, I came across this quote from Simone Weil, a 20th century French philosopher and mystic:

We do not obtain the most precious gifts by going in search of them but by waiting for them.

May we each do our best to patiently persist through the highs and lows of these days. Thanks for reading. Please reach out with questions or feedback at kelly.soifer@ksleadershipdevelop.me.  

January 2022: How Did I Get Here?

I traditionally take this week between Christmas and New Year's to get some "balcony time" to reflect on the past year and prepare for the new one. As one website states, "So many things call for our attention at work every day that we can get completely caught up in the day-to-day business of business—what’s happening on the 'dance floor.' Getting up in the balcony allows leaders to gain perspective and shape vision."

As you can imagine, this time in the balcony was especially... a lot to process. I used some directed questions (see below) to get me started, and I let myself really remember how completely bat*$(# crazy this year was. Which is saying something because 2020 was certainly no joke either! I won't cycle through the summary of this year's headlines that will loop on repeat in the next couple of days on every news outlet, but WOW. The lyrics to Once in a Lifetime by the Talking Heads keep rattling around in my head... (Especially "And you may ask yourself, 'Well... how did I get here?'")

In the midst of it all, my work with clients has plowed ahead. I am still digging in with several clients in terms of #leadershipdevelopment -- creating new manager training competencies, constructing more efficient and relevant onboarding processes, shaping better employee engagement activities, to name a few. But on top of that, I am kept very busy by providing workshops and conversations on #stressmanagement, #resilience, and overall #wellbeing. And recently I have had some truly powerful discussions around #neurodiversity. I am learning so, so much. 

To indicate the interest I am discovering around these concerns around #wellbeing: I post about once a week on LinkedIn, and I average from 15 to maybe 300 views... but two weeks ago I posted an article titled "Feeling constantly stressed? Blame your 'threat brain'" and it got 3,817 views! Alrighty then.

So here is what I am reading and using with clients. Please do let me know what connects for you.

🎼 🎧 Science-Backed Productivity Playlists to Help You Dive Deeper Into Work.  Personally, I need something in the background to help me focus when I need to put my head down and laser in on one thing. Here are some playlists that might be helpful to you if you like to do that as well? 

😵 Staying Sane at Work. This is a podcast interview with Dr. Laurie Santos, who leads the most popular course on Coursera, which I have taken and recommended here, The Science of Well-Being (I still REALLY recommend it). This interview appears on the "Ten Percent Happier" podcast, which is a tremendous resource for those looking for creative, helpful methods of #self-care.

📆 End of Year 2021 Self-Reflection Questions. These are the ones referenced in the first paragraph above. Listen to the podcast given in the link, or scroll down and just use the 10 questions given. Questions 1, 2, 6 and 8 were the most productive for me. How about you?

✍🏾 Feeling Anxious? Journaling Might Help. Following up from my post in November on the value of journaling: Here is a quote from this month's article that sums up why I journal every day: "When people use writing to express themselves, Dr. Wright said, they 'increase emotional regulation, clarify life goals, find meaning, and give voice to feelings, which can help construct a meaningful story.' She added that looking back through old journal entries can remind the writer of the times she struggled but persevered."

✅ 22 for 22. Call them resolutions, call them goals, call them a bucket list... but I appreciate setting my sights on some things to work on and look forward to and challenge myself to try in the coming year. I did this last year via Gretchen Rubin's challenge to do the same (21 for 2021) and many were accomplished. Do this in a way that is life-giving and fun.

👂🏽 What You Discover When You Really Listen. I have learned that the activities of coaching and consulting with others (coupled with decades of pastoral care in my previous careers) requires focus (as opposed to multi-tasking), presence, curiosity, and the ability to keep going through the layers. This TedTalk by Hrishikesh Hirway captures that process -- it provides valuable insight for managers and leaders, but also for individuals as they relate to everyone important to them. Amazing.

🎙 Podcasts that I Can't Stop Listening To. Sometimes I feel like I could create a separate blog just for this topic... I am regularly awestruck and energized by the content I run into. My two latest favorites feed off of the recommendation directly above ~ perhaps you've already discovered Song Exploder on Netflix hosted by Hirway, which unpacks the process, in tremendous and fascinating detail, of how a song is written through in-depth interviews with the songwriter. But there are only a few episodes... so if you want a steady stream of new songs, I recommend the Song Exploder podcast. A similar podcast, yet totally different, comes from BBC Radio 4 that is called Soul Music. The title is a bit misleading... it does not solely cover soul music; rather, like Song Exploder, it explores stories behind all sorts of music -- but from the perspective of the listener, interviewing people who have had their lives (and souls) deeply impacted by a particular song. The episode of U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For is outstanding. P.S. If you enjoy this exploration of the creative process, sign up for several hours of watching (which I found tedious occasionally, but overall very worthwhile) the documentary on the Beatles called Get Back.

🧊 ⛏ 25 Icebreaker Questions for Meetings and Groups ~ latest update. I try to regularly compile list of questions for teams to use to break the boring chitchat at meetings, so here's my newest list. Previous lists can be found at https://bit.ly/KSLD25Qs and https://bit.ly/KSLDTeamBuild.

There are even more things to recommend, but that's enough for now. I hope I get to connect with you in the new year. Please feel free to reach out with questions and feedback at kelly.soifer@ksleadershipdevelop.me. Thanks for reading.