Written By Sarah Hodges The Most Common Leadership ComplaintsAs an Executive Coach, one of the most frustrating and recurring issues my clients face is employee underperformance. - “Their job is simple. I don’t know why they can’t just do it,” a leader told me during a recent coaching session. - “They should be able to complete this task. It’s just not that hard!” said another manager. - “They keep asking me the same questions over and over again!” co[...]
Written By Sarah Hodges Instigators are lurking in your life right now. They exist in your family, circle of friends, and in the workplace. They cause problems, and their interactions leave you with less energy - like a vampire who feeds off your positivity and optimism. Sometimes they’re easy to spot, but many of them wear masks veiled as your support system. You need to unveil these instigators to learn how to manage them in your life. Here are Five Easy Ways to Spot an Instigator #1[...]
Written By Sarah Hodges Triggered? You know the feeling of being triggered. Someone cuts you off in traffic, and profanities flow from your mouth like a drunken sailor as you erratically zoom around him and flip him “the bird”. Your boss sends an accusatory email after work, and you can feel your face turn green as you morph into the Incredible Hulk and draft a seething reply. Your printer runs out of ink just minutes before a big meeting, and your foot quickly puts a dent in the side of[...]
Written By Sarah Hodges Do You Know Yourself? You are your most important companion, and knowing yourself is essential to success. But, how well do you really know yourself? I’m not talking about your habits, tendencies, and preferences. I mean, how well do you know yourself the way you know your closest companions? –The way you can feel your best friend’s anxiety the moment he picks up the phone, or sense that your brother has something mischievous planned by the indescribable expression[...]
Written By Sarah Hodges The Ghosts in your Mind Remember when you were a child, and you asked your mom to keep the lights on when you went to bed at night? Even though your mom assured you that ghosts and monsters were not real, you didn’t buy it. So, your mom left your door open a crack or turned on your nightlight to stop the haunt. If she didn’t, she knew that you’d probably have an inevitable meltdown. As an adult, you now know that the ghosts were all in your head. Perhaps you even t[...]
Written By Sarah Hodges Peer Pressure DNA Peer pressure didn’t end in high school. We like to think of ourselves as evolved individuals who have grown up. The truth is that when it comes to peer pressure, we’ve barely evolved since we were cavemen. It’s in our DNA. We are a social species subject to social evaluative threat. This is the threat we feel when we’re losing our social status among our peer group. In early hunter and gatherer days, this made a lot of sense. If you were a liab[...]
Written By Sarah Hodges Attached to Expectations Did you ever watch “The Office?” Remember the time when Michael Scott, the eccentric manager played by Steve Carell, was so insistent on following his GPS that he drove his car right into a lake? I still laugh to myself as I think of that scene. Michael Scott had an expectation that his GPS was going to take him right to his destination, and he was so attached to that expectation that deviating from the map was incomprehensi[...]
Written By Sarah Hodges Meet your Inner A-hole Everyone has an inner a-hole walking around with them through life. Imagine this: It’s just another day, and you’re going about your business at work. Maybe you’re even feeling a little extra confident! …When suddenly, out of nowhere, your inner a-hole shows up. “You’re such an idiot. You’re never going to get that promotion.” — Within moments, you feel tense and insecure. Your inner a-hole has you[...]
Written By Sarah Hodges The real reason you’re not achieving your goals… There is a secret safety in self-sabotage. No matter how badly you desire to achieve your goals, reaching them might be subconsciously scarier than staying stuck. Developing new habits and transforming your life is not only difficult, but it requires a certain amount of comfort with uncertainty. For example, what would life be like if you left your job and started your own business? How would life be different if you r[...]
Written By Sarah Hodges The Audience Do you ever feel like you’re walking through life with an imaginary audience? Are you ever wondering what this audience is thinking about you? What kinds of thoughts do you imagine them thinking about you? Fish Bowl I remember the days when I was obese. I didn’t want to leave my apartment because I didn’t like people looking at me. I didn’t like being stared at as I walked down the street. I actually really wanted to go for[...]