SELF IMPROVEMENT AND MOTIVATION

It’s not fair. Gender discrimination is hard-baked into everyone despite their protestations. Subtle gender bias occurs in every meeting, in every work-based interaction –  filo pastry-like layers of discrimination that are so insidious you barely notice them creeping up on your psyche.  But they’re there.   For years we’ve been working with talented, accomplished corporate women who consistently undervalue their abilities, and therefore are not overtly communicating their competence for career progression. It is a pattern. Women in the workforce have a tendency to shy away from beating their own drum, while their male counterparts have no such limitation.   Meanwhile, we see male counterparts going for senior roles with less fear or introspection about their abilities.  This is exactly what happened to our client, Rebecca. Well-established in her career at 32, Rebecca found herself questioning her own abilities to go for a Director role, despite strong experien...

Every once in a while, I run across someone who doesn’t want to change.  How do I motivate them to change when they don’t want to?  What do I do to convince them that the change is good for them?  Nothing! Have you ever tried to change the behavior of an adult who had absolutely no interest in changing? How much luck did you have with your attempts at this “religious conversion”? Have you ever tried to change the behavior of a spouse, partner or parent who had no interest in changing? How did that work out for you? My guess is that if you have ever tried to change someone else’s behavior, and that person did not want to change, you have been consistently unsuccessful in changing their behavior. You may have even alienated the person you were trying to enlighten. If they don’t care, don’t waste your time. Research on coaching is clear and consistent. Coaching is most successful when applied to people with potential who want to improve — not when applied to people who have ...