Time for Changes

Career Changes
Thank you but no thank you – Stories from 10 years at Google

Thank you but no thank you – Stories from 10 years at Google

Eventually, it became clear, though: I don’t want to manage people. I want to partner with them to help them grow and live the lives they want. There is a clear overlap but there are also a few areas that are at odds. Tempting as it was to accept the invitation, it would move me away from my passion of coaching.

Many faces of Bias

Many faces of Bias

I did miss and wish there had been more diversity in my teams. If we were serving global users, it made a lot of sense to have global teams.

What a wreck – Stories from 10 years at Google

What a wreck – Stories from 10 years at Google

I wondered about the answer I could have given, the words I didn’t say. L’esprit the escalier, as they call that feeling of the having the perfect reply too late. The difference is that this feeling lasted for months, if not more.

Great Managers – Stories from 10 Years at Google

Great Managers – Stories from 10 Years at Google

My manager, trying hard to help, had the brilliant idea of giving me a paper and a pen to write it down. I picked a pencil, instead – it was less permanent – and wrote the words: “my mother has cancer”.

Team Development with MBTI

Team Development with MBTI

MBTI is clearly a good tool for this kind of things although it’s just one of many frameworks that helps a conversation get started. It gives you a set of concepts and vocabulary that you can then easily share with others.

Finish line

Finish line

The final milestone to the Coaching Certification has started.   This evaluation consists of eleven sessions of Observed Coaching and professional feedback.   Today was the first session and it was very good to see other people coaching. There...

Mirrors – Reflections on Disrespect

Mirrors – Reflections on Disrespect

Everyone that enters our lives is a teacher, they all have something to give. This lesson was a very expensive reminder that I come first. It is true that I can try to understand where others are on their path in life and what they are struggling with (narcissism, a very broken soul?). Yet, protecting my own space and needs must come first.

First cycle of changes

First cycle of changes

Occasionally it still seasons my dreams with characters, projects and experiences from the past.

Detox

Detox

So, what happens when you leave the place you've been intensely working at for the past ten years? Surprisingly little, at first. I still wake up from dreams about work, wondering about a report, or a project that needs to get done. A keyword, a name will trigger an...

Badging out

Badging out

It was 9:30 on a Friday and I was having the meeting with HR. Everytime we had worked together in the past it had been great so it felt particularly awkward to be having an exit interview with them. It was over 10 years working there and it matters to me to leave...