Transition State

Marcella just got offered a job she didn't even want— and rejected from one she did want. Or, at least, thought she wanted. But now that her company is back on track, at least for a little while, and the start-up's success depends on her project, should she even be looking for jobs in the first place? This 1:1 coaching session is part of Executive Coaching for CSOs, a scientific executive coaching...

Marcella is a great leader, far beyond what I'll ever be— but she can be a little too nice. And that has consequences— for her and her team. But now also for the entire company, because suddenly everyone's job depends on the success of her project. It's crunch time, and she's got to figure out how to bring out the best in people— without questioning herself along the way. This 1:1 coaching session...

Marcella is preparing for interviews— even though she still doesn’t know if she needs a new job. The job she has is what she wants, but this job could be what she needs. But it's hard to solve both problems at once— and in this session, we figure out how to deal with that. How long does it take to get a new job, what is an interview really about, and what if she has to decline a good offer? Th...

If Marcella loses her dream job, she’s gonna need a new one. Because she needs money to pay the bills. That’s the “job” part of “dream job.” Scientists often say “I don’t care about the money, I just want to do what I love,” but what do you do when the London rent comes due? It’s a dream job, not a dream hobby. The “dream” part matters, but unless you’re independently wealthy, the “job” part does...

I want to thank Marcella for her bravery. This is right after she suddenly lost her dream job. The primary purpose of these coaching sessions is to help her achieve her dreams. Seeing how she does that, seeing what it takes to have a career & life like hers, so that you can use that to achieve your own dreams, is the secondary purpose. She gave you a great gift— to show that this is not easy,...

Even when you know what to do & when (which most of us do), it’s hard to do actually do it. We ALL fall into the habit of answering emails in the morning— even those of us who shouldn’t. Especially those of us who shouldn’t. That doesn’t mean we’re wrong, and it doesn’t mean we won’t get what we want— it just means it might take longer. So if, like Marcella, you have a goal achievement method...

Marcella is REALLY good at achieving her goals, but the method she uses to do that isn’t working as well in a start-up as it used to during her postdoc. Not because the method is wrong, or she’s wrong, but because the nature of a start-up is different— your priorities change on a dime. Not just once in a while, but every day. So you can’t plan in advance. And this session is about what to do inste...

Marcella’s promotion to Principal means that she’s now the boss of her colleague. A colleague who also applied for that job— but didn’t get it. Because Marcella got it. And if that’s not enough, that colleague just came back from maternity leave & wants to work from home, which is a request that Marcella may not be able to grant— no matter how much she wants to. Being a manager is hard. You ha...

Meet Marcella, Principal Scientist of Discovery at a biotech start-up who leads a large cross-functional team. In her first coaching session, Marcella talks about why she wants an executive coach, even though she’s not an executive— yet. We discuss what she needs to succeed in her new job, including how to lead when you can’t lead by example anymore, the level of scientific expertise you need to a...

Step into the office of Executive Coach Dr. Kathy Chaurasiya as she helps a new Principal Scientist lead her team— through one of the toughest challenges a biotech start-up can face.  These 13 sessions are part of Executive Coaching for CSOs, a scientific executive coaching program that includes individual coaching, corporate strategy, annual planning, weekly feedback, and personalized training vi...

Coaching is about achieving your goals— and that often (not always, but often) requires a certain amount of self-improvement. But my clients come to coaching already highly accomplished people— this is just their latest achievement in a line of many. So we always end our coaching sessions by placing this particular achievement in context. This 1:1 coaching session is part of Leadership Coaching fo...

If you think the problem is "I'm not doing enough," you will try to solve it by doing more. You will make decisions based on that solution, which will always be rewarded with more achievement— more praise, more promotions, more money. And if you're right about the problem, you will get what you want, and you will be happy. But if you’re wrong about the problem, you’ll still try t...

What is driving this highly accomplished woman to achieve more things to her own detriment? Her own department head said that if she checks all her boxes, and achieves all the things she is trying to achieve, she will end up in burnout. And even that didn't wake her up to the fact that more achievement does not always lead to more happiness? In this session, we try to answer that question by solvi...

Fede really needs to get a paper out, and we’re using every possible method under the sun to get that done— she has me for internal accountability, she has a conference in March for an external deadline, her technician is doing the experiments, she has it time-blocked on her calendar for her Golden Hour on Fridays, etc etc. But somehow she’s still convinced that she should write a grant at the sam...

After the last session, Fede & I did an unrecorded session to discuss her personal problems. Which makes sense— she came to coaching because her dream job was ruining her personal life. So in this session, we first discuss whether she solved those problems & how she did it, before we can move on to how she's gonna get tenure. Because the secret to getting what you want is solving the right...

Every client has one primary feeling that comes up again & again. For me it's fear, for one of my clients it's sadness, for another it's resentment, and for Fede it's guilt. She feels guilty about not doing enough—for her parents, for her partner, for her lab—when there's no reason for it. Her endless responsibilities are imposed on her by society & circumstance, not chosen by her for love...

You can't control the world. You can plan your calendar to hilt, and you think that means you have time to do everything— but actually it means the opposite. If you're over-scheduled, by definition you won't have time to do everything you put on your calendar— because it doesn't account for problems you couldn't have foreseen due to circumstances beyond your control. And in this session, Fede &amp...

After you get your dream job, there WILL come a point where your strengths become your weaknesses. Fede's directness is her strength, and it helped her get what she wanted in last week's negotiations. But now we have to figure out how to get the agreement in writing without backsliding BECAUSE of that same directness. Every strength is a double-edged sword— first it will help you get what you want...

In every negotiation, you both want different things, and you are each trying to answer the question, "how much of what I want can I actually get?" Based on that, you can make a decision about whether to work together. Last week we decided what Fede wants, and in this session we discuss what her colleague wants. Then we use that to prepare Fede's counter-offer. This 1:1 coaching session is part of...

Negotiation is hard, especially when you're the newest hire. You don't have as much negotiating power as your senior colleagues, simply because you haven't had as much time to reach the same level of achievement. So in this session we discuss 1) how much negotiating power Fede actually has (versus how much she thinks she has), and 2) what she should use that power to ask for. This 1:1 coaching ses...

Work-life balance is such a hard problem to solve because what you should be doing (and what you should NOT be doing anymore!) is a function of your career stage— and therefore it’s always changing. And not just that— it also depends on your personality & preferences, so it's different for everyone. You can't copy your colleagues or your mentors. Unfortunately it's not that easy. When should y...

Fede just submitted a huge grant, she's been working on it for months, and she has every right to be exhausted. And I agree with that decision, I'd do the same thing if I were her— and get the same result, which is burnout. But that's not what we want, so this coaching session is about how to avoid that. This 1:1 coaching session is part of Leadership Lab for PIs, a faculty development program tha...

Meet Fede, a tenure-track professor who needs to get grants & build up her own research lab. In her first coaching session, Fede explains why she wants a leadership coach, even though she loves her job. We discuss what she needs to succeed in a highly competitive academic environment, including the constant pressure to prove yourself, the dual demands of teaching & research, and the power...

Step into the office of Executive Coach Dr. Kathy Chaurasiya as she helps a highly accomplished professor in London get tenure— without losing everything she loves along the way. These 13 sessions are part of Leadership Coaching for PIs, a scientific career coaching program that includes individual coaching, grant reviews, weekly feedback, and personalized training videos. Learn more at www.kathy....