The Sage Sayers

My inner circle knows that my dominant Saboteur — my leader of my inner critics, after the Judge — is the Stickler, who takes order, organization, and perfectionism way too far. While I view the strength of this saboteur as quality, until recently, holding out for flawless action has sabotaged any true career growth. (You can learn about your own saboteurs here. ) In this week's highly-flawed...

Most of us want to sound warm but strident, clear on what we want and need, but open to feedback. And yet our writing can give off a cooler, sometimes lofty feeling which  can offset our audience.  In this podcast, at a time when most company leaders fret about attrition, we explore the delicate art of tone in business writing. (While the tips here tie to writing, many work in business speaking, t...

In this week's episode we respond to popular asks for help with building our vocabulary in ways where others notice--but from a love for learning vs. fear of falling back, no longer mattering, or not fitting in. If you're wanting to improve your word choice or even find new ways to use plain words, consider these five coaching steps.  An article on Medium offers these same insights and s...

Around half of Americans, Brits, and Australians are on the hunt for new jobs. Figures are scant elsewhere; but if my coaching base stays reflective of communicators, I'd say those numbers feel about right. But if a job interview awaits us, what myths exist on how we show up as communicators? In this week's podcast, I debunk the biggest myths I see plaguing communicators starting with th...

My guest this week is entrepreneur and coffee e-retailer Brad Peugh who (through the height of the Pandemic) launched his e-retailer selling (what I find to be) the best coffee in America. Brad's drawing from two major life experiences to launch Peugh's Brews: His time in the Air Force where he learned resilience, problem solving, but also exposure to the world's best coffee and int...

With the Great Return underway--and 50% of businesses demanding workers return to the office--politics are running amok. What's the bigger cry for help? Staying calm, focused, and centered when leaders hijack our meetings or presentations (and especially when external parties watch on.) Fret not. This week's podcast episode offers tried-and-tested tips and techniques which other communic...

Last month marked my fifth year living in the U.S. midwestern state of Wisconsin, one of America's most frigidly cold states.  I’ve found surprising gifts from the long, drawn-out colder temps which can linger through to May. (Last week, we froze for days. Yesterday: snow!) In this week’s episode, I’m celebrating Wisconsin and what I learned about myself and my situation from a cooler climate...

As we transition back to the office, we bring with us our fears and discomfort with public speaking. Having overcome this fear myself, I've a few tips and techniques (which include mental fitness approaches) and ideas I've co-created with coachees/leaders from all over the globe.  Have a listen to this week's podcast and see how differently you feel from taking baby steps each week...

In this week’s podcast, we unpack (with the help of my dear coachees) some helpful strategies for the world’s biggest, most looming business communication problems. I gather (then share) recurring themes and patterns I've noticed from hundreds of individual coaching sessions and the recurring learning: Communication problems become personal problems, but also room for growing confidence — and...

This week, on February 23, many countries, including Canada and the U.S. honored Anti-Bullying Day as a way to stand against bullying. Countries like New Zealand honor Anti-Bullying Day in May and of course more honoring occurs with national bullying prevention month in October here in the states.  As someone who’s been a target of workplace bullying, I’m curious how this phenomena impacts us at w...

My guest this week is Coach Deb Skarda, a former critical care nurse, turned corporate pharmaceutical leader, turned leadership consultant and coach. Deb's successfully navigated three major career changes, most recently leaving a thriving career as a global pharmaceutical leader to launch her own business from Wisconsin as a leadership coach. Our interview explores how we know when to change...

Meeting fatigue has leaders all over grappling with sadness, loss, and questions about life. Cognitive overload from staring at screens create other struggles. Communication challenges range from shutting down when faced with ad-hoc questions and fading executive presence. But there's ways to turn the ship around by managing your schedule with love vs. fear. In this week's podcast, we&ap...

The world never stands still when we lead. Life continues swirling around us and I notice this point when coaching and training leaders on written and oral communications. They know: to lead well, they must address whatever obstacles prevent them from leading from a clear, compelling place. (I feel so happy and honored to help.) In this ongoing series, I’m sharing the most pressing and/or memorabl...

In this week's podcast, I take the interviewee vs. interviewer seat. Charles Jett, a Chicago, Il. based career coach, interviews me on PQ Podcast, a weekly podcast exploring the ways that mental fitness (our ability to rebound with a positive vs. negative mindset) helps us in life. In this interview, Charles asks me how I apply this magical tool to my communications, my life, and my energizin...

If you're a reserved or introverted communicator, you may feel you must share your ideas only when (and if) it's fully hatched. Or perhaps you feel less compelled to disrupt or add any more noise because you feel little need to share yourself. Either way, when you know silence doesn't provide the best option, ways exist to speak up in meetings which feel authentic, aligned with your...

My guest this week is Godswill Mhlanga, a finance and accounting whizz who’s worked in the U.S. and abroad across most industries, and even with Ernst and Young, where he served banking, life sciences, mining, and financial service clients for 10 years. I’ve brought Godswill to the Sage Sayers today in part for a lovely reunion; he studied at Kenan-Flagler Business School where I taught corporate...

A recent poll found over half (specifically 52%) of American workers consider career changes for next year and as January approaches, 44% already plan to make the switch. A sad 14% of Americans feel satisfied with their current job.  From clients and peers working in other global regions, I hear similar numbers all over.  For a career transitioner like me who's cheerfully changed industries a...

I've invited back this week Charles Cranston Jett, a certified coach specializing in career management, critical skill development, and career crises to help us answer a popular question with the communicators I coach: How do we tell our career story in clear, compelling ways, and especially when we undergo career change? And how do we find the right career path, anyway? In this week's e...

Women entrepreneurs are thriving throughout these singular times and my guest this week, Mimi Pressley, a Florida-based hair and makeup artist, has ideas as to why. [While true data remains scant, women business owner's groups on Facebook have grown from 1,000 members in 2019, to 15,000 members in 2020, to 21,000 today, as one indicator of this trend.] In our interview, Mimi shares how she&ap...

My guest this week is Yug Varma. He’s a San Francisco, Calif-based trained microbiologist and synthetic biologist with a background in organic chemistry. He’s also Co-founder and CEO of a skin microbiome company, Phyla. All of Yug’s work leads towards an impressive goal: To develop the next generation of whole cell therapeutics to treat chronic microbial diseases.  Yug’s kindly joined our show tod...

72% of Americans did not take a summer vacation in 2020 and this year (with some small hope) 50% of Americans took a summer vacay while the other 50% did not. Meanwhile, consumer research finds 44% of Americans choose not to use their Paid Time Off. In this week's episode, we unpack what lies our Judge and other Saboteurs tell us about restoring ourselves through rest, hobbies, and even vacat...

My guest this week is Mark Herschberg, an author, public speaker, and an MIT instructor based in New York. Along with teaching at MIT's career success accelerator and serving as a startup CTO, Mark's recently published an excellent resource. It's called the Career Toolkit, a book (and app) helping others develop the skills they need to design and execute their personal plan. All of...

The mass resignation--millions of workers leaving their jobs in hopes of a better life and purpose--offers us gifts and opportunities as communicators. We can learn something from this global phenomenon, too. In this week's podcast, we explore what I hear and learn from thoughtful and strategic communicators all over the world. You can read my article on Medium this week on how to craft a com...

Many communicators want to uplift and humanize topics through storytelling; but how to do it succinctly and well? This week's podcast shares a tried and tested framework, offers some small best practices, and we demonstrate all of that through telling a wee story of our own. You can read my related article on storytelling on Medium this week via this link here. And if you're keen to unpa...

My guest this week is Dublin, Ireland-based Maura Dolan who has spent the large part of her life and career coaching executives to find the calm, clarity, and perspective to lead from an authentic and collaborative  place. Maura's just released a lovely book via Amazon, The Collaborative Nature of Coaching: Basic Skills for Managers, Leaders, Life and Executive Coaches . This work compiles al...