Every day I coach emerging leaders as they move into managerial roles and I hear the same themes in all of our conversations: – How do I know if I’m doing well? – I miss being in the weeds of the work. – Humans are exhausting me. – I hear about the problems but I…
Dear Plucky, There are a variety of junior employees on my team. It’s been a joy to mentor them, but I’ve noticed that they interpret feedback in a very different way than I do. A small dose of constructive feedback can lead to a tailspin of anxiety, negative self-talk or even tears. Often, these conversations…
Dear Plucky, A human disappointed me today. What should I do? Love, Everyone — — — Dear Everyone, Oh, friend. Want to come sit for a few minutes? Let’s walk over here to this bench, the one that overlooks some nature. I like looking at nature when I’m having trouble with humans. Nature has…
“If you don’t talk about what’s awkward, you either seem stupid or dishonest… But inviting conversation about how it’s tricky for both of you opens the conversation enough to recommit to the next phase of your friendship.”
“So what’s #PluckyWomen?” I was standing at the bar, ready to order. I looked up from the drink menu at the dude next to me and in that second a song started playing over the speakers — the song I listen to when I’m writing big SOWs or prepping ambitious new pitches. Maybe it…
My son’s beloved preschool teacher unexpectedly quit before Christmas. We live in an expensive area of the country and, understandably, it turns certain industries into revolving doors of employment. Who can live in the Bay Area on small salaries? Not many. Though this is a really logical problem, her departure was a total shock to…
I’m training for a 5k. I told my 4-year-old a month ago that I was starting to practice running so I could run a race before the summer.“Are you going to win the race?” he asked. I told him no, that I wasn’t going to win and he looked sad. “Maybe you’ll win, mom! Maybe…
In my first job out of college, I worked for a non-profit school. As part of my role I had to produce a quarterly newsletter that would be mailed to all 500 families. This meant that once a quarter, I picked up boxes (upon boxes) of the newsletter at our printer, labeled big envelopes and…
I coach employed people all week. I also coach employers. And all those hours of human talking has led me to a fundamental belief about the nature of employment: individuals and companies are like two sides of a plastic Easter egg. Healthy companies use managers to pay attention to the way they CLICK. (Stay with…
I decided to spend Fridays in San Francisco for Q4 in 2016, half in an effort to grow my local network and half to prove that I’m out of ICU and back at work. So I set up a bunch of coffees and lunches. I learned how to ride the BART better and also learned…
Recently I was asked to write and speak about the topic of waiting. I thought I’d share it here. So here’s how it works: each employee gets 30 minutes. I introduce myself as a consultant, we sit down and I assure them confidentiality. I tell them that I’m there to look for patterns across all…
Kelsie Kerr is a well-known chef. She founded Standard Fare in West Berkeley in 2014 and has been involved with a number of well-known restaurants and projects, including Chez Panisse, cookbooks and designing curriculum for cooking schools. I’m a sucker for the scones, muffins and coffee at Standard Fare, which is one of my favorite…