Dear Madeleine, I know you have heard it before, but I just don’t know what to do about the amount of email I get. I cannot possibly attend to it all. I am constantly showing up at meetings and facing the question “Did you read my email?” The answer is almost always no, but people…
Dear Madeleine, I run the office of compliance for the parent company of a large financial institution. We are attorneys, paralegals, and accounting professionals. About a year ago, my boss was fired and I was made interim head of compliance. I’ve received no title change and no substantial raise, but they keep throwing stock at…
Anyone who has ever flown has heard these words: “Should a drop in cabin pressure occur, put your own mask on first.” Yes, in order to help others, you must take care of yourself first. Since I almost always ponder life through the filter of coaching, this brings to mind three of my recent clients:…
Dear Madeleine, I am a senior manager in what is essentially a call center. I am hoping you can help me. I am too nice. I am a giver; I come from a long line of nice, generous givers. My Mom ran a dentist’s office and headed several volunteer committees, headed up events at our…
As I walked out the door of our air conditioned building to go to lunch, I stepped though a stifling wall of heat that took my breath away. It was high noon and the temperature was 95 degrees farenheit…a stunning 20-25 degree difference from the comforts of my office. At that moment, I felt my…
I have long been a staunch advocate of work-life balance. Though I’ve been reflecting on the principle quite a bit recently and have come to realize that work-life balance is, at best, an abstract concept. Most of us have a general idea or opinion of what work-life balance looks like but there is no standard…