Have you ever found yourself in the situation when someone at work is trying to sabotage your work? There are signs or behaviors that a team member is undermining your leadership. You cannot really put…
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Working Virtually – The Hyperawareness Trap
Living during a pandemic (and now also during very uncertain and volatile times) is a high stress situation. Our health and physical wellbeing and that of our loved ones’ is threatened. Living under social distancing and isolation are also stressful situations, as are experiencing a threat to global safety and stability. We need human togetherness to thrive.
Working Virtually – The Distorted Self-Image Trap
Are you obsessed about how you looked recently during that virtual meeting? Those bags under your eyes seem to get heavier each day. What about that double or triple chin and shiny forehead? There is a word for the hyper awareness of our looks ‘Zoom dysmorphia’.
Yikes! I’ve Lost the Ability to Interact in-person at Work
Anecdotal information from my network is telling me that we have grown comfortable with zoom and teams’ meetings while live in-person interactions now feel stressful, and even odd. We are experts at expressing and reading emotions with our eyes and foreheads only. Smiling with our eyes as we wear a facemask. How to transition back to in-person work?
A Mindful Mountain Moment
The part of Finland where I grew up had no mountains. It was flat. With a hill popping up here and there. We would drive six hours north beyond the arctic circle to find a…
Difficult Conversations made Easy – Part 2 During the Meeting
In episode 11 we looked at the six steps to take to prepare for a challenging conversation, they included among others, to have a clear goal, to check your assumptions, and to try to understand and anticipate the other’s goals and needs.
Let us imagine that you are now having that so called difficult conversation. Perhaps you are connected virtually by video conference. How do you start?
First focus on creating trust. How do we create trust? By communicating positive intentions, being honest and transparent in our messaging and my listening.
Having a Baby Abroad – My blog post for Wall Street Journal
I had an opportunity to contribute to Wall Street Journal’s Expat site recently with a blog about having your first child abroad. To have, or not to have, your first child while on your first…
Managing Change – Rites of Passage
The lovely summer is behind us. Those of us who are parents are emerging from the hectic back-to-school season with its emotional highs and lows and are now moving towards the soon approaching Holiday Season….
American Optimism, Finnish Sisu and Old Fashioned Grit
I grew up in a small town in western Finland. My family was a typical middle-class Finnish family, except that we come from the small Swedish-speaking minority. Both of my parents grew up on farms….
The Joys and Struggles of an Intercultural Couple
Being married to someone from a different cultural background than your own is both exciting and challenging. The differences that brought the two of you together may, over time, become those that cause most friction. …