You may not even be aware you are doing it.

How much your everyday language - and the WAY you talk about situations, impacts the way you lead yourself and others around you.

Language that makes things seem extreme.

And in the humanitarian and development world, there is PLENTY to exaggerate.

"The donor always delivers proposals late."

"The community is never on time."

"My team doesn't com...

We all know them.

Leaders who are not aware how their behavior impacts their team.

They have no idea that they frequently put the team down or start yelling for no apparent reason.

The kind of leader we all want to avoid and avoid becoming.

One of the best ways to become the leader you admire is by being aware of how your behavior is being perceived by others.

In other words, becoming more...

Some of you have asked for a peek behind my coaching course - how is it run?  How do we ensure students complete the course successfully?

In response I interviewed Maureen Murigi, my Admin Support Manager for the course.  Maureen shares what the course looks like from her perspective - and the challenges she faces while making sure students have what they need to finish successfully.

If you...

Many of you have asked whether or not you should take my digital coaching course, which teaches a "coaching leadership style."

What I tell aid workers is that this way of leading is the future for the aid world, or at least the future we envision - a more inclusive, localized approach.  

But you don't have to take my word for it.  Today's guest Leah Marie Lucas is one of my former students an...

Recently I had a group of 38 students from CRS Uganda take my coaching course.

I asked a panel of four (Olive D'Mello, Florence Ayo, Dismus Arineitwe and Emmanuel Obuko) to answer some questions about what changed for them since taking the course.  You'd be surprised!

Here are a few things they mention:

• Using coaching as a way to learn with their team (reflection)
• Creating an empowering c
...

Today's guest has really done it.

He has taken what he learned about coaching and created a culture within his organization that has resulted in a more proactive team.  This in turn has allowed him to grow his organization and focus on the important.

In short, Salif Kanoute, President of DECLIC NGO in Senegal, has gotten out of his own way.

This is not easy as a leader - we often think our t...

We've arrived at episode 200 - I can't believe it! 

For this special occasion I have asked a special guest to come on the podcast.. my husband Shannon. Shannon has over 20 years' experience working for INGO's and the UN in numerous countries from Haiti to Afghanistan. He's had a lot of experience in the field, and unfortunately also a lot of experience under toxic leadership. 

In this episode...

Are you feeling demotivated with development or humanitarian work?

It can show up in different ways.

Maybe you're feeling more tired than usual.

Or you just don't feel like checking your email.  

Or getting to that task---whatever it is.

Today I am going to walk you through four simple steps to overcome feelings of demotivation so you can start becoming your more energized self.

They are ...

I was honored to do a Time Management Master Training at the WILD Forum last week.  After the training, I found myself looking through the participants' comments for feedback.  And I quickly stopped myself.

While receiving feedback is wonderful, we need to be careful when we find ourselves craving it.  In my case, I was craving the feedback to confirm that "this presentation is amazing" - or rea...

Wouldn't it be great if we knew exactly what a community wanted without talking to them?

If we knew what the community wanted, we could skip all the design meetings, all the planning and just get started with implementation.

It would be great.  But it's not reality.

Although we may want to rush, when we fix things quickly now we can make them harder in the long run.

The same goes for super...