6 April 2026 From the Coach's Desk Something unusual is happening in the UAE right now. A country absorbing sustained military attacks is functioning with remarkable stability. Residents feel safe and daily life continues with minimal disruption. Most people living outside the UAE find this surprising. It isn't, if you understand containment. Containment is the leadership capacity to absorb collective fear so that a system can keep thinking and functioning. It's what I observed across 20...
5 months ago • 1 min read
8 December 2025 From the Coach's Desk One of the fundamental beliefs that I carry with me in every leadership coaching session is that awareness brings change. When my clients experience and integrate a new insight about how they are showing up, and about how they are limiting themselves, the rest becomes easy. As we come towards the end of the year and start to look forward to 2026, I want to bring a little of that self-awareness to all of you. If you'd like to take control of 2026, I'm...
9 months ago • 4 min read
8 September 2025 From the Coach's Desk Einstein famously said: "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." In teams and organizations that often translates to a simple truth: if you see yourself as part of the system you're trying to fix, you become to entangled with it emotionally to be an effective problem solver. What sets great leaders apart is their ability to look at the system as an object that can be redesigned according to their needs, rather...
12 months ago • 2 min read
1 September 2025 From the Coach's Desk This past week, I found myself reflecting on a pattern I see often with senior leaders. We celebrate decisiveness, clarity, and expertise...and rightly so. These qualities help leaders cut through complicated challenges with skill. But every so often, a problem arrives that refuses to yield to expertise. The more you push, the more it shifts. The more you try to solve it, the more it reshapes itself. These are complex problems. In my years as an advisor...
12 months ago • 3 min read
25 August 2025 From the Coach's Desk A lot of my work as a leadership coach is bringing awareness to leaders about things that were previously in their blind spots. I recall several times when others did that for me: something that was always right under my nose that I did not notice. And a moment later, the sudden realization and surprise at learning that it was always there. It could be about a way that I behaved, or assumptions I had made that were not true, or about things that I was...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
18 August 2025 From the Coach's Desk Today is my birthday. Birthdays are a good time to reflect on the year that passed, and to set intentions for the year ahead. I've been lucky with a birthday that comes towards the end of summer. I can make these intentions for the upcoming year with the space and clarity of mind that comes with taking time off. If you had the chance to take some time off this summer, I'm sure you came back with some great ideas for new things you want to upon your return....
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
24 June 2025 From the Coach's Desk Part of the work I do with leaders is helping them build the awareness, skills and tools they need for highly effective leadership. I had a powerful session with a client yesterday where we consolidated six months of working together into a powerful leadership inner architecture. He was able to see very clearly how these different elements connected together to help him show up more intentionally and to achieve better results. Below are the highlights from...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
17 June 2025 From the Coach's Desk A senior leader at a large organization was sharing her frustration: "We have thousands of employees, but when it comes to leadership strength across the organization, it feels like we're still in our early days." She's not alone. Many leaders sense that their organization has outgrown its leadership capacity. The business expands. The stakes get higher. Complexity grows. But the leadership muscle across the organization struggles to keep pace. A few...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
26 May 2025 From the Coach's Desk Over the past few weeks, I’ve had conversations with several senior executives about career shifts. The question they were asking: “Is it time for me to move on?” Not because something was terribly wrong. But because something didn’t feel quite right anymore. What was different here was that for the first time in their career, they were not really sure what they would move on to. If you find yourself in a similar situation, today's newsletter is for you. The...
over 1 year ago • 4 min read