As a VP of Marketing, I’ve averaged over 100 emails a day and easily sent 30-50. These days, my clients are still using email but have also added Slack, WhatsApp, Text/SMS, and other messaging services. They are also fairly prolific on the major social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.).

But how much communication is enough? How often should we respond, post, broadcast, or interact with our followers and social contacts? Who sets the expectation for how these technologies are used and their expected response time?

Why is context setting important for effective meetings? Even in a one-to-one conversation, context-setting is vital and often helpful to grounding the conversation and determining the agenda of what needs to be discussed. In an effort to help you have better meetings, here is a quick checklist to set the context and clarify the reason you are meeting: State what is the meeting about. Propose why is it important now and any recent developments. Define what you are trying to accomplish in this meeting. (Hint: the big opportunity — lean in folks! This is important.) Optional: If time allows, you might open the floor to questions before you begin. This can usually be done in less than one minute (with a few more minutes for questions).

In my book "Doubt Riding Shotgun," I reference an inspiring story from the remarkable Irish poet, David Whyte. He once recounted an interaction with his aunt where she scoffed at his decision to become a poet. She said, "Well, you certainly must think highly of yourself!" And without hesitation, David replied, "In fact, I do! And so should you!"

This story has resonated deeply with many readers, so I thought I'd make a video reminding us all of the importance of embracing our worth and recognizing the unique qualities that make us special.

Self-doubt (aka as our inner critic) is trying to protect us. I like to imagine that doubt sees the rumble strips on the freeway and is warning us to stay in our lane. Once we tell doubt we hear the warning, we can often move on along our intended path.

Loving yourself is a good thing and allows for mysterious things to come to light. Take time to relax and enjoy this one precious life to see what’s inside.

Doubt Riding Shotgun will be released in early 2023 as an ebook and print version shortly thereafter.

This book works with a familiar metaphor to help us realize that Doubt never goes away entirely... and that's OK. It's about how we come to know and work with our unique Doubt passenger that matters. Doubt doesn't get to have the final say.

I've done just about everything wrong in creating this book, and that is also the point. You see, I too have my own clever, shapeshifting, and sneaky Doubt passenger.

What can we learn from our Shoulds?

Noticing our Shoulds for deeper learning

Learning from our Shoulds

What can we Learn from our “Shoulds"?