Growing up, most of us likely faced bullies on our school playgrounds. It is an awful feeling to be relentlessly teased or ridiculed by another person(s). It can erode our confidence, lead to a feeling of isolation, and reduce our performance.

When I was a child, I equated bullying to immaturity and expected that once I became an adult that this behaviour I witnessed happening around me would stop. But, the reality is that bullying still happens at workplaces. We may not see it from our leadership positions but don’t be too quick to dismiss that it isn’t happening at your organization.

So, how do we know if there is bullying in our organizations, and if so, how do we deal with bullies?

This picture was taken recently on the 4th anniversary of my husband’s death. The rough waves and dark sky parallels the emotions I was feeling the day my beautiful 46 year old husband died in my arms after a 23-month battle with esophageal cancer.

To see this man I loved with my whole heart slip away breath after breath was excruciating. Knowing how badly he wanted to stay. And then to have to call our 8 and 10-year-old daughters to come in to see us, them unaware that this would be the moment they would learn their Daddy had died.

I have also faced intense physical pain. So how can we befriend pain and use it as a tool to help us be our best in work and in life?

No doubt you have worked hard to climb your way up the corporate ladder. Probably at times throughout your career, you wished there would be two of you to accomplish what you needed to do.

And then, you made it to the leadership ranks, and voila…an Executive Assistant appears! This is a dream come true. An extension of yourself. Someone to help you free up more time to be strategic and coach your people. But in the work I do as an Executive Coach, I can tell you that this Executive Assistant Fairy Tale sometimes ends up being just that, and the time of the leader and the EA is not utilized as well as it could be. As such, I’d like to share some tips for working with your executive Assistant for the best results!

am noticing a trend in the Executive Coaching work I do where leaders who are normally intensely focused on the next thing and always striving for more, have hit a lull.

There is nothing wrong with them. Their performance isn’t suffering, yet they aren’t feeling particularly inspired to go guns ablazing onto the next project or career move. And, this lack of goal-setting and intense desire to strive is feeling very weird for them. It is hard to put a finger on what’s ‘wrong,’ except they report just feeling “okay.” What has caused this feeling amongst many leaders?

Is there something you really want in your life or career right now? You feel in your gut that it is going to come to fruition although you have no idea how. And, it might feel like it could be way out of your league? I learned from my Dad on a cool autumn Thanksgiving evening that this is when we need to tap into our inner knowing and trust. To hold onto hope and belief even in the darkness.