Melanie Parish, MCC

Having an experimental mindset helps leaders and teams open a variety of possibilities and a free flow of ideas. Seeing the things you try as experiments orients you to collect data and evaluate whether the experiments or things you try are working or not. Sometimes a team will luck into things that work but many times they don’t. When things don’t go as hoped, we fail. An old friend of mine says, “Education is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.” And education can feel like a consolation prize in the race to innovate. It isn’t about whether it feels bad to fail (it does), but how to emerge resilient and ready to experiment again. To fail better, experiments need to be safe-to fail, small enough to iterate often, and there needs to be a plan in place for data collection and decisions about next steps.... Read More

Being a leader is lonely work, none more so than today during the coronavirus Covid-19 crisis. Some of us have experienced a variety of bosses in their career, but aren’t sure who to emulate, so feel they aren’t providing any real value in the organization. Others are getting sucked into a spiral of trying to do more and more while missing the real objective of leading.... Read More

 Being a leader is lonely work, none more so than today. As an executive coach, I hear it from leaders often. They say, “I was doing a good job as an individual contributor, but now I’m not sure what I should be doing after my promotion. I feel really alone.” They find themselves in a leadership role, running a remote company, isolated from their team, without much guidance and they aren’t sure how they can “skill up.” Every leader has to find their own way of doing the work of leadership. They have had a variety of bosses in their career but they aren’t sure who to emulate, and they may feel like they aren’t providing any real value in the organization any more. Some get sucked into a spiral of trying to do more and more work, while missing the real work of leading.... Read More

Being a leader is lonely work, never more so than now.  As an executive coach, I hear it from new leaders often these days. They say, “I was doing a good job as an individual contributor, but now I’m not sure what I should be doing as I am tasked to lead through crisis. I feel really alone.” They find themselves in a leadership role, expected to lead in an unprecedented time, without much guidance and they aren’t sure how they can “skill up.” Every leader has to find their own way of doing the work of leadership. They have had a variety of bosses in their career but they aren’t sure who to emulate, and they may feel like they aren’t providing any real value in the organization anymore. Some get sucked into a spiral of trying to do more and more work while missing the real work of leading.... Read More

As a leader, during COVID-19 (or any crisis) it can be hard to find your feet and to feel confident in your path. You may feel inadequate, unsure and out of your depth. That is to be expected. This is leadership like we have never seen before. So many businesses are closed or trying to find new ways of doing things. I believe almost every organization feels like a start-up right now. Uncertain times need new kinds of leadership. We don’t have the answers, only questions, and still, we are asked to be leaders. Being experimental in your leadership approach will help you try things, learn from them, and figure out your next experiment.... Read More

"It all comes down to your company and your company's culture," said Prasad Ramakrishnan, CIO at Freshworks, a software company. "Yes, you need to foster innovation. Amazon, Facebook and Google all do that really well. But you don't copy them, you learn from them."... Read More

As a long time executive coach (over 20 years), I have clients in a variety of organizations–many in technology. I have noticed some changes in my coaching calls over the last seven weeks. I am seeing my clients challenged in ways that I haven’t seen before. Parents are challenged by having children at home. Families are challenged by having to share a wi-fi connection. Single people living alone are feeling stressed, and I am seeing signs of depression I don’t usually see in my work. Organizations have been faced with furloughs and lay-offs, and the work has been difficult, emotional, and exhausting. It is also important to consider those who are still working and the challenges they face.... Read More

These are crazy times we are living in. As a leader, during COVID 19 (or any crisis) it can be hard to find your feet and to feel confident in your path. You may feel inadequate, unsure and out of your depth. That is to be expected. This is leadership like we have never seen before. So many businesses are closed or trying to find new ways of doing things. I believe almost every organization feels like a start-up right now. Uncertain times need new kinds of leadership. We don’t have the answers, only questions, and still, we are asked to be leaders.... Read More

So many people are kind. We have been in a world where politics have become more important than kindness. I see a shift. It feels nice to have people looking out for each other. Experimenting with societal kindness has big rewards for us all.... Read More

As someone who may need to lead during COVID-19 (or any crisis) it can be hard to find your feet and to feel confident in your path. You may feel inadequate, unsure, and out of your depth. That is to be expected. This is leadership like we have never seen before. So many businesses are closed or trying to find new ways of doing things. I believe almost every organization feels like a startup right now. Uncertain times need new kinds of leadership. We don’t have the answers, only questions, and still we are asked to be leaders.As someone who may need to lead during COVID-19 (or any crisis) it can be hard to find your feet and to feel confident in your path. You may feel inadequate, unsure, and out of your depth. That is to be expected. This is leadership like we have never seen before. So many businesses are closed or trying to find new ways of doing things. I believe almost every organization feels like a startup right now. Uncertain times need new kinds of leadership. We don’t have the answers, only questions, and still we are asked to be leaders.... Read More