She’s an experienced leader who has always been highly ambitious and motivated to achieve impressive results. But now as she enters mid-life, she’s thinking about the next phase of her career and how to find a balance between striving and fulfillment. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches her through her concerns about aging in the workforce, finding the right challenges, and planning for her future.

Further reading:

• From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life (Arthur Brooks)
• Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age (Chip Conley)
• Making Peace with your Midlife, Mid-Career Self (HBR IdeaCast)
• How Do I Get Through My Mid-Career Crisis? (Coaching Real Leaders)

She has moved up in her organization quickly and often feels like she’s playing catch up. But she also has gotten positive feedback from senior executives that she’s performing well. Now, as her company grows and the advancement opportunities narrow, she wants to be strategic about how to get to the next level of leadership. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches this leader to think through how she needs to adapt to move forward.

Further reading:

• To Sound Like a Leader, Think About What You Say, and How and When You Say It
• Five Ways To Show Up And Show Your Value
• Magnify Your Leadership With Multiple Perspectives

He’s a leader with a passion for going the extra mile and achieving results. But he’s struggling with how long he can sustain the level of effort and time required to meet the demands of his new role. Host Muriel Wilkins helps this leader unpack what drives his work habits, redefine how he demonstrates his value, and align his workload with his overall goals.

Further reading:

• Resisting the Pressure to Overwork
• Why We Glorify Overwork and Refuse to Rest
• Hard Work Doesn’t Always Lead to Success
• 5 Easy Ways to Work Smarter, Not Longer

She held many positions all over the world before landing her dream leadership role. But then she took on a different position at her company to be closer to where she wanted to live permanently. Now she’s missing her previous role and hopes to return to it, but is unsure how to make it happen since the company needs her where she is. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches her through understanding how to articulate her career goals and navigate what’s next.

Further Reading:

• How to Figure Out What You Want Next in Your Career
• How to Align Employee and Company Interests
• How Do I Know When It’s Time to Leave?

Whether you’re a first-time manager or a high-level executive, we all need some help getting past hurdles and taking our careers to the next level.

Executive coach Muriel Wilkins is back March 11 with a new season of the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of real life executive coaching conversations.

On this season of Coaching Real Leaders, you’ll listen in on coaching sessions with leaders working through pressing career challenges like:

• How can I craft my next role to avoid burnout?
• Should I return to the C-suite?
• How can I find a new role that makes use of my strengths and brings me happiness?
• Can I adjust my workload while still making an impact?

Muriel helps each leader discover unexpected insights about themselves and actionable steps they can take to move forward. Listen in, learn with them, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

She’s grown her entire career at one company, but now she’s in a new leadership role and she recently felt blindsided by negative feedback from her team. She’s struggling to process the feedback and respond. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches her through how she can move forward with her team.

Further reading:

• Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback
• Stephen Covey’s Speed of Trust
• How Leaders Can Get the Feedback They Need to Grow

She’s a high-achiever who has defined herself through her achievements and promotions. But she’s hit some bumps in her career and she’s feeling less engaged in her work. Now she’s questioning the leadership track she’s on. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches her through defining what success looks like for her moving forward.

Further reading:
Finding Success Starts with Finding Your Purpose
Why Success Doesn’t Lead to Satisfaction
How to Tell Your Boss You Don’t Want a Promotion

He took a less traditional career path to college and law school. Now he’s successful as a lawyer, despite several job pivots.  But he is still missing meaning and connection in his work. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches this leader through defining his purpose and how that can translate to his work.

Further reading:

• Why Success Doesn’t Lead to Satisfaction
• How to Find Meaning When Your Job Feels Meaningless
• What Makes Work Meaningful?

He’s a leader with a growing team, and he enjoys people management. But he’s struggling to  influence those outside of his team and build trust with stakeholders. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches him through developing some of the skills he needs to gain stakeholder alignment while driving for results.

Further reading:

• How to Increase Your Influence at Work
• How to Create a Stakeholder Strategy
• To Build a Top Performing Team, Ask for 85% Effort
• The Eisenhower Matrix

She’s taken a number of chances in her career and made some big pivots. Now, she’s been assigned to a senior role on an interim basis, but she’s not sure whether she should try to make the role permanent. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches her through the decision-making process to better understand what’s holding her back and the future she envisions for herself.

Further reading:

• How to Turn an Interim Role into a Permanent Job
• Focus on Learning During an Interim Role
• How to Overcome Executive Isolation

He’s always believed in hard work and is extremely ambitious. But he’s received feedback that sometimes the way he communicates is too direct, and he wants to work on his delivery. Host Muriel Wilkins helps him understand what might be holding him back and coaches him through how he can improve his approach.

Further reading:

• Good Leadership Is About Communicating “Why”
• How Great Leaders Communicate
• How to Give Negative Feedback to Your Peers, Boss, or Direct Reports