In Silicon Valley, we commonly talk about how elusive work/life balance can be. Burnout is real, and it’s a cycle that I tend to repeat. Bob showed me how to use a variety of tools to help avoid and deal with burnout; I recognize when I need to push myself and work long hours and when to pull back, allowing myself to recover and get back to normal. I’ve found that managing one’s energy takes a lot of work; it requires awareness and tending. I occasionally slip, but I now recover sooner.
Presence at the executive level, especially when working with intense personalities, is a challenge. I joined a new area of the organization where I needed to establish a reputation and raise my visibility. Bob helped me with strategies around getting centered, changing perspectives and communicating with clarity. Those strategies worked. In turn, I now mentor my team with those same lessons.
Throughout the coaching engagement, I always felt that Bob was in my corner. Even when he pushed me. He was able to coach in a way that didn’t overload me; Bob was cognizant of everything I was doing and trying to accomplish. He tailored our work together and adapted to what I needed. I learned that it’s okay to have emotions at work; it’s how you acknowledge what’s going on and then move forward that’s important.
Senior Engineering Manager, Apple, Inc.
