Posts by Jo Ilfeld, PhD
Dear Dr. Jo: My New Work Advice Column
I have a secret confession. I’m a huge fan of advice columns. Ask Amy, Dear Miss Manners, Dear Abby, Carolyn Hax, Asking Eric—you name it, I read them all. But more than that, I’ve always harbored a deep desire to start my own advice column, giving out advice in the arena I know best: leadership and…
Read MoreBeyond the Resume: 3 Power Moves for Your Executive Job Search
An executive job search isn’t just about having an impressive resume and applying for jobs through job boards such as LinkedIn—it’s about visibility, strategy, and meaningful connections. Too often, leaders focus solely on their credentials when what truly sets them apart is how they engage with their network and position themselves in their industry. On…
Read MoreWhen Change Isn’t an Option
We’ve all encountered situations at work that feel stuck—difficult dynamics, organizational red tape, or systems that refuse to budge. Often, our first instinct is to figure out how to fix things: change the people, the processes, or the circumstances. While this can be powerful, sometimes change simply isn’t possible—at least not in the short term.…
Read MoreBalancing Speed and Process
In every organization, there’s an ongoing tension between speed and process. In a recent discussion with an executive coaching client, she shared the problems she was facing managing this tension on her team. With speed, you move fast, maybe you break things, but then you fix them, learn and move. But without solid processes in…
Read MoreSystem Failure or One-Time Error?
Sometimes things at work don’t go as planned, but the important question to ask is whether it’s a “system failure” or a one-off error. Recently, a client of mine rushed to prep a deck for a meeting, only to realize they hadn’t done enough preparation because they didn’t know who was attending. This prompted my…
Read MoreFeeling Stuck? 3 Steps to Move You Forward
This article originally appeared in Forbes. I was on a coaching call this week with someone who felt very “stuck.” Outside of my work, most people I chat with generally use the word ‘busy’ whenever I ask them how they’ve been, yet as an executive coach, the most common word clients use to describe themselves,…
Read MoreNo pain, no gain. Not always.
I’ll be honest here. I have a love/hate relationship with the phrase “No Pain, No Gain.” On the one hand, as a leader, you need to do hard things. That’s not only part of your leadership remit, it’s part of being human and learning, growing, and developing. It’s not easy work but you don’t get…
Read MoreTime to Reset Boundaries
At work, we often train people to treat us a certain way—by always being available, or by letting small requests slide. It’s easy to create these patterns without even realizing it. But here’s the truth: you have the power to reset boundaries whenever needed. Let’s say you expect an agenda before a meeting, but you’ve…
Read MoreAI is here. What Does It Mean for Your Team?
I just finished a webinar that was over an hour of AI tips and tricks, and I won’t lie – some of it blew my mind. In minutes, AI generated social media videos from LinkedIn posts; it built simple websites and then “made them even prettier.” And that was just the beginning. When I watched…
Read MoreWhen a Postmortem is the Right Move
When are postmortems the right approach for the team, and when are they no help? The other day, I was discussing the design of an offsite with a client and we talked about how much time to allocate to looking backward at what went wrong, and what didn’t go well versus thinking about a new…
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