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Leading and Living Well with Kat

30 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 1 rating

Leadership lessons, career creation and well being stories from across the globe.

Kat is a Global Leadership and Executive Coach with a passion for making a difference by coaching her clients to be the most authentic, confident, and purposeful leaders they can be, wherever they are on their career path.

In this podcast she shares her wisdom, and that of others, for you to be inspired by as you pursue your career, leadership and life goals.

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Episodes

It is a New Year 2023 - On flames to nurture and knowing when to quit

January 22, 2023 22:13 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MB

My mother sent me off with the following advise as I left Finland at the end of our amazing Holiday to my hometown, and the five-days spent in the polar night in the Finnish arctic - know what flames to keep burning in your life, and which ones to let die, or to put out.   As I returned to my home in New Jersey, USA and was sorting through the mail that had piled up I found the latest book box from the book club #thenextbigideaclub.  I opened the box and the first book I see is #Quit -The po...

December Coaching Calendar - Gift#16: Trigger Warning for the Holidays ( and difficult conversations at work)?

December 16, 2022 21:42 - 11 minutes - 11 MB

TRIGGER warning for the Holidays! Do we need a trigger warning for the holidays? Today there are trigger warnings at the start of a movie, a book, a workshop, a class in school or college, just to mention a few situations. We have become very tuned in to triggers. What is a trigger? It is an emotional reaction to an internal or external trigger/event.  An example of an internal one is the elevated heart rate when we exercise which can remind us of a time when we had to run from a dangero...

December Coaching Calendar - Gift #14: Success and Jealousy - why we feel jealous and how we can use it as a powerful motivation to live our best life

December 15, 2022 01:49 - 10 minutes - 10.1 MB

THANK YOU! Thank you for the more than 1500 downloads / listens to my podcast. The podcast was dormant for eight months, and still you listened to me.   The December Coaching Calendar podcast-series is still going on. Todays' episode is about success - and jealousy. Why do we feel jealous of others', sometimes even of people who are dear to us? Is it FOMO - the fear of missing out? Ask yourself what it is that makes you feel jealous. Often it is rooted in an unfulfilled need, a low se...

December Coaching Calendar - Gift#13: FIKA at work to create a happier, healthier, and more engaged workplace - spread light in darkness like Lucia

December 13, 2022 16:23 - 11 minutes - 10.4 MB

What we can learn from Swedish Fika and the Nordic Lucia tradition on how to create a happier, more engaged, and healthier workplace. Lucia brings light, love and hope in the darkest time of the year in the high north.  She is highly anticipated and Lucia-Day on 12/13 is a joyful celebration.  That brings me to another Nordic tradition, the Swedish Fika.  We Finns call it coffee-break.  Just like Lucia brings light into darkness, a Fika break at work offers a brief relief from the worries o...

December Coaching Calendar - Gift #9: On Boss Burnout - How burnout prevention and health and well-being became the buzz words in leadership development

December 11, 2022 22:28 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MB

Boss Burnout There is a lot of talk and writing about burnout at work and how we can prevent it from happening on an individual level, and how important the role of leadership and middle management is to create a healthy work culture, and to support their staff so they do not burnout. Often the conversation starts from the perspective of the team, or team member. From their needs. And it is a very important perspective. Being a burnout survivor myself, and having coached and trained both ...

December Coaching Calendar - Gift #8: Building beautiful boundaries - to protect me from you, or you from me?

December 09, 2022 02:59 - 14 minutes - 13.3 MB

How to build and keep boundaries is a common coaching topic. Often we explore how we can draw boundaries between work and home -how to set time boundaries. Or, we need relationship boundaries, between you and your leader, or between you, the middle manager, and your team.  Or between friends and family members.  Boundaries can be beautiful.  I call them beautiful when they serve a good purpose. The ugly ones seek to exclude for the wrong reasons (to prevent access, to information, and resou...

December Coaching Calendar - Gift#7: On celebrating life, and grieving what we have lost - the importance of acknowledging life and work events.

December 07, 2022 11:14 - 11 minutes - 11 MB

This episode published on my birthday is a reflection on why we celebrate or acknowledge different life events, both the joyful and the sad. I also discuss why it is important that we celebrate success at work, acknowledge the effort made and those who contributed.  It is also important to acknowledge the difficult and sad times at work. For example, the death of a team member. This can be a difficult situation, but the team needs the time and opportunity to grieve and share their feelings a...

December Coaching Calendar - Gift #6: Finding and growing your SISU, or inner strength through intentional risk taking

December 06, 2022 18:34 - 11 minutes - 10.8 MB

Sisu is a Finnish word, or concept that means inner strength, grit, or determination. We often like to talk compare it to resiliency How can we find and exercise our inner strength?  Can we all have Sisu?  Indeed we can.  This episode explores what Sisu is, and how you can develop your inner strength by intentionally taking small calculated risks, placing yourself in situations that are uncomfortable, or a bit scary. By taking chances, and learning from your errors. Over a period of time. ...

December Coaching Calendar - Gift#5: How to cook a team culture of care - the base and the ingredients matter.

December 05, 2022 15:33 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MB

What are the ingredients in your team soup? Leading a team is like cooking a soup. You need a base, or a broth, and different ingredients and flavors.  How do you want your team soup to taste?  What's the dominant flavor and the context? Cook your soup from a base of psychological safety and you will have a team culture of care and inclusion. The diversity of flavors - ideas, skills, cultures, identities, talents, and personalities will give a team that is engaged, happy and high performing...

December Coaching Calendar - Gift #4: History lesson - looking back to find solutions and opportunities for today and tomorrow

December 05, 2022 00:21 - 12 minutes - 11.1 MB

Using our past to help us shape our present and influence our future, that is today's topic.  Our past does not have to be the burden that slows us down. We can own our past and learn from it, both the good and the bad. By identifying key events that influenced out path, and people who helped us or inspired us to select a certain path, or overcome an obstacle, we can find a deeper learning and strength from them.  Sometimes we need help to process the difficult and painful though.   The his...

December Coaching Calendar - Gift #3: Inspired by a soccer captain who started a book club - on living authentically, lifelong learning and leadership

December 04, 2022 00:11 - 10 minutes - 9.36 MB

Like so many others I am following the Football / Soccer World Championship.  I have always enjoyed watching sports, event if I am not a competitive athlete myself.  As a leadership coach I draw inspiration and learning from sports coaching and the athletes themselves. Their life stories, what motivates them to work so hard, who helped them and how character plays a role.  This episode draws its inspiration from two soccer team captains, a current and a retired one. Tyler Adams, the current...

December Coaching Calendar - Gift #2: On auditioning for a talent show, taking risks and letting go in life and leadership

December 02, 2022 14:38 - 10 minutes - 10.1 MB

This is episode two in my December Coaching Calendar.  This time I share what I've learned from my fearless son as he prepared to audition for a talent show,  about taking risks, and not allowing one's own fears to hold others back.  They are also common topics in my coaching practice.  As leaders we must be brave and let go of our need to control and micro manage, to instead trust our people and allow them to take risks, to fail and grow.  That is when innovation and creativity thrives.  H...

December Coaching Calendar - Gift #1: Creating space for creativity and change in your busy everyday life

December 01, 2022 14:30 - 7 minutes - 7.31 MB

This is the first of  a series of December coaching gifts from me to you as we count down to the Holidays and the New Year.  A few times a week I will give you a brief reflection on a topic that has touched me during the past year.  The purpose is to inspire you to reflect upon your own life and career. To motivate you to pursue your dreams and accomplish your goals, in a broad spectrum of our life. From personal development and relationships, to career, leadership, and management.  I the fi...

Living and Leading during VUCA Times- Pandemic Flux Syndrome and much more...;

March 04, 2022 19:16 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MB

Do you find it difficult to focus? Perhaps you are feeling anxious, frustrated or even down or depressed, and an overall lack of energy? Are you drained by the Covid-19 pandemic and now the war in Ukraine? You are not alone and it is a normal reaction to the threat we are experiencing during these VUCA ) volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous times).  How do we continue to lead and contribute during such prolonged stress? This is the question discussed in todays episode.  What is flux and...

September the 11- Reflections on Life and Leadership

September 11, 2021 16:20 - 17 minutes - 16.1 MB

Note:  This episode might trigger some painful memories due to the content. If you need to talk to someone, reach out to a friend, family member or call a mental health helpline. SAMHSA’s National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357) I was a recent immigrant and newly wed when the terror attack on September the 11th happened.  We lived in Manhattan where both I and my husband worked. He was in finance and I at Columbia University. We had been married for a little over a year, I had lived in the...

Who am I as a Leader? - On Finding your Leadership Style

July 13, 2021 14:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MB

How do you discover your own authentic leadership style and is there only one style that is truly your personal leadership approach? These are questions we often ask ourselves. A quick online search on ‘leadership styles’ will give you several different answers. Some articles list five, others six, another one ten and so on. How do you know what expert to listen to and what list of leadership styles to use when selecting yours? Is there one style that fits everyone everywhere and always? Find...

The Power of Perspective - Changing Your Scenic View

June 02, 2021 12:45 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MB

We recently visited the Shenandoah State Park in Western Virginia. You might have heard the name before, made famous by John Denver in the song Country Road. Reflecting upon our experiences in the country of blue mountains and deep green valleys made me think of perspectives. From what perspective are you writing your life and career story? Creating some mental and emotional distance to what your are experiencing or to your past can help your find new opportunities, creative solutions and ...

The Power of Perspective - a Visit to Shenandoah Valley

June 02, 2021 12:45 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MB

We recently visited the Shenandoah State Park in Western Virginia. You might have heard the name before, made famous by John Denver in the song Country Road. Reflecting upon our experiences in the country of blue mountains and deep green valleys made me think of perspectives. From what perspective are you writing your life and career story? Creating some mental and emotional distance to what your are experiencing or to your past can help your find new opportunities, creative solutions and ...

Difficult Conversations Made Easy – Part 2 – During the Conversation

May 19, 2021 15:00 - 10 minutes - 10 MB

In the previous episode we talked about how to prepare for difficult conversations, today the topic is how to manage a difficult conversations while you are in the midst of it, to ensure that the outcome is optimal. We looked at the six steps to take to prepare for the conversation, they included among others, to have a clear goal, to check your assumptions, and to try to understand and anticipate the other party’s goals and needs. Let’s imagine that you are now having that so called diffi...

Difficult Conversations Made Easy - Part 1 Preparation

May 05, 2021 19:39 - 10 minutes - 9.67 MB

Have you ever dreaded a conversation at work, or one of a private nature? Perhaps it was about a job you wanted to be considered for, or a new project you really wanted to shift your focus and company resources to? And you needed to convince your supervisor of why they should agree to it. Or maybe you needed to have a chat with a supervisee over their behavior at work? Someone had complained about their combative and rude communication style? It was your job to bring this to their attention ...

Giving Feedback Across Cultures

February 09, 2021 17:41 - 6 minutes - 5.82 MB

Most of us find both receiving and giving feedback stressful.. or at least uncomfortable. Add to the mix cultural differences and it can become really complicated. Many of us are familiar with the so called sandwich method of feedback; start by sharing some positive feedback, then move to discuss the areas of improvement, or growth (weaknesses) and then finalize the discussion by committing to goals and actions that will help improve performance or growth. The sandwich method has been tau...

The Perfectionism Trap – On Leadership, Excellence and Letting go

January 15, 2021 23:35 - 7 minutes - 6.56 MB

Perfectionism is the enemy of innovation & creativity. Playing with a new perspective can help us break free and discover a new world.  This episode explores the perfectionistic tendencies many of us have, how they hold us back from fully realizing our potential, and from being inspiring and successful leaders, and what we can do to shift our mindset towards a growth mindset.  A mindset that gives us permission to fail, grow and let go.  #perfectionism #leadership #growthmindset --- Send i...

How to Stay Motivated in The New Year - Having Sisu in the Pandemic Year 2021

January 05, 2021 21:05 - 7 minutes - 7.27 MB

It is the first week of 2021. Many of us were excited about leaving 2020 and all its challenges behind.  We were energized by the thought of a new year with new opportunities and new hope for the future fueled by the promise of a vaccine and the beginning of the end of the pandemic. Yet, we woke up to a January 1st  that was very similar to December 31st. At least that is how I felt. I don’t know about you, but staying motivated and resilient into the new year feels a bit like biking uphill i...

How to Survive an Organizational Restructuring

January 02, 2021 06:00 - 3 minutes - 3.67 MB

How do you survive an organizational restructuring? 1. Be a surfer, ride that wave of change 2. Spread contagious enthusiasm 3. Kindness conquers competitiveness 4. Turn survivor’s guilt into empowering empathy. #change #jobsearch #careerchange #leadership --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/katarina-holm-didio/message

New Year's Eve 2020 - Envisioning Your Ideal Future - An activity to help you identify your purpose and goal.

December 31, 2020 18:29 - 4 minutes - 3.79 MB

As it is New Year's Eve today, I am re-publishing this early episode as the topic is timely.  Wishing you all the very best in the New Year!  The challenges of 2020 will not disappear simply because the year changes, but I believe we can envision a brighter future.   This podcast takes you through a future vision activity to help you identify your purposeful life and career goals. #visioning #future #visioningthefuture #visualization #idealfuture #careers --- Send in a voice message: ht...

Mental Health at Work- Let’s Create a Healthier and Happier World. Together.

December 31, 2020 17:32 - 7 minutes - 6.75 MB

World Mental Health Day Episode from October 2020 - let’s create a healthier and happier world. Together.  At home. In our communities. At work. Across cultures.   Today is World Mental Health Day! Let's celebrate wellbeing and mental health today by doing something that makes us happy, perhaps together with someone we love, and by thinking about how we can create a healthier and happier world in our communities and at work. What have you done lately to show that you care about how your col...

How to Succeed in Competency Based / or Behavioral Based Job Interviews - Stories and Pencils

December 31, 2020 17:27 - 5 minutes - 5.54 MB

How to Succeed in Competency Based / Behavioral Based Interviews.    This episode will help you be your best!   #CPBinterviews #jobinterviewing #careercoaching --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/katarina-holm-didio/message

The Wicked Witch of the West - About identifying your Biases and Developing Tolerance

December 31, 2020 17:22 - 2 minutes - 2.7 MB

Do you know the Wicked Witch of the West? Ever wondered why she is green and why is she so wicked? Biases can be very powerful. They are based upon fear, fear of the different and unusual, and our need to simplify the world. Working globally requires intercultural intelligence and a curiously to understand others. To develop cultural intelligence we need to minimize or reduce the power of biases and stereotypes. How can we do that? First, recognize your biases. Describe them. Be honest. Only ...

How to Stay Resilient During Challenging Times

December 18, 2020 22:00 - 6 minutes - 5.95 MB

How do we stay resilient, engaged, and continue to perform complex cognitive challenges when we are experiencing threats to our health,  well-being and safety?    Make sure your resiliency bank account does not run empty! Build a buffer of mental, emotional and physical strength to draw upon when times get tough.    Managers and leaders!  Now is the time to create a culture of psychological safety in your teams, and at the office.  This is something we can all contribute to. #psychologicalsaf...

The power of the stories we tell. Moving from failures to success.

December 18, 2020 21:53 - 6 minutes - 5.95 MB

What life and career story are you telling?  Is it one about failures & regret, or choices and growth?  Your story matters.   It shapes our perception of who we are and what we can do.  Is your internal narrative one of strength, or excessively self critical?  The first one will help you grow, the second one will hold you back.  Note: This is the first episode in my new podcast - Living and Leading Well with Kat.   The audio is from a Vlog I recorded on September 4, 2020 therefore it is not...