Empathy As a Source of Pain

March 16th, 2023 by Kelly Kienzle

The stranger at the gym raises her middle finger at me as I approach the empty treadmill next to hers. What?  Did I just see that right?  Yes, I did, she just did it AGAIN.  Wow.  And then I move on, onto that very treadmill of course.

When Regret is Assumed Regret

January 31st, 2023 by Kelly Kienzle

“I wish I had chosen vanilla, instead of chocolate.  Now I have a brown smear down the front of my shirt where it spilled.”  I now spend the rest of the afternoon regretting having chosen such a messy ice cream flavor. This fictional, yet entirely possible, scenario illustrates

Retreat is Resilience

December 16th, 2022 by Kelly Kienzle

I have always thought of resilience as having only one definition: to bounce back or spring up.  It sounded like it required effort and energy.  Or that an obstacle existed that had to be overcome or at least stared down. Yet I recently read in a

Is It Me …or Them?

November 14th, 2022 by Kelly Kienzle

I coach a lot of leaders who struggle with the same question: Do I meet my colleagues where they are and adjust my speech and actions to best support their needs?  Or do I remain constant and true to my own values and beliefs about what

Your Past Blunders were Created by Someone Else

September 7th, 2022 by Kelly Kienzle

Inhale/Exhale

Do you know the Buddhist principle of Every Breath?  This principle states that with every breath we take, we are a new person.  Every few seconds, we are re-shaped. It is the magnified version of: “I’m not who I was 10 years ago.”   Most of us can agree with

Things Take the Time They Take. Don’t Worry.

August 31st, 2022 by Kelly Kienzle

I recently became a member of Club COVID, the virus having finally found me last month after 2+ years.  I wish never to feel so depleted of energy, thought and stamina again.  However I also gained something valuable: the courage to slow down. Slowing Way Down During my 3-week

Showing Our Aspects

May 26th, 2022 by Kelly Kienzle

With the massacre in Uvalde, Texas this week, I am feeling a tangle of emotions: anger, repeated disbelief, hollowed-out sadness, and despondency.  These are all emotions that I hold, yet I do not show them when I am at work, talking with neighbors or sending email.

A Risky Bet

April 28th, 2022 by Kelly Kienzle

It’s a risky bet to depend on others to validate your self-worth. A Precarious Position Sure, we all appreciate, strive for or perhaps crave feedback and assurance that we have done well.  Yet when we become dependent on hearing those encouraging, supportive words to know that

Passing Through the 4 Gates

March 24th, 2022 by Kelly Kienzle

As a leadership coach, people often ask me how they can motivate their teams.  They want to know how to speak so that their team is aligned on the mission and excited to execute on it. I also speak with managers who wonder how to give

I’ll Be Happy When

February 28th, 2022 by Kelly Kienzle

Waiting for Time Image

As I see signs of us moving towards more normalcy in our lives and a few warm days reminding me that spring is coming, I become hopeful.  I have thoughts of “I’ll be happy when…I can be outside more… I can eat at a restaurant… I