In a recent episode of my podcast ( Sky High Coaching Conversations ) I shared a real-life moment that surprised me, challenged me, and ultimately reminded me why Soft Strength is such a powerful skill set for women to learn. I’m going to share it here too, because even though it happened in a matter of seconds, it holds a lesson that applies to boardrooms, friendships, family dynamics, and those everyday situations where you can feel yourself shrinking, smoothing, swallowing, or...

There was an article in the news this week that caught my attention. A woman (Hollie) had gone for a swim at the beach, in a suburb of Sydney here in Australia, and when she returned to collect her things she found a man wiping his feet on her towel. What the?! Apparently when he saw her he said, “ Oh sorry, I just borrowed your towel to dry my feet, thanks.” Eww. The article went on to say that Hollie posted about it on social media and explained in the comments that she’d been too rattled...

Why Intelligent Women Sometimes Struggle to Hold Their Ground at Work and at Home. Let me tell you about Ziggy. Ziggy is my border collie. He is bright, bossy and entirely convinced he supervises our entire neighbourhood. He keeps a close eye on other dogs. He monitors passing cyclists. He has opinions about absolutely everything. Until we round the corner and encounter the neighbour’s enormous female cat. She lies there on the footpath as if she owns the postcode. She does not hiss. She does...