Lead Well! with Christine Schickinger

Why do we so quickly look for someone to blame when something goes wrong? I started thinking about this after the devastating glacier collapse in Nepal. While scientists were still trying to understand exactly what had...

We see behaviour and almost instantly create a story around it. The aggressive horse. The difficult employee. The defensive manager. The uncooperative teenager. But what if the behavior is real, while the story we tell...

When does professional adaptation become self-abandonment? Self-leadership coach Ruth E. Andermatt joins Christine to explore what it takes to preserve your integrity when expectations are high and your position may be...

What happens when criticism reaches your nervous system before your thinking mind has time to catch up? A critical comment can trigger an immediate urge to explain, defend yourself or push back. The response may take...

Can a feeling become part of a relationship? Looking back at my life with three horses, I can now see a different emotional theme in each relationship: freedom with Chio, not belonging with Serena, and resignation and...

What if your inner voice is not actually talking to you? In this solo episode, I share a surprising discovery: most of the time, my inner voice is addressing other people. It is teaching imaginary participants...

Poetry as prayer, and spirituality you can actually live in. In this episode, Christine sits down with Colette Lafia, an award-winning writer, retreat leader, and spiritual director from the San Francisco Bay Area, to...

Time may create distance from a traumatic experience, but it does not necessarily resolve the guilt, fear or grief attached to it. In this episode, Christine speaks with clinical psychologist Dr. Chris Cortman, author...

Why can we recognize that something is not working, yet still hesitate to change it? In this episode, Christine speaks with Andres Kuusk about the thinking patterns that quietly shape our decisions. Andres is a...

For the first time in 26 years, Christine no longer has a horse determining her daily routine. Although Maggie has moved to what Christine considers the perfect home, saying goodbye revealed something unexpected. It...

Many (leadership) challenges are approached as problems to solve. But some aren't problems at all. In this episode, Dr. Tracy Christopherson and Michelle Troseth introduce the concept of polarities: interdependent pairs...

In this episode, Christine speaks with Keri Lefave about trauma, identity, triggers, and the daily work of choosing a different response. Keri describes how early experiences of restriction and abuse shaped her sense of...

What creates trust? According to Brittni Cosgrove, it is not visibility, marketing tactics, or having the perfect message. Trust grows when people consistently experience authenticity and alignment. In this...

Many workplace equality initiatives focus on helping women adapt. Geeta Sidhu-Robb argues that this approach misses the bigger issue. In this conversation, we explore how organizational systems, workplace structures...

Why do intelligent, capable people struggle to change behaviors they know are not serving them? In this episode, I speak with Sharissa Bradley about chronic stress, habit formation, health, and self-responsibility...