Sarah Langslow – Executive Leadership Coach

Executive Leadership Coach | Trainer | Speaker

Sarah Langslow – Executive Leadership Coach

Executive Leadership Coach | Trainer | Speaker

Fear

Do you know how to disagree?

I was reminded recently of a sequence from the TV show Friends, where Chandler goes on a date with Rachel’s boss. He ends it with “Well this is great, we should do it again, I’ll give you a call” despite not enjoying himself or wanting a second date, or having any intention of calling her. Rachel calls him out on it and tells him he has to go on another date but end it...

Why you can’t afford to say “I know” – the forgotten art of curiosity

How many times today have you said “I know”? Or perhaps you just thought it to yourself, alongside an inward eye roll. The moment it happens is usually the moment we stop listening, the moment we stop seeking to understand, and the moment we stop being curious. We do it all the time. It’s a natural extension from the automatic system of our brain – designed both to protect us, but also to not...

Being uncomfortable – don’t you just hate it?

Yesterday I gave a talk at the International Coach Federation Global Conference in Prague. It was a talk unlike anything I’d ever given to an audience before, sharing some deeply personal stories and lessons from falling in love for the first time, and what I learned about creating trust and intimacy in relationships. I was so excited to give the talk. I’d thought about it in depth, considered the audience, practiced, got feedback, developed...

Why your biggest fears are actually inside your comfort zone

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about my comfort zone recently. It’s a core concept in the work I do – that getting outside of it, stretching ourselves, getting uncomfortable – is access to possibility. Access to the things we really want. This week, in an exercise I have done literally countless times with prospective and current clients over the years, one client said something totally profound. “I always thought my fears...

Making friends with money…

Money. Ugh. Not many of us like talking about it, and for many people, especially entrepreneurs, it can be a source of embarrassment, worry, shame, and proof of all our fears about “not being good enough”. I’ve had a slightly odd relationship with money for a while – seeing it as both an essential security blanket to hold onto tightly AND the only way I can have fun – those two at the same...

How long can you tolerate your success?

I had a great day yesterday. A GREAT day. I had my first really big speaking engagement as a Leadership Coach, speaking at the Women into Leadership Conference in Glasgow. And I nailed it. I was confident on stage, I engaged the audience, I was authentic, I had impact, the audience each took something for themselves of value. I’d know that even without any feedback – and I had a lot of great feedback...

Saying YES!

It’s not uncommon for me to work with clients who say yes when they really mean no. Who will do things for other people even when they don’t want to, or it is plain inconvenient, simply from a fear of offending or letting other people down. In that conversation it is usually they who suffer, with no time for themselves, and none of their own needs and wants being met. But what about when...

That bossy little girl with some leadership skills…

When I was ten, my teacher wrote something on my school report which has stayed with me ever since. “Sarah looks after number one before all else”. There was plenty of nice stuff too, but that part stuck. I was selfish and bossy. I knew what I wanted, and bossed everyone else around to make very sure I got it. That stung. I felt ashamed not only of being that way, but that it...

Vulnerability hurts, and it is worth it

This is a hard post for me to write. Not least because the people involved may read this, and that triggers all sorts of fears for me of what they will think and how they might react. And, one of the things I’m committed to is sharing more of me, being more vulnerable, opening up my heart, and this is also in service of that. So, here goes. I had two bits of news...