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The surprising element of Kristen’s breakthrough wasn’t a "tough market." It was a split in her own focus. After three final-round rejections, she was stuck. On paper, a top candidate, shoe-in for a senior leadership role.

One of my biggest assets as an executive coach is that I have a “PHD” in code-switching. I didn’t write a dissertation on it from an ivory tower. I earned my “degree” in life.

My training began 35 years ago as a nine-year-old kid recently transplanted from Seoul to the suburbs of New Jersey.