Last week, in a deep 1 on 1 with a team member, he mentioned he was worried about just going through the motions. Work, home, repeat. Nothing deeper. But when he talked about reflection - really talked about it - something shifted in his voice. Real care. Real concern about meaning. "What do you need?" I asked. "To get back into meditation." "Let's sit in silence for 5 minutes right now." He said yes immediately. Five minutes of silence in the middle of a work day. Two people recognizing what...
5 days ago • 1 min read
Yesterday I had my regular catch-up with Dr. Trang Vu. she's the legend We were just chatting, and she mentioned the painting behind her on the video call. "Oh, that's Cafe Terrace in Paris" by Van Gogh," she said. "I love it because every time I see it, it makes me think about bringing friends and family together under that sky." I paused for a second. Most people would have just nodded and moved on. But something clicked. She didn't just say she liked the painting. She told me why she liked...
6 days ago • 2 min read
Last week at Sandbox Summit I felt more sooo alive than I have in months. I’m still coming down from the high... I wonder what makes this experience so engaging. What can we learn from that to bring our day-to-day work experience? (which is my focus now, supporting people to be even more engaged with work) There were many reasons: the magic, the beauty, the full range of emotions and so on. (come check out some recaps here) But I think it boils down to three reasons: Satisfying relationships....
16 days ago • 2 min read
Last week during Sandbox Summit, I joined Cesar's workshop on Joyful Leadership, something that he has spent his lifetime working on. (right to left - Cesar, Anna & me. Kinda embodying joyful leadership 😛) He asked us a question that made everything click. "What's the most selfish reason you do what you do?" Not the mission statement reason. The selfish one. My answer came immediately. Crystal clear. "I do what I do because I SO FREAKING LOVE who I am around these dear people". Curious....
18 days ago • 2 min read
Two weeks ago back in Saigon, my friend Huy asked me if I could help him with something very important. set up a marriage proposal to his fiancée at the top comedy show in Saigon. WILD. Of course I said Yes. I would not say No to such a chance to make a difference in someone's life. (In fact, I have done this proposal set up for three guy friends now, to the point that my friend can say that I could add it to my "work" portfolio :P) This couple has met each other nine years ago, and five...
19 days ago • 3 min read
Day 1 at work #dubai Hola people, Hope you are well. Lots of updates. Spain was PHENOMENAL with my Sandbox community. Dubai is hot AF. Will tell you more, but here is today's learning: -- Sitting across lunch from an Italian team leader today. A really great guy. Done very well for himself. Really cares about growing his team. But he’s been bugged by this situation for months. Got this young junior on his team who works his ass off. Who dreams of becoming a trader. The manager sees potential...
20 days ago • 2 min read
Video call yesterday with this great human being & management consultant, John Lenhart from Flowcess. Twenty-five years coaching executives. Bookshelves that made me jealous. (zoom in and see!) I'm telling him about my new role at Cobblestone Energy - in-house executive coach, working directly with the CEO. He drops this: "Half your job is managing up." I stopped. Half my job is what now? Spent my twenties reading philosophy, studying consciousness, diving deep into systems thinking. Few ever...
21 days ago • 2 min read
Hi everyone, I want to wish you well, wherever you are. I'm writing from floor 42 of hotel in Dubai, a few days before starting a new job here. Lots of tall buildings here It's almost June (wild..). After two major rejections and heartbreaks, I'm doing better. In fact, I'm much more resilient compared to six months ago. You know that period of life when it seems like you’re stuck in a dark tunnel? You know you'll come out at some point, and when you do, it feels like you owe everyone a story....
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
Meeting Tuan from Reflective Learnings My grandmom always warned me about greedy people. Stay away from those who want too much, she’d say. Too much money, too much success, too much everything. For years, I listened. Ambitious people made me nervous. All that wanting, all that push - it felt exhausting just being around them. Last Tuesday I met Tuan. Founder of Reflective Learning. Twenty years crushing it in HR. Now starting fresh with something completely new. Within five minutes of...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
photo with my man Stephen over Tet holiday in Vietnam - we are both in the traditional "ao dai" outfit Hi friends, just some personal note today. Celebrating a friendship and some reflections. -- Back in 2016, as a junior in Tufts, I won the Peter Drucker Prize (no joke, man). I was then offered an internship at the Financial Times in London. Dream opportunity. Prestige. The kind of thing that looks incredible on LinkedIn and makes your Asian parents proud. But my heart was set on something...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read