21. Why I want to coach your supervisor (and what that means for you)

03/06/23 • 26 min

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In this episode, I consider the downside of always assuming that our seniors "have it together" (whatever level of academia you're at). Often we create a story where, if they haven't replied to our email or changed their mind about our study, it means that we're not important or our study is wrong. I'll be discussing why it's almost certainly not about you and what we should do differently as a sector.
If you'd like to find out more about working with me, check out www.thephdlifecoach.com/work-with-me. The transcript to this episode can be found at www.thephdlifecoach.com/podcast

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I'm Dr Vikki Wright, ex-Professor and certified life coach and I help everyone from PhD students to full Professors to get a bit less overwhelmed and thrive in academia. Please make sure you subscribe, and I would love it if you could find time to rate, review and tell your friends! You can send them this universal link that will work whatever the podcast app they use. http://pod.link/1650551306?i=1000695434464

I also host a free online community for academics at every level. You can sign up on my website, The PhD Life Coach. com - you'll receive regular emails with helpful tips and access to free online group coaching every single month! Come join and get the support you need.

Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!

Previous Episode

20. What to do when you have too much to do

Send Vikki any questions you'd like answered on the show!

In this episode, we accept a universal truth. We have too much to do. We'll explore what happens when you accept that as a fact and challenge instead the notion that we have to do it all (and especially the notion that we have to do it all this week). I teach you about boss mode and worker mode, introduce you to my plate spinning analogy, and explore how the project management triangle can be used when we're really up against it. We're also going to celebrate that this is my 20th episode! Yay! Thanks for your continuing support :)
You can find a transcript at www.thephdlifecoach.com/podcast and find out more about working with me at www.thephdlifecoach.com/work-with-me

Next Episode

22. What to do when you're feeling a bit bleurgh

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What do you do when you feel disappointed, stressed or overwhelmed? These are such common emotions in academia yet most of us don't really know how to respond to these emotions. In this episode, I'll guess what you probably do at the moment when you're experiencing an emotion you don't like, and suggest some things you do instead. Emotions are part of the human existence and we can learn how to look after ourselves a little more.

In this episode I mention the emotion wheel. There are loads if you search online but here's one I like - https://www.purewow.com/family/feelings-chart
For the transcript, check out www.thephdlifecoach.com/podcast. You can also find all the different ways of working with me on the same website.

The PhD Life Coach - 21. Why I want to coach your supervisor (and what that means for you)

Transcript

Hi everyone and welcome to episode 21 of the PhD Life Coach. Last couple of weeks we've been thinking about managing supervisory relationships, and I'm kind of building on that this week too. And so this week we are going to think about why I want to coach your boss and what that means for you.

We make tons of assumptions about people that are in senior positions to you. If you are a PhD student, I want you to think about your supervisors, senior collaborators maybe, or postgrad lead, a