The Finding Fred podcast is a great place to learn more about Fred Rogers. Host Carvell Wallace does amazing work. But as a coach who helps leaders struggling with challenges, I wonder: Why aren’t there more Freds?

Children’s television pioneer Fred Rogers’s favorite quote came from “The Little Prince”: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." This quote holds so much for coaching leaders in crisis.

Fred Rogers taught beautiful lessons about the importance of being able to hold strong emotions as leaders. His 1981 encounter with young Jeff Erlanger inspires how I coach leaders feeling depleted and burned out.

Like many kids in the U.S. in the 1970s, I grew up watching Fred Rogers. Years ago, I visited his office at the WQED studios in Pittsburgh. Seeing it influenced my understanding of leadership and how I coach leaders navigating stress.

The leaders I coach often want to restore “work-life balance”—often assuming we have our work on one side and our relationships on the other. But psychologist James Coan suggests that focusing on “balance” isn’t enough.

Fun fact with the World Series starting: Psychologists James Coan and Erin Maresh note that sports teams exhibiting lots of social touching perform better than teams that don’t. This insight influences how I coach leaders under stress.

You’re on a hike. In the distance, you see a mountain. How far away is it? Psychologist James Coan says our estimate depends on how heavy we feel our backpacks are. This insight is vital for coaching leaders struggling with burnout.

Psychologist James Coan studies the importance of social connection for our well-being. During an interview on the Transforming Trauma podcast earlier this year, he told a story that shapes how I coach leaders healing from burnout.

“Want somebody to hold your hand?” we often hear. “Do it yourself!” This sentiment is at the heart of the burnout so many leaders I coach are feeling. But psychologist James Coan says we’re wired for hand-holding. And we need it.

You’re a leader transitioning from burnout. You’ve taken the leap to find something new. You’ve healed and grown in the wilderness. But every journey has an end. How do you know when you’ve reached it? Two stories.

Whether their transition was planned or not, wanted or not, the leaders I coach can often feel like they’re in the wilderness. That's because they are.

I recommend William Bridges’s “Transitions” to coaching clients going through personal or professional change. He sees the big movements of our lives as stories, with each part challenging us to do something new.

My coaching clients know what it means to “act out” when stressed or angry. But they’re often less familiar with the term “acting in.” Both concepts can help us notice and change how we respond to stress and frustration.

Some leaders in my coaching practice have learned that emotions have no place in their work. But emotions are inescapable, and ignoring or suppressing them actually makes us weaker as leaders.

Coaching sessions are highly structured to help clients achieve their goals. The beginning is important because it helps us hone in on what you want to get out of the session. Here’s how I do it.

My coaching sessions always end with leaders committing to doing things that carry them forward. This practice is one of the important differences between coaching and therapy. Here’s how I do it.

Leadership coaching is full of stories, if you know where to look. Most of the time, these stories are about the past or the present. But the stories we tell ourselves about our futures are just as important, if not more so.

I recently contributed to a LinkedIn article on “accountability” in leadership coaching. Accountability is undoubtedly important. But we also need to hold it more lightly than we think. Here’s why.

I often coach leaders meeting big challenges. They also may be carrying things influencing how they’re responding to those challenges. This raises a big question: What’s the difference between coaching and therapy?