All episodes

Why do we so quickly look for someone to blame when something goes wrong?

I started thinking about this after the devastating glacier collapse in Nepal. While scientists were still trying to understand exactly what had happened, explanations and accusations were already spreading online.

And it made me wonder: Why is “we don’t know yet” so difficult for us?

In this episode, I explore the psychology behind blame and why having a culprit can sometimes feel more comfortable than living with uncertainty. We look at the difference between fear and anger, what happens when we lose our sense of control,...

We see behaviour and almost instantly create a story around it.

The aggressive horse. The difficult employee. The defensive manager. The uncooperative teenager.

But what if the behavior is real, while the story we tell ourselves about it is not?

In this episode of Lead Well!, I share what struck me while watching Trust Technique creator James French work with horses in Mongolia and, more recently, with elephants in Nepal. Animals considered difficult or even dangerous began responding very differently when the interaction itself changed.

That raises a much bigger question, one that applies far beyond animals:

What happens when...

When does professional adaptation become self-abandonment?

Self-leadership coach Ruth E. Andermatt joins Christine to explore what it takes to preserve your integrity when expectations are high and your position may be at risk.

Ruth recounts a defining leadership decision. She refused an order to dismiss an employee unfairly, choosing instead to tell him the truth and give him the opportunity to step up. Within 90 days, his store was performing at the top of the country.

The conversation also examines quiet leadership, honest feedback, conflict avoidance and the responsibility leaders have to connect with people who think and communicate differently...

What happens when criticism reaches your nervous system before your thinking mind has time to catch up?

A critical comment can trigger an immediate urge to explain, defend yourself or push back. The response may take only seconds, but it can leave both people feeling uncomfortable and create tension that later needs to be repaired.

In this episode, I share an insight from a recent coaching conversation and connect it with a principle used in dog training: impulse control is first practiced under manageable conditions, before the level of distraction is gradually increased.

You’ll learn:

• why criticism can activate...

Can a feeling become part of a relationship?

Looking back at my life with three horses, I can now see a different emotional theme in each relationship: freedom with Chio, not belonging with Serena, and resignation and rejection with Maggie.

In this solo episode, I explore the Trust Technique concept of Shared Feelings and why I only understood its real significance much later. This is not about claiming that an animal simply mirrors our emotions. Animals have their own bodies, histories, needs and experiences. But our feelings, expectations and habitual responses also enter the relationship.

What becomes visible when we...

What if your inner voice is not actually talking to you?

In this solo episode, I share a surprising discovery: most of the time, my inner voice is addressing other people. It is teaching imaginary participants, preparing podcast episodes, creating courses, and turning everyday experiences into something I could share.

That observation led me to a bigger question: who is your inner voice talking to, and what is it trying to achieve?

I explore the different forms inner voices can take, why some sound like parents, teachers, or former bosses, and how tone, volume, speed, and distance can change their...

Poetry as prayer, and spirituality you can actually live in.

In this episode, Christine sits down with Colette Lafia, an award-winning writer, retreat leader, and spiritual director from the San Francisco Bay Area, to talk about her book Leaving the Shore: Experiencing Poetry as Prayer. Colette makes a quiet but radical case: that we don't need to decode poetry to be moved by it, and that a single line or image can become a way of slowing down and reconnecting with what matters. Along the way, Christine opens up about her own path from a very cognitive life into spirituality,...

Time may create distance from a traumatic experience, but it does not necessarily resolve the guilt, fear or grief attached to it.

In this episode, Christine speaks with clinical psychologist Dr. Chris Cortman, author of The Guided Imagery Cure. Drawing on more than 40 years of clinical practice, he explains how guided imagery can help people actively process unresolved experiences and reach a sense of closure.

The conversation explores:

Why avoidance can keep traumatic experiences emotionally active
What happens when the brain continues to respond from fear and hypervigilance
How guided imagery can change the meaning attached to a painful...

Why can we recognize that something is not working, yet still hesitate to change it?

In this episode, Christine speaks with Andres Kuusk about the thinking patterns that quietly shape our decisions. Andres is a seven-time World Pentamind Champion, former game theory professor, business executive, and author of Unlocking the Success Puzzle.

The conversation looks beyond motivation and productivity advice. Instead, it examines how assumptions, cognitive distortions, and survival-oriented shortcuts can make us overestimate difficulty, avoid uncertainty, and limit ourselves before we have properly tried.

They discuss:

why believing you are inferior can become a self-fulfilling prophecy
how early learning...

For the first time in 26 years, Christine no longer has a horse determining her daily routine.

Although Maggie has moved to what Christine considers the perfect home, saying goodbye revealed something unexpected. It wasn't only the horse she would miss, but the structure, movement, rhythm, and responsibility that had quietly organized her life.

Reflecting on the seven weeks of intensive care while Maggie recovered from illness, Christine explores how deeply our identity can become connected to the responsibilities we carry.

This isn't only true for horse owners. The same questions arise when we retire, finish an important project, change...