If you have a complicated relationship with your Thanksgiving table, then this one's for you.

Hello, friends. Welcome to the Bride Morning podcast. I'm your host, Elena Aguilar. And in each podcast

episode, you will learn how you can lead conversations that build connection and spark change.

So today's episode is a little different. It's not about classroom observations or coaching

stances or feedback. It's about Thanksgiving. And more specifically, how you can bring

your coaching skills to the table, literally and figuratively,

to build connection, reduce tension, and show up with integrity during this holiday season.

We all know the potential minefields of a holiday gathering.

Heated political conversations, discomfort with family dynamics,

feeling invisible or misunderstood or overwhelmed.

This time of year can bring up joy and pain and for many of us who coach and lead during the week

it can feel like we are thrown into a space where we don't know how to show up but what if you

could bring your coaching presence and your coaching skills to these spaces.

Often, we go into family spaces with walls up or no boundaries at all.

We react.

We retreat or we try to fix.

But those approaches rarely lead to the connection that we want.

I remember Thanksgiving some years back where someone made a comment about those kinds of kids,

and my whole body tensed. And I noticed the anger bubbling up in my belly. And I wanted to call them out.

But I paused and I took a breath. And I asked, can you tell me more about what you mean by that?

So that didn't resolve everything, but it opened up a conversation, and it de-escalated the

moment.

...