Free letters about working lifeLetters from Colleen
Come on in. Kick up your feet, grab a cup of coffee and a plate of bonbons, and stay awhile.
This is where all my letters live—the things I've learned, wondered about, screwed up, figured out, and occasionally needed to say out loud.
Browse around. Read whatever catches your eye. There's no assigned reading here.
These letters are free to read here. Use The Reading Room to read and save them on your phone. For published books sold on Amazon, visit Books by Colleen.
New this week
No, We're Not All a Little ADHD
A friendly HR reminder that words have power—and that successful colleagues may be working harder than you can see.
ADHD · Neurodiversity · Working life
Read the letter →Two more worth a read
The 48-Hour Rule: Don't React. Don't Avoid. Just Talk.
A letter about giving difficult feedback with clarity, compassion and timely follow-through.
People & conversations · Leadership
Read the letter →Live, Laugh, Document
I didn’t get into the business of helping people for the paperwork.
Conversations · Leadership & People
Read the letter →Find your next letter
Try another word or browse the shelves below.
No, We're Not All a Little ADHD
A friendly HR reminder that words have power—and that successful colleagues may be working harder than you can see.
ADHD · Neurodiversity · Working life
Read the letter →An Org Chart Has Boxes. People Have Lives.
Organizational design decisions happen on paper. Supporting the people whose lives change takes another kind of leadership.
Change · Leadership & People
Read the letter →The 48-Hour Rule: Don't React. Don't Avoid. Just Talk.
A letter about giving difficult feedback with clarity, compassion and timely follow-through.
People & conversations · Leadership
Read the letter →Pumpkin Spice, Peppermint, and the Handoff
A letter about changing seasons, noticing what matters, and leaving room in your cup for what’s next.
Change · Work on Yourself
Read the letter →Your Coworkers Do Not Need to Know It's Spirit Week
Sometimes work doesn't need a culture transformation. It needs a little pep—and your coworkers don't even have to know they're participating.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →I Miss Wondering
Knowing how something happens does not explain what it feels like to stand beside someone you love and watch it happen.
Conversations · Leadership & People
Read the letter →Live, Laugh, Document
I didn’t get into the business of helping people for the paperwork.
Conversations · Leadership & People
Read the letter →I Meant Well. My Mouth Had Other Plans.
I like helping people. I am less comfortable with the part where I cannot make something better.
Conversations · Working Life
Read the letter →A Like Is Not a Confidentiality Agreement
I think the word “friends” is overused.
Leadership & People · Working Life
Read the letter →An Answer With Room for “Yet”
If I ask someone a question and they don’t know, I tell them I’ll circle back when I find out. Then we’ll both know.
Conversations · Leadership & People
Read the letter →The School Picture That Documented a Crime
A fifth-grade picture-day crime, one borrowed-without-permission outfit, and a workplace lesson about letting good ideas travel.
Leadership & People · Working Life
Read the letter →Fair on Paper
The rule applies to everyone, so we call it fair.
Leadership & People · Working Life
Read the letter →Leave with a Side of Guac
A dinner photo is not a medical assessment—and chips and guacamole are not evidence of leave abuse.
Leadership & People · Working Life
Read the letter →HR: Live at the Improv
Improv may have more to teach us about work than another meeting ever will.
Conversations · Leadership & People
Read the letter →Sometimes it isn’t resistance. It’s grief.
People can understand a workplace change and still grieve what it cost them.
Change · Leadership & People
Read the letter →“Calm down” has never calmed anyone down
Three better ways to help a difficult conversation move forward.
Conversations · Leadership & People
Read the letter →Remember Why You Chose HR
Sometimes the spark isn’t gone. It’s buried under the work.
Leadership & People · Working Life
Read the letter →A Brief Guide to Not Being That Coworker
Reply All, quick questions, speakerphones, and reheated salmon. An unofficial guide to making work slightly more pleasant for everyone.
Working Life
Read the letter →Not Everyone Wants to Be the Manager
The useful question is what the move brings someone closer to.
Working Life
Read the letter →My Motivational Quote Has a Parental Advisory
Apparently, professional development takes many forms.
Working Life
Read the letter →And the Academy Award Goes To…
If a familiar movie line helps that conversation along, I’m willing to give it a supporting role.
Working Life
Read the letter →Apparently, We Meant Everyone Else
Knowing the advice does not make us exempt from needing it.
Working Life
Read the letter →All Those Clarinet Lessons, and I Still Can’t Toot My Own Horn
Just a little less apologizing for being in the band.
Working Life
Read the letter →An Ode to the Meeting That Didn’t Happen
One day with enough breathing room to do the work we spent the other four days talking about.
Working Life
Read the letter →A Chance of Snow. A Chance of PTO.
I would just like to leave room for a good day I did not see coming.
Working Life
Read the letter →You Don’t Disappear When People Are Still Thinking About You
Closing a laptop is not the same as erasing a life.
Change · Working Life
Read the letter →Stay for a Season—Just Don’t Get Root Rot
Staying can be wise. Is this still a season, or has it quietly become my address?
Change · Working Life
Read the letter →Don’t Bring the Storm to the Shelter
You smiled by the water cooler. Then you walked through your front door. Who came home?
Change · Working Life
Read the letter →The Time Is Going to Pass Anyway
Starting has never been my problem. Staying with the work is another matter.
Change · Working Life
Read the letter →Who Did You Want to Be When You Grew Up?
Maybe your childhood answer was never a prediction. Maybe it was a clue.
Change · Working Life
Read the letter →You Know I Have a Real Job, Right?
My husband and I play a game. It's called, "You know I have a real job, right?"
Working Life
Read the letter →Everything Is Fixable.
A spectacularly bad first impression—and what happened when I went back.
Change · Working Life
Read the letter →Tiny Prompts That Might Actually Make Your Life Better
You don't need a 17-paragraph master prompt to make AI useful. Sometimes one good sentence and ten minutes are enough.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →You Can Keep the Trust Fall. I’m Taking My Own Development Day.
You don't need a ropes course or a stale muffin to have a development day. With permission, protected time, good resources and AI, you can build your own.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →This Is Basically a Cosmo Quiz for Your Career
Professional assessments are basically the grown-up version of a Cosmo quiz—except they can give you useful language for strengths you've had all along.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →I Did That.
There is a difference between bragging and accurately telling your story. I'm practicing how to say what I accomplished—and why it mattered.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →Hey. You. I Have Homework for You.
Sometimes confidence needs evidence. Your homework: go find the receipts that remind you how far you've come and what you bring to the table.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →I Make No Apologies for How I Chose to Repair What You Broke
Repair isn't restoration. A letter about healing, growth, boundaries, and becoming someone new after something breaks.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →People & conversations · 11 letters
I Miss Wondering
Knowing how something happens does not explain what it feels like to stand beside someone you love and watch it happen.
Conversations · Leadership & People
Read the letter →I Meant Well. My Mouth Had Other Plans.
I like helping people. I am less comfortable with the part where I cannot make something better.
Conversations · Working Life
Read the letter →A Like Is Not a Confidentiality Agreement
I think the word “friends” is overused.
Leadership & People · Working Life
Read the letter →An Answer With Room for “Yet”
If I ask someone a question and they don’t know, I tell them I’ll circle back when I find out. Then we’ll both know.
Conversations · Leadership & People
Read the letter →The School Picture That Documented a Crime
A fifth-grade picture-day crime, one borrowed-without-permission outfit, and a workplace lesson about letting good ideas travel.
Leadership & People · Working Life
Read the letter →Fair on Paper
The rule applies to everyone, so we call it fair.
Leadership & People · Working Life
Read the letter →Leave with a Side of Guac
A dinner photo is not a medical assessment—and chips and guacamole are not evidence of leave abuse.
Leadership & People · Working Life
Read the letter →HR: Live at the Improv
Improv may have more to teach us about work than another meeting ever will.
Conversations · Leadership & People
Read the letter →Sometimes it isn’t resistance. It’s grief.
People can understand a workplace change and still grieve what it cost them.
Change · Leadership & People
Read the letter →“Calm down” has never calmed anyone down
Three better ways to help a difficult conversation move forward.
Conversations · Leadership & People
Read the letter →Remember Why You Chose HR
Sometimes the spark isn’t gone. It’s buried under the work.
Leadership & People · Working Life
Read the letter →Change & working life · 16 letters
Pumpkin Spice, Peppermint, and the Handoff
A letter about changing seasons, noticing what matters, and leaving room in your cup for what’s next.
Change · Work on Yourself
Read the letter →A Brief Guide to Not Being That Coworker
Reply All, quick questions, speakerphones, and reheated salmon. An unofficial guide to making work slightly more pleasant for everyone.
Working Life
Read the letter →Not Everyone Wants to Be the Manager
The useful question is what the move brings someone closer to.
Working Life
Read the letter →My Motivational Quote Has a Parental Advisory
Apparently, professional development takes many forms.
Working Life
Read the letter →And the Academy Award Goes To…
If a familiar movie line helps that conversation along, I’m willing to give it a supporting role.
Working Life
Read the letter →Apparently, We Meant Everyone Else
Knowing the advice does not make us exempt from needing it.
Working Life
Read the letter →All Those Clarinet Lessons, and I Still Can’t Toot My Own Horn
Just a little less apologizing for being in the band.
Working Life
Read the letter →An Ode to the Meeting That Didn’t Happen
One day with enough breathing room to do the work we spent the other four days talking about.
Working Life
Read the letter →A Chance of Snow. A Chance of PTO.
I would just like to leave room for a good day I did not see coming.
Working Life
Read the letter →You Don’t Disappear When People Are Still Thinking About You
Closing a laptop is not the same as erasing a life.
Change · Working Life
Read the letter →Stay for a Season—Just Don’t Get Root Rot
Staying can be wise. Is this still a season, or has it quietly become my address?
Change · Working Life
Read the letter →Don’t Bring the Storm to the Shelter
You smiled by the water cooler. Then you walked through your front door. Who came home?
Change · Working Life
Read the letter →The Time Is Going to Pass Anyway
Starting has never been my problem. Staying with the work is another matter.
Change · Working Life
Read the letter →Who Did You Want to Be When You Grew Up?
Maybe your childhood answer was never a prediction. Maybe it was a clue.
Change · Working Life
Read the letter →You Know I Have a Real Job, Right?
My husband and I play a game. It's called, "You know I have a real job, right?"
Working Life
Read the letter →Everything Is Fixable.
A spectacularly bad first impression—and what happened when I went back.
Change · Working Life
Read the letter →Work: On Yourself · 7 letters
Your Coworkers Do Not Need to Know It's Spirit Week
Sometimes work doesn't need a culture transformation. It needs a little pep—and your coworkers don't even have to know they're participating.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →Tiny Prompts That Might Actually Make Your Life Better
You don't need a 17-paragraph master prompt to make AI useful. Sometimes one good sentence and ten minutes are enough.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →You Can Keep the Trust Fall. I’m Taking My Own Development Day.
You don't need a ropes course or a stale muffin to have a development day. With permission, protected time, good resources and AI, you can build your own.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →This Is Basically a Cosmo Quiz for Your Career
Professional assessments are basically the grown-up version of a Cosmo quiz—except they can give you useful language for strengths you've had all along.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →I Did That.
There is a difference between bragging and accurately telling your story. I'm practicing how to say what I accomplished—and why it mattered.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →Hey. You. I Have Homework for You.
Sometimes confidence needs evidence. Your homework: go find the receipts that remind you how far you've come and what you bring to the table.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →I Make No Apologies for How I Chose to Repair What You Broke
Repair isn't restoration. A letter about healing, growth, boundaries, and becoming someone new after something breaks.
Work: On Yourself
Read the letter →Looking for practical resources? Tools & Learning →
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