More and more, clients are coming to me in moments of personal and professional transition. As I don’t believe in coincidences, I’ve begun to interrogate why this might be happening now, and why these kinds of requests are landing in my lap. Is it just that winds of change are blowing more strongly in the environment? Or, is it coming from within? The short answer – no surprise – is that it’s both.
Things feel like they are moving with rapid speed in the world – technological advances, accelerating climate change, assaults on the truth, shifts in how and where we work – are creating a sense of transition from one era to another. For some of us, this is quite an exciting opportunity. For others, it feels destabilizing and sparks concern for sacred values and ways of working and living. This holds true for individuals and institutions. I see clients who are even more inspired to address gaps in services and meet the needs of the needy. Others are asking hard and important questions about where their industry is headed, and what they can do to both succeed and have a positive impact. In each case, my suggestions are fairly consistent: What specific capacities and mission or brand DNA do you possess and how can it be applied? What do you provide that is essential, and what it the most effective way to grow to meet the new moment?
The internal inquiry is not that dissimilar. It begins with getting at the essence of who you are. Then we move on to the what - the talent/gift/perspective you have to offer. The how follows. I’ve applied this approach to my own work over the course of 2019, and the results confirm my belief in its success. This year, I’ve found myself working more and more with teams, and feel inspired to find new platforms to more broadly share the insights I glean from the work I do with my incredible clients. At one level, it’s the privilege of age (!) – being in the position to leverage decades of work and life in service of people who want to make important shifts in their lives and work. At another, it’s the impulse to grow, to stretch, and to learn. Over the course of the past year, I’ve :
Transitioned from Advisor to Board Member of an extraordinary organization started by an old and friend, The GroundTruth Project;
Joined the Forbes Coaches Council, which offers the community of practice and broader reach I’ve desired • Spoken on-air several times with my friend Pauline Brown as part of her Tastemakers radio show on Sirius XM Ratio;
Designed my first webinar series via The Nook Online, which is taking the Own It Workshops online in 2020;
Begun coaching teams of local TV news leaders from across the country as part of the Tablestakes Program; and
Joined Chief, the premier private network serving C-Suite women as a Guide (coach).
These were all driven by a conscious desire to more powerfully support leaders, extend the reach of my voice, and apply existing techniques and tools to strengthen my skills and those of my clients.
The year began with choosing a word to serve as my theme song. The word was Courage. I challenged myself to try new things even when I didn’t know all of the answers, to be open to not getting it right all of the time, and to be honest with myself about what I really wanted. It helped me make important transitions in how I work and opened my mind and heart to new possibilities.
