The Next Chapter

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My story … so far

For the past several years I’ve been on a mission to make the world a better place to work. It amazes me that, after 25 years, Dilbert is still funny. It baffles me that, instead of striving for continual improvement on our teams, we accept dysfunction in our organizations as merely a cost of doing business. And it downright infuriates me that only 3 out of 10 people look forward to going to work every day. How can this be? This is crazy (if not inhumane)!

About six years ago I set out as an independent speaker, coach, and consultant, determined to make a difference. I pursued this work because I knew that I could help. I knew that my insights and personal gifts, my diverse experience, and my unique ability to understand and explain complex things in simple terms could help people make sense of the crazy worlds that our corporate organizations have become. I learned early on that it was not enough to be good, you also had to be savvy. I could help people with that.

I reverse-engineered the secrets to good networking and began to speak about it whenever I could. Many people have embraced the Networking Mindset and networking events now reverberate with my favorite networking question, “What are you working?”

Next, I added in some certifications and training and began to establish myself as a trusted advisor who could help leaders at all levels see themselves and their teams in new ways. Some see working with a coach as a sign of weakness. Not so in my world. Working with me as a coach has always been about helping you find your voice as an avenue to greatness! Concurrently, I added material to my speaking portfolio on How Careers Work & How to Work Your Career so that people could better navigate the mazes that our large organizations have become. 

Enter: The Pause • Plan • Do Weekly Emails

Part of that avenue to greatness is the deep conviction that deliberate focus — emboldened by a astute sense of self-awareness — is key, not only to success, but also to satisfaction in life. To that end the Pause • Plan • Do newsletter was born. For a year I sent out an email every Monday morning and Friday afternoon encouraging fellow sojourners to pause just long enough to plot their course and reflect on their learning. It was an experiment in group coaching, and I think it worked.

But, after a year of relaying the same general sentiments every week, I have become convinced that you know what to do!

To recap, at the beginning of the week:

• Be deliberate about what you want to do that week
• Center yourself around who you want to be
• Delegate what you can, stop doing some things all together, and prioritize the rest
• Plan for important meetings
• Create opportunities to grow your network
• Grow yourself, grow your team, grow your business

At the end of the week:

• Pause and reflect on what you learned
• Identify who helped you and how can you thank them
• Resolve to change those things that you can do differently in the future

That's it! I asked questions on those themes in 52 different ways over the course of 52 weeks. You can peruse all of the archives to leverage them again.

Now I want to move on to the next phase in this experiment. I have some ideas on what this will look like but I need to know what you think. What would be helpful to you? How else might a weekly newsletter from an insightful coach help you in your organization and in your career?

Take the survey! — It'll only take 5 minutes.

The Road Ahead: Vibrant Organizations

As I grow into the next chapter in my work, I am moving more directly into helping leaders create high-performing teams and invigorating places to work. Throughout my life I have invested heavily in learning and understanding how it is that our organizations might become more vibrant in the truest sense of the word. That is, how can we build and lead our organizations so that they are infused with energy and enthusiasm? I know that if we do this we will have profitable, thriving enterprises that dominate their markets and lead their industries.

I think I have it figure out. I call it The Cohesive Leadership Model and, like most of my work, it's not that hard once you see it. My approach is more of a journey than a destination — starting where we are today and moving, one step at a time, into vibrancy. It's based on a broad base of research and an even broader span of experience. Recently I have been propelled by the discovery that my guiding principles have much in common with the world of Diversity and Inclusion. it has become clear to me that this is what I am being called to work on. This is what I need to be writing about.

Keep your eye on your inbox and my website for the latest. Or better yet, set up a call and we'll talk about how I can help you create cohesive leadership teams in your organization.

Next Steps

For the immediate future, I'll release the occasional newsletter. I'll pass on interesting news and Ideas of Note as I come across them. And I promise to let you know when I publish something new on my website.

I envision kicking off the next chapter of the newsletter after the New Year. To that end, I need your insights. It would be most helpful to me if you would give me a sense of what would be helpful to you. Take the survey!

Help me shape the future of our workplaces.

Yeah, what he said…

Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.

— Franz Kafka

Thank you for being part of this journey with me. 

I wish you success.