Autumn reflections: Changing colours
The season is changing and in this particular time of year, I find myself reflecting on my career path and am reaching out to all women executives currently working in ‘male dominated’ industries to see whether any of these reflections resonate with you.
First, I want to give a huge shout out to all of you for succeeding in your roles and secondly, I wish you all even greater achievements going forward!
My reflections revealed two key themes that featured each time I achieved another big promotion. I used to have this inner fear that I would not succeed, and I would be extremely aware of my development gaps, yet I was not willing to turn to anyone for help as I believed it would slow down my path to success. I often compromised by working longer hours. I felt that I could not turn to my line manager as I believed he would hold that against my performance or decide that I was a poor leader. I could not turn to HR, as I believed they were supporting my line manager. The number of female peers grew less and less with each promotion too. Tensions grew at home when I worked longer hours to address the gaps, which did not help the inner confidence.
What I had also learned along the way was that my resilience and EQ were sky-high thus displaying an outer confidence that was far greater than this emotional turmoil going on in my mind. I was also too proud to ask for a coach or mentor within the business as I linked it to being seen as a weak leader and it never crossed my mind to seek out a coach for myself.
I’m wondering if I am the only one who experienced my career path in this way? What are your inner struggles (if you are willing to share) and how are you addressing your leadership issues? Do you wish that your inner confidence matches your outer confidence all the time instead of some of the time? Then perhaps you should consider doing something about it and know that you need not solve everything alone.
I am passionate about partnering with women working in male dominated industries, to be their confidant, and to help them overcome every struggle they are facing, whether it is just needing an ear to get something off the chest or whether it is addressing specific leadership styles, work-life balance, or specific issues that you can’t seem to solve. I want you to know you need not be alone on this road to success. Feel free to reach out to me for an introduction call (free of charge), as partnerships do require chemistry to ensure trust in developing a growth journey together.
Have you ever considered what your superpower is? What is that one thing that you pretty much do without any effort, and it provides you with boundless energy? Ever considered how great it would be if you can spend most of your working time being able to use your superpower? My question to you is not only what is your superpower, but how often do you get to use it?
I have observed that when my clients are stuck with career questions – it is often because they find themselves working on energy-sapping tasks. If this resonates with you, then don’t feel stuck – know that I can help you with identifying your superpower and reviewing your career options too!
My own superpower is that I have the rather uncanny, natural ability to transform teams into highly motivated, performing teams. The number of times along my career that I have inherited average performing teams that don’t hold themselves accountable and lack motivation to perform, have been too many. Yet, it has provided me with great joy to transform them and see their excitement in taking on more accountability. One of a few magic ingredients I have used to enable this transformation, has been through coaching them. I am great believer that the most successful changes happen when they find their own solutions to succeed. A few more magic ingredients are required and I might share those with you at a later stage, but if you are a great leader, you know that building trust is a key ingredient….
Having trouble understanding or using your superpower or wanting to try new leadership styles?
Have you often found your mind cluttered with so many issues, that you quite literally can’t see the wood for the trees? I think we all do that to ourselves and its even more accentuated when we experience stress in our lives.
I can’t tell you how many times I have done that throughout my career where I have also had that feeling of not even being able to solve the smallest of issues.
The times when I have solved those puzzles the quickest have always been when I have received coaching and that wonderful feeling that follows when a huge weight is simply lifted from my shoulders setting me up for a day filled with inspiration!
The magic that happens during coaching, is that your mind is steered towards pausing the jumbled mind and then to focus on a solution instead. That simple moment in time when you have paused and focused can unlock so much of your potential.
Are you a leader that sometimes feels stuck with how to solve the many issues you are facing? If you would like to experience coaching and the value and benefits of unlocking your potential, then contact me for a free discovery call.
They say that a picture paints a 1000 words and one thing I have learnt as a coach and coachee is that the use of a metaphor has many benefits. A metaphor can be a phrase or a picture that often describes an emotion or situation very succinctly. It certainly evokes a different level of awareness with the client and helps stimulate their creativity. I want to use the baobab tree today to introduce you into some aspects of my life and my career. At the same time, I hope to inspire you to share some of your own metaphors that help me gain more insights into you.
Before diving into those insights, I believe it is valuable to pause and share with you some of the benefits of using metaphors during a coaching session.
Humility: Some legends say the tree used to grow upright and tall and that the gods wanted to punish the tree and teach it humility by turning it upside down.
Wisdom, Knowledge & Decision-making: My favourite story is that of the elders holding meetings under the tree as they believe that the tree’s spirit of wisdom and knowledge will guide them with solving issues and with their decision-making.
Wholeness: Several believe that the tree represents wholeness, a place of rest, rejuvenation and celebration – a place where you can sense oneness with life.
Full-circle & Reflection: Some believe the tree represents the full circle of life, where one can look back and see the bigger picture, feel wiser and stronger and where we can share our knowledge and wisdom with others.
Ubuntu: While ubuntu is not linked to the baobab tree specifically, the full-circle legend reminds me of a characteristic I have seen and done many times as a South African. The beauty of the ubuntu spirit, which means “I am because of who we all are” is that our acts of sharing provide a universal bond that connects humanity. I have seen this in action so many times in South Africa, especially when the going gets tough – the ubuntu spirit kicks in and it is beautiful to witness. It is this very spirit that inspired Desmond Tutu to call the South African nation a Rainbow Nation.
First, it simply is my favourite tree! It is beautiful and when I stand next to it, I experience humility, awe, wonder and joy!
Humility is one of my core values, which means that no matter how successful my career path has been, I always remained true to my roots. I have also communicated easily with people from all walks of life thanks to that. I am humbled as a coach that my clients are such awesome and creative beings and that I can help them achieve their goals.
Knowledge & Wisdom: I have had a very interesting career path with many highlights and with what sometimes feels like just as many stumbling blocks. The higher I climbed the corporate ladder, the lonelier my corporate life became. There are many reasons for this, but the most significant ones included my male peers seeing and treating me as the enemy or that they didn’t understand my approaches to the business. I learnt many lessons along the way and am passionate about ensuring that other female talent and executives do not need to tackle as many hurdles on their career paths as I did. I am, therefore, committed to remove as many of those stumbling blocks for them through my coaching.
Wholeness: I have seen that when I dedicate my whole self during a coaching session, my clients’ creativity knows no limits. This provides much joy and energy.
Reflection: I have always treasured the times that I can reflect on the day, the week, the event. These reflections have provided most of my wisdoms along the way and have been key to boosting my career path. I’ll continue to reflect as a coach to ensure that my clients benefit even more from my work.
Ubuntu: My wish is to evoke the spirit of ubuntu in each of my clients at some point – it will be a beautiful experience for all of us.
The baobab tree in my logo is therefore a symbolic picture of myself and a symbol of what I hope to achieve with all my clients. If you wish to gain more insights about my coaching style, contact me via the link below to arrange a free get to know you discussion. If you let me know that my blog has inspired you, I’ll also offer your 1st coaching session for free.
Perhaps you just want to share your favourite images or reflect on your own career journey to date....
