Inspiration

I am inspired by nature, by observing other people address their challenges, and the words of women leaders. Here are some of my favorites.

“One of the criticisms I’ve faced over the years is that I’m not aggressive enough or assertive enough or maybe somehow, because I’m empathetic, it means I’m weak. I totally rebel against that. I refuse to believe that you cannot be both compassionate and strong.” – Jacinda Ardern (Prime Minister of New Zealand)

“Leadership is not a person or a position. It is a complex moral relationship between people based on trust, obligation, commitment, emotion and a shared vision of the good.” – Joanne Ciulla (Author and Educator)

“Rarely are opportunities presented to you in a perfect way. In a nice little box with a yellow bow on top…Opportunities – the good ones – are messy, confusing and hard to recognize.  They’re risky. They challenge you.”  - Susan Wojcicki (CEO, YouTube)

“Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.” – Eleanor Roosevelt (Former First Lady of the US)

My Story

I started out as a secretary. It was 1971 and I was fresh out of college with a B.A. in Spanish. In those days, having both a meaningful career and a family was just starting to be a possibility for women like me. I had two kids and continued working and yes, as a secretary, but then my life blew up at the age of 32: breast cancer, divorce. And I found myself having to find a career that could not only support me and my daughters but also give me something interesting, maybe even meaningful, to do. Being a secretary wasn't going to cut it.

I decided the best way to do that would be to go back to school, and in 1982 the coolest Masters degrees were in business. So I got an MBA and went back to work at a professional services firm. For the next 20 years, I worked as a consultant and along the way was asked to train my colleagues in project management and teamwork. I became fascinated with how adults learn and change and wanted to know more.
So - back to school I went, this time to get a Masters in Applied Behavioral Science, working at the same time. I continued training and started coaching my fellow consultants. Finally, I realized that consulting held less interest for me than coaching did. I transferred into my company’s Learning & Development group and travelled the world training and coaching.

Eventually I retired to become an external change management consultant and coach. And here I am.

My core beliefs about coaching

  1. Coaching is an active collaboration between equals.

  2. People change when they can welcome and befriend all parts of themselves, even those parts have led to behavior that is counterproductive.

  3. Everyone has vital internal resources with which they can solve problems they think are unsolvable. I help you surpass your perceived limits and uncover those resources.

  4. The best solutions come from learning your way through. The “direct route” – where you can clearly see the solution and the path forward - is a good way to fix simple problems, but not the ones you need a coach’s help with.