I have been thinking a lot about intersections for the last couple of weeks and, more specifically, what they mean for our career.
Too often, our job labels us as a single profession - an HR business partner, a teacher, a consultant, a barista, a nurse, a graphic designer, a planner or whatever the case may be. Yet, the joy of having a coaching career and design career in a consulting firm is that I get to work at the intersections of many things. Consulting gives me a peek behind the curtain of hundreds of organisations and helps solve problems. In Coaching, I work closely and intensely with people in similar organisations and learn about the organisation's effects on people - the good, the bad, and the ugly. As a result, my coaching practice improves my consulting work, and my consulting practice improves my coaching practice. Some improvements are noticeable, tangible and measurable - and others are more surprising - but they all add value.
Yet, within the constraints of job descriptions and performance frameworks, it can be hard to have all that we bring valued, recognised and acknowledged. We all have multiple potentials, and if you are feeling dissatisfied at work or have an itch that won't go away - the answer might lie in exploring one of your intersections. The funny thing is that one intersection often leads to another! For example, I recently realised a new intersection of teaching - teaching coaching skills and teaching design. And now, I can't imagine going forward without teaching being at the heart of things.
Making the most of a long and multi-stage life means taking transitions in your stride. Being flexible, acquiring new knowledge, exploring new ways of thinking, seeing the world from a different perspective, coming to terms with changes in power, letting go of old associates and building new networks. These are the transformational skills which call for a potentially huge shift in perspective and require real foresight.
Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott, The Hundred Year Life
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Over the next few months, I will be working with the lovely folks at 3D Coaching and doing a podcast series on intersections - so I will keep you posted about when that launches.
Interested in integrating coaching skills into your role to enhance performance, I am teaching a unique coaching course to help people integrate Coaching into their practice, starting 1st June - not much time left - register interest and we can work out together if it is right for you. As part of our commitment to making coaching more accessible we also have a couple of scholarship spots still available that give a whopping 50% discount.
If you are interested in exploring your own intersections, a coaching conversation might help - hit us up, and we'll book you in - Hello@SimplyCoaching.net
If you would like to develop a more inclusive leadership style - our bookclub could be for you. Our next book is Unbound by Tarana Burke - founder of the me too movement.
Absolutely impressed with how much I got from Transforming Conversations - the concepts and models have become so clear and implementable, it feels like I got lifelong skills that I can never forget and always improve on, like I was given the tools and parts that I now know how to put together. - Product Designer and Design Coach, London