“Find a way,” shared Diana Nyad in a recent interview. Nyad is the 60+ year old distance swimmer who recently completed a historic swim between Cuba and The United States. The phrase, it seems, served as her mantra for close to 53 hours in the water. She went on to offer that it allowed her to, “get through this one minute.” A minute that could have held a cramp or a pain or an emotion. Her swim was exactly that – a series of minutes. Could your transition benefit from such a simple perspective? Continue reading…
Options?
‘It has a lot to do with how women see their options,’ observed a leader of gender studies at an esteemed Boston university. She participated as an industry expert in last spring’s Research Jam. This remark was in response to our discussion about when & why women choose to transition. Her perspective was incredibly simple. Do women perceive that they have options? Some do. Many others don’t. In your world what role do options play? What would happen if you expanded your aperture for options just a bit? Continue reading…
Is anyone listening?
“I think I have more confidence in what I want for myself — instead of valuing what other people think of me,” shared an incredibly honest focus group participant. She went on to describe this renewed perspective as a critical milestone in her transition. The comment came amidst a discussion about the difficulty of declining job opportunities – and their accompanying salaries — despite the fact that the jobs no longer aligned with her personal requirements. Her transition allowed her to arrive at, “No, that’s not what I want for myself, this is what I want for myself.” You could hear the personal pep talk in her remark….she’d arrived but her status was tenuous at best. Continue reading…
The Big Picture….
Have you ever missed an opportunity to transition? Knew that something wasn’t right but felt it wasn’t the right time to address it? Or better yet, ignored the signs? Or maybe you were oblivious to the signs entirely. If I’m honest I completely missed an opportunity to transition about five years prior to my current one. It wasn’t so much that I ignored the signs. I was aware that I needed a change. What I didn’t get was the enormity of the change required. I can’t help but wonder if I’m not alone in this borderline clueless category. Continue reading…
Transition’s Required Armor
“You just start thinking about other things that you can do. You think about your dreams and your goals. You see it and it gives you hope. And energy. You feel energized,” said Vicci Recckio, member of the Benson Babes. The group, all participants in the Benson Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, was featured on an NPR piece entitled, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Coat. Their catalyst? A coat purchased from a thrift shop for $10 and shared among participants who were undergoing cancer treatments. A coat? Could a coat really provide hope, energy? Continue reading…
Bringing Transition Into Focus
“Take yourself out of autopilot,” encouraged Janice Marturano, a former executive at General Mills and now head of the Institute for Mindful Leadership. Her plea was part of an overall recommendation towards purposeful pauses featured in, In Mindfulness, a Method to Sharpen Focus and Open Minds (NY Times 3/23/2012). She reasoned that with mindfulness, “overtime you’ll feel more focused and connected to yourself and others.” Reverse autopilot. Could that concept benefit you? Continue reading…
A decade’s lesson: maintain relationships
“I figured out how the guys do it,” screeched an exasperated friend following a conversation with a former colleague. Over the course of the call my friend learned about a common practice in the financial services industry…parking certifications. It seems that if a person leaves a large firm to ‘work’ in a consulting capacity said professional can hold onto their certifications. Not so if that person simply becomes unemployed. ‘That’s how the old boys network does it,” she fumed. “They park someone’s certs and say they are ‘consulting.'” She was beside herself. From her perch….this ‘parking’ courtesy wasn’t often extended to women regardless of their vocation after leaving a large firm. Continue reading…
Transition’s initial step…..
“Don’t do that when I’m not around,” said my eight year old son. “I like to learn when you’re on the phone,” he continued. We were talking about what I do when he is at camp. I told him that I held conference calls almost constantly while he was gone. His comment surprised me. I always perceived my work as an imposition on our time. In fact I try desperately to manage work around my children’s schedules. In a million years I wouldn’t have guessed that he would arrive at such a place. Powerful concept. Learning. Continue reading…
Summer Book Review #30: Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success
“Part of me has been taken away,” shared a bright energetic woman during a 1:1 interview I conducted for Novofemina’s Research Jam. We had pivoted to her personal story after she had agreed to share some transition observations from a women’s economic development organization where she worked. A career change. A new husband. A first child. Mixed in with these life events I heard isolation and failure, or something that resembled it. Her reaction?
Pivot Points…..
“I broke my rule only once,” shared coach Kelly Nicholson of the Orleans’ Firebirds. “I let a player have a cell phone on the field.” Every kid present, roughly thirty-five of them, had their eyes glued to this commanding gentleman. What could possibly drive such a rule departure? It seems a player, Greg A., was awaiting a call from the president of San Diego State University. Coach Kelly described Greg as a Rhodes Scholar finalist. The call would alert him to his standing and next steps. Lucky kid or something more? Continue reading…