As I say at the beginning of every episode, I think, write, speak and live all things disruption. In that spirit, the next two months of the show are going to be a bit disruptive, starting today—a special extra episode to (hopefully) brighten your week and move you forward on your own personal S-curve.
Last year I held a special live coaching session with Stacy Olsen Distefano, and at the end of the episode I put out a call to my listeners to see if anyone else felt brave enough to take the leap. Michelle Smith answered the call, and today you will hear another live coaching session that digs down deep into what motivates Michelle, what holds her back, and what she can do to disrupt herself.
Sometimes when we hear about people disrupting themselves we imagine huge, sweeping changes. In Michelle’s case, she’s not looking to change companies or move, or even change jobs. She simply wants to take deliberate steps to make her feel like she’s empowering herself at work. She loves the company she works for. Having joined the team in its early days as a startup, Michelle feels an immense sense of achievement to see how much it has grown, and looking back she can see what an important role she played in that growth. It quickly became apparent that Michelle is not looking for a completely new path—she already has a phenomenal environment in which to work—but she feels rudderless and unsure of which direction she should go moving forward. What do you do when you don’t know “what’s next?”
“It creates a lot of discomfort because I’ve always been the kind of person who knew exactly where I was going. This experience of being open, and…explore what’s coming next is new to me. So, I have to manage my own kind of drive and my own need for more clarity in that.”
Join us as I help Michelle find that clarity, embrace her constraints, and leverage the skills she already has in her toolbox to find ways to disrupt herself.
Listen to our sessions on iTunes or in the player above, and if you like what you hear, consider leaving a review.
Takeaways from this episode:
- Pay attention to the physical cues your body gives you about your stress and anxiety levels. Meditation can be very helpful in a daily care ritual.
- Step back to grow. If you like the environment you work in, but not necessarily your responsibilities, take some time to view your company from the outside in. If you were going to disrupt your company, how would you disrupt it? In Michelle’s case, she has the opportunity to put her people skills to work to get the various “silos” in her organization on the same page, and make her company operationally the best in the business.
- Don’t devalue yourself. Recognize your superpowers. Embrace them. Leverage them.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
- Disrupt Yourself Podcast, Episode 25: Live Coaching Episode – Stacy Olsen-DiStefano
- Take the S-Curve Locator
- International Women’s Forum
- CliftonStrengths Assessment (formerly Clifton StrengthsFinder)
- Headspace app
- Sign up for Whitney’s newsletter
- Day with Marshall Goldsmith and Whitney – July 27, 2018 – Boston, MA
