How A Coach Changed My Fridays

Thanks to everyone who liked, shared, or offered a comment on my last installment of #WritingWednesdays. Here what’s on my mind this week. Please give feedback.

On Tuesday, Derek Mulhern and I met up to have iced coffees in the middle of a cold morning. We have more in common than an affinity for chilled caffeination.

He has launched an executive and leadership coaching practice, while I am focusing on organizational development and change management. In discussing how we explain our respective value propositions, I told him about my first interaction with his profession.

It started when the organization for which I was working offered the senior leadership team 20 free hours of executive coaching. Today, I would jump at the opportunity to talk about my professional quandaries and await guidance and good questions from a coach. Needless to say, at that point in my professional journey some 10 years ago, I almost blew my opportunity.

Yes, I had a wonderful role that required 60 to 70 hours a week in the office. Adding an hour every two weeks for six months to talk to an outsider seemed like yet another non-essential block on time on the Outlook calendar that would be pushed off by late-breaking priorities.

That Time I Was Ridiculous

Fortunately, I shared this “dilemma” with peers in other agencies. They informed me I was being ridiculous and ordered me to prioritize coaching. Thank goodness for the friends who point out our professional blind spots. Had I not conferred with them, I never would have met Pete, the coach whose sage counsel made this post possible.

Pete helped me unpack a lot of things. He made me put a vision board right above my monitor, which meant he listened when I told him I was a visual learner, apparently. “Use that board to teach yourself how to dismiss the distractions and focus on what’s important,” he said.??

?I love a good vision board, but it is one of Pete’s other exercises that, nearly a decade later, is still part of my aspirational weekly routine.

?During one of our sessions, he asked me to pull up my calendar for the previous two weeks and give a brief explanation of how I spent my time. After I did this overview, which was on the phone, he offered some feedback. When I mentioned meeting up with former colleagues or going to events outside of my immediate professional world, he said my energy level skyrocketed and the smile on my face transmitted over the phone line.

?The Launch of #FiveXFriday

Together, we hatched a plan called #FiveXFriday (apologies to SXSW, but using the X is fun). Pete challenged me to create at least five opportunities each week that make my energy level skyrocket and bring a smile to my face.

FiveXFriday is more than going to receptions and following up with notes. Those efforts are important, but this approach requires me to generate opportunities on my own. At times when job-related pressure is at its peak, this added task may feel like a distraction. Pete worked with me to reframe it as an enrichment exercise.

In looking over the basic spreadsheet that I use to track these interactions, I am so grateful to those whose time and expertise contributed to the FiveXFriday cause. Even though Pete is retired, I hope he counts this among his coaching legacy moments.

There is Kelly Horton, MS, RDN , whom I met at a Q Street lunch years ago. When she moved back to DC, I reached out to reconnect and let her know of my interest in joining a nonprofit board. This past November, I celebrated my one-year anniversary as a trustee for the Point Foundation , all because she introduced me to the organization.

The remarkable Clarence J. Fluker , who is the ultimate connector and moderator of all interesting panel discussions, delivered big time when I asked him for folks who would be good for a health advisory council. He introduced me to Christopher J. King, PhD, FACHE , who became the inaugural Dean of Georgetown University’s School of Health.

When Katherine Miller became a AU Sine Institute of Policy & Politics Fellow at , a program led by Amy K. Dacey , it was a FiveXFriday phenomenon. My LinkedIn feed shared the content Katherine developed to showcase how food and nutrition policies are simultaneously at the core of our systemic challenges and the pathway to a more equitable society.

The Enriching Experiences

In the last few months, my FiveXFriday folks have been so generous in making introductions to organizations looking to maximize milestone moments and create new partnerships. Here is looking at you, Ted (Theodore) W. Cara Morris Stern , and Shandell P. Richards M.Ed .

?At times I grow weary at the thought of always updating that spreadsheet. But this installment of #WritingWednesdays— a #FiveXFriday thing for sure—brings focus to the fruits of this intentional engagement. Just as Pete and I discussed some years ago, I feel enriched, not distracted. And my hope is this post conveys my higher energy level and smile.

?Note to Readers: It means so much to me that you have read this far. You are an official #FiveXFriday contributor! Joking aside, if you want to have a Pete-like experience, I am happy to put you in touch with Derek. Who knows, maybe as a result of a FiveXFriday connection, Derek and I can join forces to help your organization and its leaders.

#executivecoaching #networking #priorities #focus #enrichment #schedules #leadership #growth #gratitude #energy