Are You a Fit for Corporate?

Time to Read: 45 seconds to read the top part, an additional 30 seconds to read the rest. 10 seconds to click the link.

clarity-u-email-banner.jpg

Hello Rebels!

A theme emerged in my client calls this week and it's this: "I don't think I'm a fit for corporate life."

See if this sounds familiar to you... You start a corporate job. You like what you do. You like your boss. Insert a few changes in leadership, your beloved boss moves to a different division, and you start a revolving door of new bosses. Sprinkle in a shift in priorities and a reorganization or two, and you have a recipe for exhaustion, frustration, and a feeling that there must be something wrong with you. Your edge must have gone out the door with your 1990s sweater sets.

You feel like you have to make a change, your confidence is shaky, and you're no longer sure that you have anything to offer or if you even want to stay in corporate at all (except that the money's nice).

I've seen this story play out again and again. Inevitable changes in your job leave you internalizing that the problem must be you and that you are not a fit for a corporate job.

I can say a lot about this topic, and today let me give you this reassurance. You are not the problem. Corporations need many kinds of creative, innovative, unique people in order to thrive and succeed. There is no one "fit" for corporate life. You have much more freedom of expression in your job than you think you do.

In fact, you are an asset that deserves to be protected, developed, and appreciated. You get to think about how your corporate job works for you and what you want to get out of all the time you spend at work.

If you feel like your workday is spent trying to keep up with ever-increasing demands and you feel like you're falling farther behind, consider chatting with me about the Corporate Rebel Clarity U coaching group. You can schedule a 30-minute spot here.

This group is for you if...

  • You react instead of actively making decisions which leaves you feeling depleted and second-guessing your choices.
  • Life and work feel chaotic and disjointed. You find yourself running from place to place, slamming out emails, and feeling like you're not actually accomplishing anything.
  • You fall into the same ineffective patterns that have held you back for years.
  • Every year you think, "This is the year things are going to be different." Then they are not different and you keep going with the same old, same old.

Starting in early October, you'll learn how to...

  • Shake off negative patterns of thinking and behaving so you can stop holding yourself back. Your life will be calmer and work more fulfilling.
  • Gracefully navigate transitions so you feel confident in the unknown and able to handle the changes that work and life throw at you.
  • Ground yourself physically and spiritually to allow radical transformation. You will look back and wonder why you didn't address this stuff sooner.
  • Wield your new, portable Toolbox of Skills so you're ready to take action, make choices, and be in control of your career and life.
  • Get clear about what you want and bravely take action toward making your goals real.

The Corporate Rebel Clarity U coaching group will help you put work and life on your terms. This link will take you to my personal calendar to schedule a casual 30-minute chat. We'll talk about what's going on in your life, develop a solution or two, and determine whether our group program is the right next step.

You can also hit reply to this email to set up a time in the next few weeks or reach out to Christina or Anne privately with questions or inquiries.

christina@boydsmithcoaching.com

annelippin@gmail.com

It's going to be great.

With Rebel Hugs,

Christina

P.S. Wouldn't it be awesome to do this work with your friends? Invite them to explore the possibilities by forwarding this email to them. They can sign up to chat about the group here.

 

What's the Common Denominator In Your Stress?

Time to Read: 1 minute, 38 seconds (maybe two minutes if you read every detail to the bottom)

clarity-u-program-logo.png

Hello Rebels!

In my late 20s, I got a PhD. While writing my dissertation, I ate at strange hours, stayed up late, and became crabby and unreliable to my friends and loved ones. Once I graduated, I ran from becoming a professor. I never wanted to repeat the pattern of behavior that burned me out so thoroughly.

So, I went into business. The corporate world was a great fit. I loved the stimulation and the people problems in my HR and Compliance roles. Then the company got acquired, the industry was being overhauled by the government, and I was involved in creating a significant cultural change in our sales and marketing practices. I was staying up all hours and became crabby with my children and unreliable to my friends. I quit and vowed never to take another corporate job because I was exhausted and burned out. (Hmmm... Are you seeing a pattern yet? At the time, I didn't.)

So, I got retrained as a coach and started my own business. I was my own boss, could set my own hours, and determine my own priorities. Three years into my coaching business, I launched a big project and became crabby and unreliable and once again, burned myself out so thoroughly, I literally had to lay on the couch for a week.

At that point I was like, "wait… a… minute. I'm in my own business. I can do things however I like, and I'm still burning myself out. Damn it. The common denominator is me."

Insert wake up call.

Can you relate?

Do you see a pattern that you repeat again and again even when you are sure that changing the circumstances (job, marriage, location, weight) will fix it? Maybe you don't see the pattern, and you simply find yourself stuck in the same situation over and over.

Personal experience taught me that changing the circumstances fixes it for a few months or a couple of years and then you find yourself watching the same movie and wondering how it happened again.

I've spent the past two years diving deep and developing a sense of self worth that is not founded in my production and external success. I've learned tools and developed a relationship with myself and my purpose that is grounded in trust, joy, and fun. I've learned to work differently. I get just as much done. (In fact, frequently, I get more done.) I just don't go to burn out anymore. It's wonderful.

It's time to share all this learning and these tools with you.

Anne and I are excited to announce an exciting new group coaching program, the Corporate Rebel Clarity U.

This group is for you if...

  • You react instead of actively making decisions which leaves you feeling depleted and second-guessing your choices.
  • Life and work feel chaotic and disjointed. You find yourself running from place to place, slamming out emails, and feeling like you're not actually accomplishing anything.
  • You fall into the same ineffective patterns that have held you back for years.
  • Every year you think, "This is the year things are going to be different." Then they are not different and you keep going with the same old, same old.

Starting in early October, you'll learn how to...

  • Shake off negative patterns of thinking and behaving so you can stop holding yourself back. Your life will be calmer and work more fulfilling.
  • Gracefully navigate transitions so you feel confident in the unknown and able to handle the changes that work and life throw at you.
  • Ground yourself physically and spiritually to allow radical transformation. You will look back and wonder why you didn't address this stuff sooner.
  • Wield your new, portable Toolbox of Skills so you're ready to take action, make choices, and be in control of your career and life.
  • Get clear about what you want and bravely take action toward making your goals real.

We'd love to chat to see if The Corporate Rebel Clarity U Coaching Group is a good fit to help you put work and life on your terms. This link will take you to Christina's personal calendar to schedule a casual 30-minute chat. We'll talk about what's going on in your life, develop a solution or two, and determine whether our group program is the right next step.

You can also hit reply to this email to set up a time in the next few week or reach out to Christina or Anne privately with questions or inquiries.

christina@boydsmithcoaching.com

annelippin@gmail.com

We'd love to work with you. Truly.

With Rebel Hugs,

Christina

P.S. Are you ready to take action in your life? Let's talk! Click this link to choose a 30-minute spot on my calendar. We'll talk about what's going on and whether Corporate Rebel Clarity U is a good fit.

P.P.S. We are hosting the Corporate Rebel Clarity U Coaching Group online so you can participate from anywhere in the world.

P.P.P.S. Invite your friends to join you. Simply forward this email to them. They can sign up to chat here.

 

The Lies You Believe And The Truth Behind Them

Time to read: 1 minute, 36 seconds

unnamed.jpg

Hello Rebels!

One of my clients (let's call her Stacy) called me dreading her mid-term review. She hated the fact that her VP didn't understand her department's role and even worse, he didn't seem to care. She felt like she spent her precious one-on-one time justifying her work, explaining why it mattered, and trying to convince him to care. She didn't know what he wanted and found their conversations frustrating and discouraging.

Does this sound familiar in your corporate job?

Stacy and I talked about the one thing she could control - herself. She believed a number of lies, and those lies were holding her back. We uncovered the truth and prepped her to step powerfully into her review.

Try these on:

The lie: She has to justify herself and her team's work.

The truth: You have nothing to justify. You get to have your passions, and your passion is not diminished if your boss doesn't share your level of excitement. Your job is to share your excitement and help your boss come along.

The lie: She needs her boss's validation for her leadership to be worthy and her team's work to be valuable.

The truth: Your success as a leader does not come from your boss's validation. It comes from how you show up, the way you manage your team, and the way you hold yourself as a powerful leader. Going in apologetic or pleading is not empowering. Instead, know your value and tell the story of your team's success.

The lie: That her boss doesn't care.

The truth: Your boss cares a great deal. He/She may care about different things than you do. As a direct report, your job is to figure out what keeps your boss up at night and how your work fits into the big picture your boss has to manage.

The lie: There's nothing she can do.

The truth: You always have more influence than you think you do. Stacy wanted to know what her boss needed from her so instead of guessing, she asked him. He told her what he needed, and she emailed me to say, "It was a great conversation. THANK YOU!!!!!"

Stacy moved from being her own worst enemy (believing in her lack of power, apologizing and justifying herself) to being her own best friend. She walked into her review powerful and in charge. That changed everything.

If you want a dose of this kind of power, join me and my BFF for our Corporate Rebel Rethinking U Webinar on August 20th at 11:00 am CT. You can register here.

Can't wait to see you on the inside!

Christina

P.S. Did you love the Quiet the Noise Challenge? Do you have friends who could use a little dose of positivity and hope in their corporate job? Invite them to join you for the Rethinking U Webinar on August 20 at 11:00 am CT. Send them here. You'll be glad you spent the hour with us.

 

Refreshing Your Spirit

Time to read: 30 seconds

Gwynn Valley at sunset

Gwynn Valley at sunset

Hello Rebels,

I'm away at camp.

I spend three weeks working at my children's summer camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. In a departure from my regular life of coaching and momming, I spend my days as the Miller (as in grain and an actual water-powered mill) where I take children through a farm to table experience that involves lots of corn and lots of food. (It also involves dead fish, which is a story for another day.)

At camp, there is little cell service, spotty wifi, no TV or technology, lots of fresh air, baby animals, and hundreds of children. Even though I end each day covered in cornmeal and drop in bed exhausted at night, I am grateful I get to spend so much time each summer playing with children. They refresh my spirit.

As we prepare to start the Quiet the Noise Challenge, I invite you to consider what refreshes your spirit.

Where can you step outside your usual existence, even if only for a few minutes or a day? What can you do or where can you go to quiet the noise in your life for a while?

If you'd like a quick daily practice starting on August 5, our challenge is just the thing. You can join us here.

Anne and I look forward to seeing you there!

Christina

P.S. If you're excited for the challenge, please invite some friends to join by forwarding this email to them. They can sign up here.