Let’s start with where you may be…
You’re 10-20 years into your corporate career and are wondering whether you have it in you to carry on.
You have built a successful track record, but notice a growing sense of unease. You feel a low-level sense of dissatisfaction most of the time, but criticise yourself for feeling like that. You tell yourself you should feel grateful for all you have: a good job, people who love you and you earn good money. But you’re full of self-doubt.: You give everything you have to your job and your family gets the scraps that are left.
The whole thing feels like an uphill slog.
And you are full of secrets…
The Eight Secrets You Tell Almost No One:
You see social media posts that tell you the only thing stopping you feeling more confident and happy, is yourself. And you know to some extent this is true, but there are things in your organisation that are broken. Aspects of the culture that just aren’t right. You’re frustrated that you can’t rise above it like others seems to, and disillusioned that it has to be this way in the first place. That the culture is what it is.
To read more about these secrets click here.
You Yearn To Be Able To:
Step into your next role without it taking up so much of your bandwidth. For it to feel less stressful and more joyful. To learn and grow at a pace that feels right for you.
Feel a kind of wild freedom. For your life and work to feel like riding a bike downhill with the wind blowing in your hair, rather than peddling up the way and it feeling like a slog. To go further in your career, have more choices available and actually enjoy the ride.
Switch off (guilt free) at the end of the day and have more time and energy for your life beyond work. Spend quality time with your family, and savour it. Have more space to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Time to just stop and be. To do things, purely for yourself, that energise you. Maybe creative things you used to enjoy in your younger days. Or simply a walk in nature before you start your working day.
Feel a kind of deep contentment and ease with yourself and where you are in your life and career. To have ambitions that excite you, and at the same time love where you are right now.
The Dilemma: To Get That, You’d Need to Achieve These Three Things
A new opportunity (perhaps a promotion) has come your way, but you’re doubting whether it’s possible to have the three things you most want for yourself: feeling confident at work (you hate feeling insecure and awkward - especially around influential senior leaders), meaningful work (knowing your work matters and makes your company and the world better than it was) and, of course, a quality of life beyond work that feels good.
I think of it like this…
© Claire Mackinnon 2020
Right now, you’ve got financial security (which is one part of quality of life) but the other two below it have been elusive, and so most of the pyramid is missing. That’s why you’ve felt ‘off’ for so long. You can read more of my thoughts about this here.
And without those other two pieces established, you’ll never have the peace of mind you’re looking for and...
You can’t keep going like this much longer.
You have worked so hard to get here and, financially, it isn’t an option to leave. But you want less stress.
You want to deliver the same great results in your work, or better, but to feel more at peace while doing it.
To get less stress you’re imagining you’d need to accept less money. This could mean taking a step down into a more junior role, or moving to an organisation that isn’t as full on, or even leaving the corporate world and setting up on your own.
You’re not prepared to take the financial risk any of those options would entail.
But, you are realising that life is too short to feel like this and not do anything about it.
You have no one to talk to about these inner struggles and feel lost and overwhelmed.
But you still have it in you to be bolder and braver, and are willing to make real changes.
Hi, I’m Claire…
I’ve helped hundreds of leaders ditch the uphill slog, and experience greater joy and ease as they grow their careers, because this has been my own journey.
For most of my 15 year career as a corporate leader, the external success I achieved came at great personal cost. Despite moving into roles that felt increasingly more meaningful, the ‘proving’, ‘pleasing’ part of me continued to run the show no matter what job I stepped into, and every promotion seemed to chip away at my soul. It took almost reaching burn-out and the breakdown of my marriage for me to realise that it was me that needed to change if I was to create a career (and life) that truly nourished me.
By diving deep and doing the inner-work I now guide people through, I started to see changes in how my life and work felt, and the results I was able to create. As I secured my first Director-level role, I experienced what I had previously thought impossible: doing a bigger role and it actually feeling good. As my confidence grew, I took bolder steps towards work that made my heart sing, whilst maintaining financial security for my family, and enjoying my life beyond work more and more.
Since becoming as a professionally certified coach and trainer, I’ve worked with leaders across multiple sectors including financial services, technology, retail, management consulting, music and TV. Both through partnering organisations supporting their people, and working directly with individuals investing in their own career journey.
I’ve Got A Special Place In My Heart For You If You…
Are beginning to suspect that the root of things feeling the way they do might be down to you and how you see the world. It’s dawning on you that your own approach to work isn’t sustainable. But you’re also realizing that it is something you can change. You likely have tried to do some work on this yourself, or have worked with a coach in the past, but notice you keep cycling back and feel stuck.
Have already tried a few self help books and watched Ted Talks on how to feel more confident and believe in yourself. You’ve even tried the exercises (and it has helped a bit). You’ve tried to do things that push you outside your comfort zone at work - e.g. presentations to big groups. You know it’s important to keep doing this so you grow, but it feels exhausting.
Want to make the world a better place. You get frustrated with hot air and corruption, and the fact that the world’s political systems seem to lack teeth in making positive change. When it comes to politics, you are becoming apathetic but have causes you care about, e.g. the climate crisis, gender equality, mental health awareness, anti-racism, eradicating extreme poverty, and use your skills to make a difference outside of work where you can (or would love to).
Value the simple things in life: like enjoying the company of your friends and family, long walks in nature, a day at the beach, laughing till it hurts, making other people smile and feel good about themselves.
Are really fascinated with conversations about secret longings for the future and past adventures. Dreams you have for yourself and the world, what you love in others, what makes us human, the difference you’d love to make. The hobbies you used to love and who you were in your younger years when you felt more free.
Have got yourself an MBA or some other professional qualification to feel more credible. Or have taken leadership training on topics such as influencing others, presentation skills, gravitas and presence, communication skills and difficult conversations. Training that addresses the things on the outside that people see and hear you do, but that you have struggled to consistently implement.
Secretly love to read trashy chick lit or watch TV that helps you escape into another world, like Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad. Or TV that makes you laugh uncontrollably and that may subtly or not so subtly poke fun at the patriarchy (like Ricky Gervais presenting the Golden Globes or Parks and Recreation).
We might not be a fit if:
You enjoy organisational politics. You are fiercely ambitious and whilst you aren’t proud of it, see that making yourself look good at the expense of others, is what’s needed to be successful.
You rarely spend time thinking about systemic inequality. You acknowledge that some people have greater barriers to overcome than you, but believe that each person is responsible for creating their own destiny. You are not responsible for any of it.
Facts and figures rule, and you are not open to considering that intuition has a role in business and leadership. You’re open to trying new things, but require a convincing argument to take the first step. You find it hard to admit when you’re wrong, and tend to insist on your approach being the way to go, and it is rare that your mind can be changed.
You’ve had feedback that you need to work on your emotional intelligence, and you’re looking for coaching support to tick that box (as opposed to having a genuine desire to learn and change). You want quick fixes to help you move forward quickly so that others see a change and recognise your progress. You’re open to working on your inner game, but see that work stuff and personal challenges are completely separate. You can’t see yourself bringing anything non-work related to a coaching session.
Find out more about working with me
Been putting off having a tricky conversation at work?
A surprisingly simple step-by-step approach to help you prepare for that tricky convo, without overthinking
Get clear on what you’ll say and feel more confident when you walk in the room
Avoid the mistake most people make when they head into tricky conversations at work
I love my work now and I’m thriving
Claire helped me discover what is truly important to me and now I’ve moved to a role that makes me jump out of bed in the morning!
Feeling stuck?
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