My Journey into Executive Coaching
👋🏻 Helen here with our weekly installment of Mind the Beet. As I have been contemplating my next steps during my sabbatical, I have settled on investing in myself as a leader and pursing an executive coaching certification via Hudson’s Institute of Coaching. In parallel, I plan to explore fractional product management to keep honing my product craft.
After researching a variety of coaching options, I settled on Hudson because it offers a clear path to the industry recognized International Federation of Coaching certification, has an in person weekday experience and is a well recognized brand in the world of corporate Learning and Development.
As a first step on this journey, I participated in a week-long LifeForward experience that helped me contemplate shifts I’d like to make as I balance my personal and professional ambitions.
So in the spirit of sharing my lived experience as I go through this transition, I am sharing my board in this week’s post.
My Vision Board
Busier than ever - As I reflected on my time since I stepped away from full-time work, I immediately filled my days with “stuff” - kids, house projects, catching up with friends, tennis, and community volunteering. I loved all the things I dove into, but this “new” work swallowed me whole. So, the question that a coach posed to me that I keep coming back to is:
“What does my busyness get in the way of?”
The busyness prevents me from being intentional in how I spend my time as well as quality of output that I produce.
So, as I created my board, I kept space on it. I found it uncomfortable and difficult not to fill every inch of white with quotes, pictures, and goals.
Panel 1: My Personal Vision
The board consists of three panels. The first one, on the left, is centered on my purpose and reminders that will propel me forward.
For the purpose exercise, I went through 50 cards and identified the key ones that I want to lean into at this phase of my life. I did a lot of work to narrow this down to a manageable number of cards that are both relevant now and I’m not engaging enough in.
Using my abilities - This is a nod that I intend to keep honing and practicing my craft. This entails product work, coaching teams and individuals, baking, and parenting.
Staying Healthy - I plan to continue leaning into living a healthy physical lifestyle. I have been playing tennis and lifting weights, and I need to keep working on balancing my diet appropriately, as well as not getting injured as I dive into more physical activity.
Inner Peace - This is an area of development and a reminder for me to calm the mind, be present and grateful, and have confidence in my own knowing.
Connecting, Caring - What gives me joy in my life is connecting with people and caring for those I love. So, I want to do more of that.
Personal Vision Statement:
I also got a chance to workshop my personal vision statement - and while I wrote the first draft myself, I found it really helpful to workshop it with a small group of peers that I spent the week
Love myself as I am by living an extraordinary life, caring deeply and unapologetically, and raising good humans.
This statement is anchored around embracing myself as I am, which was a focus of my self-work and reflection. A big premise of coaching is that the answer lies within you. What I found is that the work ahead for me is to quiet my mind enough to be able to decipher a path forward.
Positive Reinforcement
The rest of this panel is all about positive self-talk. I remember coming back to Microsoft after maternity leave and seeing the nursing rooms be covered with stickies of fellow women lifting each other up with words of encouragement.
One of the exercises that I did was to write a letter from “Helen the Sage” (my 80-year-old self) to myself today. I found myself giving so much grace and positivity that I wanted to capture the themes that came up
Panel 2: My Identity:
Panel two of the board is about the key roles that I play: Mom, Leader, Coach.
Mom: With two young kids, being a mom continues to be a central part of my working identity. My kids need me in new ways today compared to when they were younger. So I am prioritizing spending time with them processing their days and emotions, extra study and learning time, as well as helping them focus on activities that give them joy (theater, swimming, and skiing for the older girl, and gymnastics, ice skating, and Girl Scouts for the younger). This is also the area of my life that has taken over in ways I did not intend as I stepped away from work. So I am seeking to rebalance this so that I am spending time where it matters most.
Leader: I am not sure if, in my next career chapter, I will go back in-house to be a product leader in some capacity or start my own practice, but whichever way I go, I know that leading people is a key aspect of my identity. I also know that I don’t have to be in a corporate environment to be a leader - for example, I’ve enjoyed stepping up in my local Girl Scouts organization as a leader.
Coach: I love being a coach and have been formally and informally coaching and mentoring people for many years. This is the role I am actively making more space for as I pursue a coaching certification with Hudson and decide if this is my next career chapter or a set of skills I take in-house to the next organization I serve.
I chose to have only one photo in the middle here, and it’s a ChatGPT creation of our family embracing technology because technology is the thread that pulls through my three identities - whether I am building tech, teaching tech to my kids or using it for my own business and development - it is central to my life.
The Getting Ready circle on the bottom left indicates where I am - which is getting ready for my next professional adventure.
Panel 3: Full Life
The third board is about hobbies that help me live a full and purposeful life centered around 3 things: Couple goals that Adam and I have, giving back to the community and traveling to expand my horizons.
✍🏻 Mind the Beet - Adam and I started Mind the Beet in January of 2021, and it has been an outlet for writing, giving back to our community as well as spending time together as a couple on non-transactional life things.
🍞 Community Loaves and Baking - I picked up baking during the pandemic, but now I bake for our local foodbank - HopeLink, as part of the Community Loaves organization. I love having the house smell of baked goods and helping alleviate food insecurity locally in our neighborhood. This is also an activity I’m able to do with my kids, and it allows me to talk to them about the broader issues at hand.
👧🏻 Girl Scouts - My favorite part about Girl Scouts is the opportunity to mentor and support young girls. So I am leading a Brownie troop for my youngest daughter and volunteering as our Service Unit Manager, leading a growing number of troops in my neighborhood.
🌎 Travel - This is a goal that is becoming more realistic as my daughters get older. For me, travel opens up the aperture on different ways of life, experiences and builds empathy. I’m excited to do more of it and keep focused on this area both as a family and with friends.
I’m excited to be investing in myself for the next 9 months as I pursue the Hudson Coach Certification program. Whether I end up being an executive coach or a Product Leader (or some combination of both), I know that I will learn a lot in the next year and grow. Onwards!