Shape changer

“I want them to see what I can do; not just want I have done.”

My client was describing her vision of what she wanted to convey to potential employers. She knew that she had an impressive resume of accomplishment in a male-dominated field. She had the ability to take scientific knowledge and theory and explain it in a way that made sense to consumers and marketers. She had the agility to shift when economics circumstances changed.

And she had the self-awareness to know when she was changing internally. She knew she had a certain restlessness, and a need to challenge herself anew. She was ahead of the green revolution, and went back to school to get additional training and certification to lead small businesses and larger industries towards smart environmental solutions.

She had a track record of accomplishment. But how to translate that history into a narrative that would show leaders in her new arena what she had to offer?

As you can glean, she is smart. And intuitive. She knew that as an experienced executive, most prospective employers would look at her resume and think of how they could plug her experience into their organizations.

But she knew she was more than her experience. She wanted to express the leader she knew she could be going forward.

That when we started to create a functional resume, a resume that could break down her specific job responsibilities and achievements. She had the insight; together we developed a format that connected the dots between her previous successes and her new learning and her innate creativity and passion.

I love clients like this. People and organizations who can be introspective and look out beyond the horizon at the same time. It’s the willingness to take risk, to reinvent.

Because she can clearly see herself, she can project how she will be seen.

Birthday Blog

At this moment 21 years ago, I was sitting in bed with my feet propped up, too hot and too pregnant to have any hope of finding comfort for more than a few minutes at a time.

I’d worked a full day, even though I was three days past my due date. Congress had just concluded its televised hearings on the Iran-Contra guns-for-hostages scandal, and I’d spent the last few months watching and reporting on each session. I sat in bed with a clear view of what I’d just finished, and no idea of when my next act would begin or what that would mean.

Well, I thought I had a clue. I’d read every book I could get my hands on. Peer wisdom had to come from my older sister, the mother of two. I’d been the first to marry among my core group of girl friends, and now I was breaking new ground yet again.

The experience was different for my husband. He had two children from his first marriage, so although this would be our first child together, he did have perspective that I did not. Still, I had prepared myself as well as any woman could. And in a few hours, it would totally be out of my hands.

What an idiot. As if I truly could ever been prepared for what August 19, 1987 would mean to me. As if all my preparation could create a perfect life for my baby, providing protection from all life’s vagaries and challenges, all the triumphs and the hurts, the abundance of love and the losses.

There is no way I could have known what it would be like to raise this child or the sibling that was to follow, or to predict that ultimately I would raise them as a widow, 180 degrees from the life I had planned for them.

Today I celebrate my son’s 21st birthday. I cannot express the depth of my pride in the man he’s become, and the gratitude I feel in my blessing.

And although he would object loudly and vociferously to my saying this, He Is Perfect.

Brian and Balance

This is another Brian column.

As I previously wrote, Brian is a personal trainer. One of the reasons I enjoy my work with him is because of his ability to explain and demonstrate his exercise choices, and the purpose behind them. Sometimes his explanations have such profound applications outside of the gym that I interrupt our workouts to write down his wisdom. Examples:

“Hold on to your center when the ground is shaking and forces are pulling you.”

Brian loves to work on balance. He will take a standard exercise, then add something extra: deep squats on a balance platform, free-weight arms curls while balancing on one leg, chest presses while sitting on an exercise ball.
The key to these exercises is finding your center. It means turning your focus and awareness inward. When you are aware of your center, you know when you are being pulled off balance and how to regain your footing.

“Resistance will not hold you back if you are sure where you are going. Resistance can work for you and with you.”

Another balance exercise. Brian has me stand on a “Bosu ball" --the name means "both sides united." This hemispherical rubber dome has less stability than sand. After I find my center and can maintain an upright position, he hands me these “resistance bands” (like oversized rubber bands or elasticized jump ropes) and has me slowly pull away from him, while he pulls in the opposite direction.
The interesting thing is if I pull too hard, I totally lose my balance and fall off the Bosu. And if I don’t pull hard enough, I totally lose my balance and fall off the Bosu.
The point: resistance is not always a negative force. Resistance can help you stand tall, support you and force you to find and maintain your center.

A recent article in The Washington Post offers a more complete look about the benefits of balance in exercise:

At Any Age, It Makes Sense to Keep Yourself in Balance

By Brittney Johnson, Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 12, 2008; HE01

"There are times in your life when feeling a little off-balance may actually be a good thing. Take it from the experts..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/09/AR2008080901280.html

Lucky for me, I was ahead of the curve, thanks to Brian.

Great Tips for Great Bosses

I'm doing a hand-off for this post. I know when I can't add to a perfect product. Jill Geisler, who heads up the Leadership and Management Group at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, nails it with her list of the top ten things great bosses know.

All I can say is Amen.

Here's the link to her column:

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=34&aid=147740

Test, Fail, Recover, Repeat

I try to keep a practice of physical training at least two times a week. Most weeks I keep that commitment, maintaining a routine of aerobic and weight training at my neighborhood gym. Sometimes I treat myself to additional support from a certified personal trainer, Brian.

I use the word “treat” for my work with Brian, and I mean it. He always pushes me beyond the comfort zone I’ve created within my workout routine, and shows me the benefits of trying new options and new approaches. He encourages me beyond my fear of failure when a new exercise or method seems “too hard.” He gives me permission to step away from things that overwhelm me, yet firmly guides me back to learn from my failure and try again. He always seems to be able to measure the distance between my assessment of how many repetitions I can do, and the true depth of the resources I have within.

The learning goes far beyond the physical arena. An example:

Brian likes push ups. Different varieties -- traditional, bent knees, or on the chin up bar. 25 repetitions. The first ten are o.k.; the next ten are challenging, and the last five kill me. If it’s been a while since I’ve worked with Brian, the last five may not happen. Not right away. We may move on to other things. Eventually, we will come back to those push ups and I will find the power to do my 25 reps.
According to Brian, this is the way to build new muscle mass. You have to test your muscles to the point of failure, then give them the chance to rest and rebuild. Then you start the process again.

Test, fail, recover, repeat. It’s the mantra for new learning inside the gym and beyond.