Lessons From the Pandemic: Part 2

Time to read: 1 minute, 8 seconds

My Covid campsite

I conducted a workshop last week as part of a 2-day virtual offsite to help a team reconnect, recover from a brutal year, and evaluate how they want to return to the office. When I asked people to share what they noticed about life during the pandemic, here's what they said:

"My kids enjoyed having more downtime."

"We didn't run around as much."

"My family wasn't over-scheduled."

"I enjoyed having quiet time in the evening."

As an über extrovert, people are my oxygen. During the pandemic, I had to introvert. I read a lot. Watched hours of TV. Gazed at my fish. Snuggled my dogs. Meditated. I took walks with friends, but the year was party-less, trip-less, and crowd-less.

When we could finally emerge, I was ready to par-ty!

Well, I thought I was ready to par-ty. My first few forays into the crowded world were fun in the moment and resulted in days of sleep and recovery from the noise. The pandemic taught me the value of quiet, downtime, and space alone. When activity was stripped away, the quiet that remained turned out to be great.

In the quiet, families reconnected. You may have discovered new hobbies or reignited your love of reading. Lots of people loved the time to cook at home and eat real meals. Game night replaced running from scheduled activity to scheduled activity.

As you plan your re-entry, consider how you will preserve the quiet you found during the pandemic. (For those of you with young children, the word "quiet" isn't quite right. Maybe a better word is slowing? Calm?)

If you want more strategies for re-entering life and work smoothly and effectively, download your copy of The Corporate Rebel's Playbook for Returning to Life (and Work). It will help you decide what to keep and what to change.

Lessons From the Pandemic: Part 1

Time to read: less than one minute

In the olden days when meetings were moving online, I was facilitating a women's leadership training program for a big company. My group and I were enjoying a panel discussion with company leaders. On the screen, dogs barked, kids walked through, and there was much laughter about wearing sweatpants with a button down shirt.

During Corporate Rebel live events this year, we saw a dinosaur costume, crazy hats, tiaras, dogs, cats, ferrets and all kinds of dining tables, kitchen walls, and bedroom decor.

This year, we became more human to each other at work. Corporate life used to be defined by a separation between the office and home. Sure, you put plants and family photos in your cube. Sure, you have friends at the office. And how many of those people ever saw your dirty laundry draped over a chair or watched your toddler streak across the room during a meeting?

We may be happy to give up the streaking and barking dogs, but let's hang on to how we let ourselves be seen this year. The intimidating VP is less intimidating when her kid asks for homework help during a presentation. Your boss is more approachable when you know he's wearing pjs all day.

Although I wish the solution were PJs for Everyday! it is easy to keep the investment in our humanity at work.

Talk to people. Connect. Tell stories of your everyday messes, successes and failures. Be authentic. Other humans are the most important resource you have. Invest in them.

And maybe consider a pajama day at the office. For old times sake.

Get your free download of The Corporate Rebel's Playbook for Returning to Life (and Work) right here. If you love it, please share it.

Searching For An Answer?

Time to read: 1.48 minutes

Where is that darn answer, anyway?

Last week I talked about the depletion of your "surge capacity." The sourdough bread, gardening, and Zoom happy hours aren't cutting it anymore. You need a new set of strategies to face the next few months of the pandemic and the ugly election.

Your brain is full so I'm keeping things simple. One step at a time. One idea/thought/recommendation at a time. This way, you only have to think about or do one new thing each week. Easy peasy. I have the attention span of a gnat these days. I need things to be easy and think you might need that, too.

Where to start?

How about here... I (and everyone I know) have been reading a lot of news. Last week I realized I was looking for THE ANSWER. I was looking for the person who is smart enough, who has a big enough vision, who knows what will happen next. If I could just find it, then I would feel less anxious and more in control.

Unfortunately, the answer is not out there. No analyst or commentator or friend knows where we are headed or what to do next. No one person has the solution or the power to fix the mess that we see on the news everyday.

The good news is that the answer is in you. You know what's best for you, your career and your family. You know how to take care of yourself. You have the power to change the world with your choices and behavior every day. You can trust yourself to handle whatever happens and that you have everything you need to manage the future just like you have always managed the past.

So, this week, look around your life to see where you are looking for the answers "out there" and start to bring your awareness to the answers that are "in here." This new awareness will help you feel more powerful and in control in a situation that feels very much out of control. From there, you can take action.

Awkward transition

I'm excited to announce that The Corporate Rebel signature group coaching experience, Clarity U, will start again in mid-October. This program opens once a year and the plan was to launch in early 2021. Your emails tell me that stress is high. You've told me you have a lot to figure out. A community of personal and professional growth is just the place to learn how to live through this moment in history with power, possibility and courage so I moved the start date forward.

Intrigued? Let's talk.

Sign up here for a 30-minute chat.

We'll talk about what's going on for you, what you need, and whether Clarity U is a good next step for where you are headed. (See the PS for a few more details about Clarity U.) For any of you who have worked with me, you know this initial conversation is casual, fun and productive whether you decide to join or not.

One of last year's Clarity U participants said, "Doing this work has been more valuable than a lifetime of therapy. (And a lot more fun.)"

I can't wait to connect!

Christina

P.S. Want to talk about Clarity U? Choose a time here for us to talk about how the current moment is affecting your life and work and how Clarity U will help you use the next few months to build your capacity for what's next.

Want to know more?

Do you relate to any of these statements?

• Life feels chaotic and uncertain, and you feel overwhelmed and depleted.
• You make decisions from a place of fear instead of empowered choice, constantly second guessing yourself.
• You’re simultaneously unproductive and working more than you ever have.
• The ineffective patterns that have held you back for years have intensified, showing up in work dynamics and personal relationships.
• You’re reaching for ways to get your life and work back in control and not sure how or what to do.

What's in it for you? Starting in October you will learn to...

• Shake off negative patterns of thinking and behaving so you can stop holding yourself back. Your life will be easier and work more fulfilling during this stressful time and into the future.
• Gracefully navigate uncertainty so you are confident in your ability to handle change and instability.
• Ground yourself physically and spiritually to allow radical transformation so you can stand steady in the midst of chaos.
• 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 who you are and what you want, and bravely take action to make your goals real.

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.

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.