Your Career Revolution “The Value of Coaching for Career Ownership.”

Your Career Revolution Episode 205 with Heather Christie “The Value of Coaching for Career Ownership.”

Heather Christie, President of Evolve Global and an Executive Coach to CEO’s, Senior Leaders & Executive Leadership Teams

Heather’s Bio: Heather Christie is an Executive Leadership Coach, Professional Speaker, Author, and “Recovering Attorney”. A former Legislative & Regulatory Attorney, she was Partner in a Prestigious 100 Attorney Chicago law firm. Heather works primarily with CEO’s, Executive Leadership Teams and Boards of Directors on influencing change. She has consistently ranked as one of the top coaches in the world.

As one of her client’s puts it, Heather helps her clients to “make Mondays feel like Fridays”. Her expertise is in helping senior leaders increase their influence to drive change. She facilitates leadership and Team Building sessions for Executive Leadership Teams and Boards of Directors. Heather is a Certified Executive & Leadership Coach and a founding partner of the John Maxwell Leadership Coaching Team.

Heather has been around the world twice, gone sky diving in Australia, run a full marathon in Greece, been scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, traversed the canyons in Switzerland, white water rafted rivers around the world, and completed a 530-mile bike ride from Minneapolis to Chicago for charity.

Tamara said in the interview: Chapter five of our book, “Your Career Revolution,” talks about coaching in particular; when I think about a lot of the people who we work with, they don’t even necessarily know that they’re looking for coaching, but they’re seeking for something, they keep on feeling that good, there has to be a better way. We call them seekers. They need to find out what they’re looking for. But when we engage with them with the power of coaching, it just manifests itself. We are creating a safe space where they can start dreaming about what’s possible again. And it’s fantastic to watch because people have all these limiting beliefs. I cannot dare to dream because that’s not realistic for me. Heather, you’re the one who says coaching helps somebody find the genius within, and it seems counterintuitive because people think they should be looking for the answers outside of themselves. If I knew the answers, my life would be different. And yet, with coaching, they realize that the answer is within themselves. And they can start creating a vision or a NorthStar for what that needs to be. That is one example of the power of coaching. In the book, we talk about celebrities having a coach. So even if the most successful people on the planet refer to a coach or use the help of a coach, why wouldn’t the average person do that?

As Heather says: So, the value of coaching is there’s so much there, Mike, but to be concise for you, first and foremost, it’s clarity. And as Tamara said, as a coach, I firmly believe that each of you has your genius with it, right? And what’s crazy is we grow up in a system that teaches us to look for external answers. And a great coach will ask you the right questions, ask you questions you may not think of, or perhaps you need more confidence to answer for yourself. But a great coach will hold a space for you to allow you the time to get introspective, to know that inner self, to dive deep and realize what’s most important for you. And so, this concept of coaching, I have a three-part formula that you can use in any coaching. That’s so powerful.

First and foremost, it is what results you’re after, right?

The clarity of the results, you know, what is it that you want, like Tamara said, the seekers need to know what they’re seeking. I certainly didn’t at the time, um, but to have somebody help you along the path to determine not them. But for you to determine what it is you want, what do you want to get? And then once you know the result, it’s like, here’s my destination, here’s what I want, then you got to figure out, so what do I need to do to get there? What you need to do is the easy part of the formula. The other side of it is what sort of beliefs do I need to have to be able to achieve this new result? And that’s where a coach can help uncover your current belief system. What is it that you’re thinking? What is your belief about yourself about the environment, your abilities, your worth, all of it, and help you uncover some of those beliefs that you might not even know that you’re holding that are limiting you from whatever that next step is? So, that’s a long answer. And I could go on and on about the value I have received from coaching, but the ability to look and find those answers within is amazing.

According to Tamara: Absolutely. And I love what Heather just spoke about. The value of coaching is really about discovery and reaching a point of clarity. To be able to dream, you need to trust the person you’re working with, right? So that is foundational; it’s essential because you need to trust their motivations to understand whether they are challenging you for their sake or your sake. But once you trust that they have no Altar of ulterior motives, it’s all about you being better. And that safe space has been earned, right? Trust has been earned. That’s when you get to challenge people’s beliefs and their mindset. That is when paradigm shifts start occurring, where they begin creating and seeing things they couldn’t see for themselves. It’s starting to see beyond your blind spots. And then there are also efforts to contend with. We talked about it in the book. If it’s a fear-free state, people feel like I will learn how to move forward. And by definition, coaching will take you out of your comfort zone. And if you’re out of your comfort zone, it’s likely a little fearful. So it’s not about not having fear, but it’s about having clarity. Be about what you need to do. And then the courage to take the first step, the second step, and the third step. And this is what I love about coaching because many times, it’s about borrowed belief, helping somebody believe in themselves, maybe more than they do at that moment. Other times, it’s about pushing them out of their comfort zone because they have the results that they say they want. But you can only do that if you’ve built that relationship. And if you have that trust, those things come to mind for me.

More from Heather: Fear is the number one thing that stops us from anything, right? Get clear on what that fear is, what is it that you’re worried about, you can either stay in a place of confusion or decide. And the word decision comes from the Latin word that means to cut off. Once you make that decision, you’ve cut off all alternatives, like, I’m not going to be in confusion anymore; I’m going to find some answers. And Tamara brought up a perfect point if you don’t know who to go to, you really want to have this relationship of trust. But here’s the thing, only count someone out after you have that conversation. Get on the phone, talk with a career ownership coach and see if it’s the right fit. See if they’re asking you the right questions. And here’s an excellent way to tell: if you get past that barrier of fear, which is this perception that, you know, something could go wrong? Well, guess what? You don’t have to do anything other than make a phone call. You are stepping your toe into the unknown. But here’s the beautiful thing about the unknown, the unknown is within. So why not explore it and figure out what it is? We tend to make something bigger than they are. We go fast forward all the way.

Oh, my God, they’re going to ask me to sign a contract, buy a business, quit my job, whatever you’re thinking, whatever that fear is for you. It’s different for everyone. But here’s the thing, you don’t have to go there. Make the phone call and see if you can get to the first step, inquiry, finding out who this person is, what they offer, and what kind of questions they ask me. Here is an excellent clue for me. If I’m working with a great coach, have I gained some insight I didn’t have before that phone call? Yes or no? And if the answer is yes, then I might want to go to step two and see if I can get more insight. Right. So instead of worrying about the end game, take it step by step.

Host Bios

Tamara Loring, Brand Ideology for The Entrepreneur Source

For over 20 years I’ve had the great privilege to work with Franchise Business Owners here at The Entrepreneur’s Source, helping them launch and ramp up their businesses and to equip them with the tools and resources they need to coach those who have a strong to very strong desire to be self-sufficient. I believe everybody has a dream worthwhile pursuing and a coach can help you explore what is possible.

The Entrepreneur’s Source helps individuals achieve their Income, Lifestyle, Wealth, and Equity goals through Career Ownership. With almost 40 years of experience, we have helped hundreds of thousands of individuals explore self-sufficiency and reach a point of clarity about their professional future.

The Entrepreneur’s Source, led by Visionary Founder Terry Powell captures over 33% of the billion-dollar coaching/advisory market. The Entrepreneur’s Source Career Ownership Coaches™ provide education, coaching and resources to individuals who have the desire to achieve their dream of becoming self-sufficient through career ownership. This allows our clients to explore career options that meet their goals, needs and expectations utilizing our unique Discovery Experience.

Mike Toper, Podcast Host
Syracuse-native happy to never shovel snow again since moving to Raleigh, North Caroline. Retired sports reporter who is enthusiastic about telling stories and helping companies stand out. “If we’re not discussing marketing and great PR, chat me up about hiking or craft beer.”