Peaceful confidence in your own power.
Recently I was asked, “What is the one thing you want to help your clients achieve?” My answer: For all of my clients to come away from coaching with a peaceful confidence in their power. What does that mean?
- It’s when you know you deserve that promotion and you can find the inner confidence to ask for it.
- It’s when things are stressful, yet you tap into that sense of peaceful confidence to get you through.
- It’s when someone is working against you or your ideas, you know you can peacefully and powerfully advocate for yourself.
- And it’s when you make choices for your career, your family or yourself, you have a sense of peaceful confidence to know what is right for you.
My corporate career started on a finance track. I started as an accountant with promotions to supervisor, accounting manager, assistant treasurer, treasurer, etc. etc. etc. The traditional goal on a finance track was to reach the ultimate position of Chief Financial Officer of a large business. It was a natural progression and one that all the senior HR and Finance officers tended to expect of an aspiring finance executive.
I stayed with that track, and quite successfully, until I hit my first CFO job. It wasn’t for me. That’s a much longer story and a period of my career from which I learned a lot, but it was also a turning point for me. It was the point at which I found my peaceful confidence in my inner power.
That was the point at which I got off the traditional track and pursued positions that were better matched to my strengths and passions. They were jobs that were about people development, leadership and change. I loved all those jobs and became known for my competency in these areas. I effectively rebranded myself.
There was a moment that I knew my new strategy was working. A colleague of mine, (a very successful CFO of a large business) told me one day as we were reflecting on our career paths and goals, “You seem very comfortable in your own skin.” I thought to myself, “Yes, this may not be what others had planned for me, but this is who I am.” I found his comment to be a very high compliment.
It’s all a journey, which never ends, so with every challenge we face, we may trip over doubt. But every challenge presents the opportunity to grow into a better place with that sense of peaceful confidence.
In my coaching, my wish for you is that you find your peaceful confidence in your own power. It may be as you develop leadership skills, or as you learn to advocate for yourself or as you sort out your right next step. In our personal and professional lives, we need to find that peaceful confidence to lead authentically, to decline with grace, to advocate with quiet power, to make decisions, for ourselves and our company, with peaceful confidence. My job as a coach is to help you get there.
Photo: GRJ Photo
