Why are you receiving this newsletter?

I consider you a professional friend. We share an interest in leadership training, agile coaching, and/or career advancement. We may also share the desire to laugh and have fun while doing serious work.

I made a big life change in January by moving to the NW Coast.  I’m living in a beach community west of Portland, OR and am LOVING IT!  The ocean air is invigorating, the natural beauty makes me smile each and every day, and the people are really friendly.

My coaching practice is now focused in two areas:

  1. helping professionals like yourself advance their careers.
  2. helping clients design their next chapter of life when they retire.

I’ve coached 100+ professionals these last three years and look forward to serving many more going forward.
I’ve decided to launch this never-to-be prize-winning newsletter, Dispatches From the NW Coast, as a way to share my thinking and ideas for how to get unstuck and advance your career.  I also plan to share some of the wonderful and quirky aspects of living in a small, coastal town.

Below is my first edition.  If you don’t want to receive this going forward, let me know and I will take you off the list.  I hope you choose to stay and laugh with me!  Life is just too funny…

Thanks, Pat

October 2019

How Can I Advance My Career so I’m Happier and Fulfilled?

Answering this big question can feel like being hit by a Tsunami – of emotions, thoughts and fears.  To be a consistently high performer you need to master skills key to your profession.

For example, a top salesperson has developed high competence in the art of identifying client needs and offering compelling solutions.

A successful Development Officer has mastered the art of making friends of strangers and inspiring them to contribute to making a difference in people’s lives.

A Go-To Manager has mastered the art of tracking details while engaging people in solving problems and getting things to done.

Mastery of key skills of your profession only gets you so far though. The unhappy truth is ALL OF US hit the wall and max out of happiness at some stage along the way. 

What do you do when work feels more of a grind than a creative expression of who you are?  What can you do when your career progression stalls?

“Research suggests that people are happiest at their job and perform best when they’re thinking about their job in terms of maximizing their strengths.”  And …pretty much all the studies of happiness suggest that happy people perform better. They’re more creative. They’re more willing to put in time at work.” says Yale psychologist Laurie Santos.

How happy are you in your job right now?

Did you know Core Needs are building blocks to happiness? We each have a set of 7-12 Core Needs which, when fulfilled, give us the energy and inspiration to do our best work time and again.

When satisfied, our Core Needs are the gold nuggets that unleash our creativity and high performance.  Do you know what yours are?

My coaching work is anchored in having clients discover their core needs and how best to meet them. 

This knowledge about oneself provides a solid foundation for navigating one’s career, whether you are climbing a corporate ladder or, like me, advancing by leaping from lily pad to lily pad.

Either way, you need to innovate or reinvent yourself as you advance.  Being grounded in your core needs and values supports being aligned, internally coherent, authentic, and highly productive.

If you are struggling with how best to move up or move on, let’s talk soon.  Find out if what we do can help you survive your tsunami right now.

Local Signs that Give Me Pause

Yes, I live in a tsunami zone… more on this in another post.

Cemetery…Recycle Center…think about that a moment…