How to keep our leadership skills sharp

entrepreneurship

I never cease to be amazed at the power of the coaching process to draw out the skills or talent that was previously hidden within an individual, and which invariably finds a way to solve a problem previously thought unsolvable.” – John Russell, Managing Director, Harley Davidson, Europe Ltd.

In-between the bittersweet goodbyes as I completed my latest consultancy as Interim Executive Director for the Santa Barbara Symphony, I’ve been reflecting about my journey during this first year of launching my business.

In simple and profound terms, this has been the best year ever!

Mr. Russell’s quote above beautifully summarizes my experience both as a leadership coach myself and as someone who has been working with a leadership coach.

In my own coaching practice, I have seen first-hand how my clients find their “Dream Jobs,” create new-found momentum and clarity on who the are and thus what they are working towards, and become fearless in their determination to have the impact they are meant to have.

My coach provided key support as I took the “leap” into entrepreneurship, and continues to both challenge and inspire me, and provide tangible tools as well as moments of shift that may come days after our conversations.

I’ve been thinking about why I hadn’t considered working with a leadership coach prior to this year, perhaps for some of the same reasons so many successful leaders I meet, especially in the arts industry, may be resistant to coaching:

  • I’m doing well, I am successful. I don’t need coaching.
  • I don’t have the time.
  • I don’t want my Board/Staff to think that I don’t know what I’m doing.
  • I don’t want to be asked “how do you feel?” all the time!
  • I don’t have the money.
  • I need someone that knows the specific job/business demands I have, not just a “therapist”
  • I’m doing fine – I need to focus on helping others who need things more than I do.
  • I don’t know what to expect.
  • I don’t know how to find one that is the right match for me.

What’s interesting though, is that in other industries, or even for other people like us, we tend to understand the value of coaching much more easily. I’m sure we all know athletes, corporate executives, or parents who’ve hired coaches (tutors), and had great success.

As John Russell eloquently states, we all have talents that need to be revealed in order to make this world a better place. We all have moments when we feel that what we “want” is not possible or practical, and we all have areas of resistance that left unchallenged, continue to show up – job after job, relationship after relationship, and can be the barrier to helping others and to achieving our mission and purpose.  

Hiring a coach doesn’t mean we are weak. It means we are committed to growth, development and learning. It means we are strategically and intentionally choosing to take the embodied actions (thoughts, feelings, behaviors, actions) that will help us reach our “goals of impact.”

For the past 11 months, investing in myself by hiring a coach is the best decision I made and continue to make.

So if you’re in a leadership role, I challenge you to look at any areas of your work or personal life that you may be avoiding, or being drawn to. Are you positioning yourself in ways that will achieve the impact you are seeking (for your business, organization, career, family)? It’s my mission to inspire and guide leaders like you to make the difference in the world that you were meant to make.

If you’d like to have a conversation with me about what coaching might look like for you, schedule a complimentary clarity call with me and let’s roll up our sleeves together!

To your success,

Kathryn

The Importance of Celebration

celebration

As we wind down 2016, I’ve been reflecting on the people I’ve had the opportunity to work with this year, and can’t help but feel tremendous gratitude for my clients, and how they’ve touched my lives this year just as much, if not more, than I’ve touched theirs.

When I launched this coaching and consulting business 12 months ago, I knew it would be quite a journey, and seeing my clients experiencing breakthrough after breakthrough is, as they say, PRICELESS.

This year, as an Interim Executive Director, Transition Strategist, Group Facilitator and Guest Speaker I’ve worked on-site in Brookfield (Milwaukee), Santa Barbara, San Antonio, Seattle, Puerto Rico and at home in San Diego, and am coaching leaders around the country.

Through my work, and creating an email community of smart, purpose driven leaders, I’ve been blessed to have made life-long friendships and witness breakthrough’s and transformation this year.

As we look forward to a new year, with new goals and new intention, let’s also use this next week to celebrate the year that is ending. Celebrate what we learned, the challenges we faced and how we dealt with them, the new experiences we stepped into, and the impact we’ve had. And share these “wins” with others in order to presence what matters to you, acknowledge the momentum you’re creating and provide the launching pad for your vision for 2017.

See if you can tell what matters to ME:

I’m celebrating the leaders who made a choice to invest in themselves, be vulnerable, and set an intention to curate a career/life that has impact and brings joy.

“The impact of Kathryn’s coaching was tremendous, resulting in a positive next step in my career trajectory: from associate artistic director at The Pasadena Playhouse to deputy artistic director of Arena Stage.” – Seema Sueko

And celebrating the Boards and Staff of organizations facing leadership transitions, who made a choice to leverage the moment of change and strongly and strategically move forward.

“Kathryn communicated with a positive can-do attitude, and provided a fresh opportunity-focused perspective that energized the board, getting us ready for our next chapter!” – Peter Schlueer, Board Member, Santa Barbara Symphony

And celebrating all the successful people who continue to look for and find inspiration and insights.

“Thank you for the wonderful “Happy Friday” emails, they are enthusiastic and vital to me. I have to whip my disease and be vigorous and work to overcome my disorder.” – Brooks Joyner

A year ago, I made a “leap” and launched my consulting business in order to focus on helping individuals and non-profits navigate times of transition. I expressed it as wanting to do things that make my heart sing. Now a year later I am celebrating and SINGING with the gifts my clients have given me.

As I reflect on these experiences, I’ve learned that the reason I get so excited by my work is not only about the successful revenue-generation, increased attendance, and increased effectiveness – its about being a part of the transformation of individuals and thus the organizations (and families) they lead. Successfully moving from a Point A to a desired Point B. I know that when they succeed, it means they’re making the world a better place. Isn’t that a pretty awesome reason for celebration?

So my question (and challenge) for you is this:

What “wins” are YOU celebrating, and how will you celebrate them? Has this been a challenging year? Then, even more importantly: how did you keep moving forward?

I know first-hand that celebrating these wins publicly, no matter how small they seem, will build incredible confidence and momentum as you enter the new year.

To your success,

Kathryn

p.s. If you need some support to start 2017 with a clear, energized intention, get on my calendar now for January and let’s talk.

Some snapshots from 2016:

Leading Visioning Summits, and Workshops, Sessions and speaking engagements on Leveraging Leadership Transitions, Interim Management, and Curating the life/career you’re meant to have.

Pictured: Director, Kevin Maifeld and students, Seattle University MFA in Arts Leadership

Working with amazing Board members and supporters, as Interim President & CEO. 

Pictured: Board Presidents Jan Wade (outgoing) and Fred Syrjanen (incoming), The Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts.

Getting to lead, support, empower, and super-charge staff during transition!

Pictured: Dr. Amy Williams, Director of Education & Community Engagement, and amazing team at the Santa Barbara Symphony

Shopping, gratitude, and the role of money in our organizations

shopping

Happy “Black Friday!”

What does this day mean for you?

Do you thrive in finding a deal?  Or does Black Friday shopping feel “superficial” or not in alignment with your inner work?  Or perhaps you are conflicted?!

And to expand the question: As leaders in mission-driven organizations and heart-centered entrepreneurs where every dollar, contribution and investment counts, do you ever feel guilty about spending money on yourself or investing in overhead for your organization?

As we set our intention each day to make a difference on this earth, there are so many things to be grateful for – our jobs, our right to vote, a warm fall day, our ability to have what we need. It’s easy to get caught up in consumerism during this time of year for sure, and I suggest that as long as we’re focused on gratitude and giving, it’s completely okay to spend money on things that we or our loved ones will enjoy.

In our organizations, it’s okay to spend money (i.e. invest!) in resources that we know will increase our capacity to advance our mission, increase sustainability, and help us provide more value to the communities we serve. Knowing that what we do matters, it’s critical to accomplish our mission or purpose – and to do that, we need resources.

In their introductory free “Awakening Prosperity” videos, transformational leaders Dawa Tarchin Phillips and Jack Canfield talk about the significant barriers many purpose-driven people have in creating wealth. Somehow the unspoken belief is that it’s not okay to want to build wealth (or spend money in the case of Black Friday?!) if you are aiming to good in the world.

Do we pride ourselves in managing on a shoestring budget, or not spending money on administrative staff… and then find ourselves with debilitating turn-over, losing market share or unable to deliver on our mission-driven programs at the level needed in the community? Do we have trouble investing in professional development or other self-care activities, and then find ourselves burnt out?

Often, our goal is stated as wanting to make more money or raise more in contributions for our non-profit, or to save money by cutting back on spending, overhead, programming, and even self-care and development. However, it’s important to connect the act of making more money and creating more wealth to what it will then allow us to DO in and for the world, our community, our families.

How we view money (both earning it and spending it) can have a huge impact on how much of it shows up in our life or organization, and how much of a difference we can make when it does!

So – express gratitude AND go spend your well-earned money on some great deals, and ways that will fill you up! Have fun! You (and your organization) are worth it!

To your success!

Kathryn Martin

P.S. – If you’d like to have a candid conversation about making a case for investing in your organization – or yourself, or just get more clear about your best next steps, schedule your complimentary clarity call with me here.

Setting intention during leadership transitions

leadership

So many thoughts, and questions.

Often, big questions don’t have easy answers. When feeling this way, I look to the thought and transformation leaders who inspire us to reflect and move forward.

This week I’m inspired by my friends who are engaging in dialogue with grace and gratitude … and perhaps a new-found strength and determination in speaking their truth. We are in a time of transition, and Wednesday night I found incredible inspiration and resolve as I spoke about my experience leading organizations through leadership transitions to an amazing group of students in Seattle University’s innovative MFA in Arts Leadership program.

At the end of this month I have the honor of concluding my ninth Interim Executive Director role. I get to navigate a familiar transition for me; physically shifting to new client work, while knowing energetically I will continue to think and care about the organization I am leaving. In this case it’s the Santa Barbara Symphony – who after 64 years is experiencing a momentum that’s catapulting their impact through education programs.

As a professional interim leader, I’ve chosen a role that means I constantly meet and help new people and communities to move forward towards a common goal. In some cases, the direction is clear and already known, and in other cases we must find it together. And always, it is setting this intention that provides the framework for how I lead organizations through empowering transitions.

What I’ve learned in all of these leadership roles is that during times of transition, there can be initial resistance, and sometimes that resistance is quite intense. People often need to just vent, talk about the past, or there may be concern, fear or even shame that a transition is happening.

It is because of this resistance and many practical “reasons” for getting things in order first, that they don’t believe advancing during transition is even possible. And yet – what’s the alternative?

To wait until a new leader is appointed before advancing the organization? To retreat, stay stuck, stagnant, blame others?   As non-profit 501(c)3’s face leadership transitions, our commitment to our community cannot be put on hold. What we do matters.

As a leadership coach, I work with clients to observe whether they are acting in alignment with standards they hold for themselves, or RE-Acting as current situations trigger feelings that remind them of something in the past. We must be mindful of the difference and choose. We also must always check in to see if our action (or RE-action) is moving us towards the goals we’re aspiring to.

Clearly, there are parallels here to our nation’s leadership transition – or perhaps this perspective is part of me still processing and wanting to understand and shift my intention from pre-election to post.

What are we aspiring to? What is our shared common goal? What are the embodied actions (thoughts, language, feelings, choices) that will GET us there, and what are the RE-actions that will not?

Meanwhile, as we search for these answers, and as we build momentum and clarity, we are beginning now, in this moment.

We must BE the leaders and people we want to be. We must hold up our standards for peace, justice, love.  So today, take a minute to identify what you are envisioning, set your intention, and then commit to doing your good work.

And if we are fortunate enough to work in the arts and culture industry – now more than ever – we must find ways to connect our country by doing what we do, and what we are meant to do.

With gratitude,

Kathryn

P.S. – If you’d like to have a candid conversation about an organizational or individual leadership transition, or just get more clear about YOUR best next steps to getting “unstuck,” schedule your complimentary clarity call with me here.

Achieve Big Goals AND Enjoy the Journey

Journey

Last weekend my husband and I took a whirlwind trip back to my childhood home in New York to celebrate some family Birthdays.

On this trip, unlike what I’d normally do, I decided not to fill the days with plans in advance. My experience is the inspiration for this week’s post. In four days we visited friends and sights from NYC to Stony Brook, to the tip of the Long Island.

Are you a planner? Are you great at setting priorities and establishing goals, and achieving them? Can you juggle complex schedules and move at the speed of light in getting things done?

These important abilities serve us very well as leaders. Having ambition, a strong work ethic and passion can certainly help us to deliver great results, but there’s also tremendous power in just BE-ing present and living in the moment.

As I learn from transformational leaders, I’ve found that the journey is just as important as the destination. Or rather, every moment IS the destination – and if we’re not careful – we may miss the lessons and opportunities we are meant to receive in order to achieve what we really want.

When I work 1:1 with high achievers; successful people with a tremendous value and pride in the quality of their work, we often take some time to “slow down,” reflect, notice, observe and analyze.

In some cases, this can feel counter-intuitive, or perhaps even unsettling as we become less “busy,” because there’s always a lot to get done, and the stakes are high!

It’s possible that in these moments, the need to be practical and organized could be hiding feelings of not being “enough.” We may find that fear-based questions of “what if…?” can begin to surface. We may ask: “What if I don’t get everything done? What if things don’t go how they need to go? What if I let people down? What if people think I’m lazy, not good at my job, etc.?”

On this recent trip, I replaced the “What if I don’t see everyone/do everything I want?” with “What if I do exactly what I am meant to do?” ​​​​​​​

I trusted, and I was “in” every moment. It was one of the best four days, ever! When I look back on all that we did and experienced, it seems almost impossible.

Time seemed to expand, connections were made, and magic happened – like randomly coming across the Imagine mosaic in Central Park JUST as I was pondering what the next year will hold.

I couldn’t have planned that if I tried.  I think I’m on to something. 😉

As always, if you’d like to get more clear about YOUR best next steps to get “unstuck,” or strike that balance between proper planning and BE-ing in the moment, CLICK HERE to schedule your complimentary Clarity Call with me.

To your success,

Kathryn

Confidence + Clarity = Certainty [Leadership Tip]

leader

“You’ve got to be sure of yourself before you can ever win a prize” – Napoleon Hill, author of  Think and Grow Rich

What does it mean to be “sure of yourself?”

On the surface, it may sound like Napoleon Hill is talking about confidence, but I believe it goes much deeper than that.

As leaders, we do our best work when we know who we are, and what we are truly capable of accomplishing. Having confidence is a start, but there is a distinct difference between feeling confident, and having a calm, centered, certainty about us in our work.

True certainty comes when we combine confidence AND clarity.

When we lead our organizations (or ourselves), it’s important to always check in with that “big picture” of what we’re aiming for, WHY we are aiming for it, and why we feel passionate about it.

I believe that’s what Napoleon Hill meant by “win a prize.” When we feel that sense of certainty and fulfillment in our work as a leader, we really come alive!

When we connect emotionally to who we are, what we want, and WHY, we create even more impact, and naturally inspire people to follow our lead. Our energy instantly becomes more magnetic, and our calm, centered certainty spreads through our team.

Recently, many of you completed my survey where I asked you to share your ideas, challenges, and preferred methods of learning. When reading the results, I experienced my “prize,” as I got excited knowing all of the ways I can aim to add value to your lives in the future.

What’s most exciting is that a majority of your responses indicated that you like learning in groups of like minded people. I can’t wait to share with you what’s coming in the future. I am certain that when we grow and learn together, we can lift each other up even higher.

just to get “unstuck,” schedule your complimentary clarity call with me here.

To your success,

Kathryn

Getting to know… you

possible way

use it. – Jack Nichols

In my role as a professional interim leader, I am constantly getting to know new organizations, communities, and people. One of the most important skills I’ve learned quickly create impact is to practice is listening. I set an intention every day to really hear and SEE the people with whom I’m blessed to interact.

As my e-community is growing – now with more and more people who I have not yet met personally – I realize that I need to listen and learn more about YOU in order to continue to provide the most relevant, helpful tips, tools and inspiration.

Would you complete this short, 4 question survey so I can learn more about the challenges you are facing, and what kinds of content might be most useful for you?

It will only take a few minutes of your time, and it will enable me to make sure I’m serving you in the BEST possible way.

CLICK HERE to take the survey.

You can choose to remain completely anonymous, and I will use the confidential information to identify common threads, and inform my decisions about what kinds of content and programs to bring to you in the future.

I’m grateful for your support!

Kathryn Martin

How to stay calm during the pressure of deadlines [Friday Leadership Tip]

pressure

Do you feel like the past few weeks have been unusually filled with pressure, extra deadlines, and seemingly endless “to-do” lists?

You’re not alone. Up until the Labor Day holiday, things traditionally slow down, as many of us are on vacation, and the phrase: “Let’s touch base after Labor Day” appears in a lot of emails, texts, and phone calls.

Then, all of a sudden, the holiday is over, and everything we’ve been waiting until “after Labor Day” for suddenly becomes more urgent, right?

During these intense periods of deadlines, goals, and urgent “to-do” lists, I find it’s extremely helpful to get re-connected to our “WHY” again.

When we shift our thinking back to the impact we are making with our projects and initiatives, it can have a calming effect that grounds us to WHY all of those deadlines exist in the first place. Once we focus on the impact of it all, it often becomes much easier to prioritize, meet our obligations, and provide the best help to others. 

When we’re scrambling around trying to frantically move from one urgent item to the next, it’s easy to get discouraged, overwhelmed, and actually way off track from our purpose.

So as we move towards the last quarter of 2016, I encourage you to center yourself and get connected to how you feel when you KNOW you are making an impact. As you prioritize your action items, really think about the lives you a touching, the people you are helping, and why you set forth on your mission in the first place.

Feeling pressure is common this time of year. Give yourself the gift of re-connecting to the “WHY” of it all, and notice the shift in your energy.

If you’d like to hop on the phone with me to help you get re-connected to YOUR ‘why,’ and identify your best next steps to achieving your goals, I invite you to schedule your FREE Clarity Call with me here. To your success,

Kathryn

Invite Creativity into your Toolbox [Friday Leadership Tip]

Creativity

Earlier this summer, 12 of my fellow entrepreneurs and I had the opportunity to meet with award-winning filmmaker Barnet Bain. Like so many of my experiences in 2016, that conversation – along with reading his “The Book of Doing and Being: Rediscovering Creativity in Life, Love and Work” – continues to resonate and percolate with me.

As I work with clients, common themes continue to appear – regardless of the organization’s budget size, or the individual’s professional success. We all have a need and desire to solve problems, and address the internal and external forces that seem to prevent growth, advancement, progress, and even happiness.

Since the journey of organizational and individual success seldom travels in a straight line, it’s also extremely common to find moments (or extended periods) of resistance, or feeling “stuck.”

When we feel “stuck,” there are tangible strategies that we can all call upon to move ourselves forward and identify the embodied actions that will enable creating the change we want and envision. I’ve witnessed transformation first-hand with clients enrolled in my 90-day Leadership Coaching program, and in every organization I have led as an Interim leader.

Here’s what Barnet Bain says:

Becoming a “Solution-Maker”
”To meet the challenges of the world that is becoming new, to effectively address problems that appear to have too few solutions, creativity must be awakened.  From business and politics to the way we tend to our personal lives, we need to stretch our imaginations beyond outmoded practices.
We can all become weapons of mass creation”

To DO this, Bain says, we need to “Reach and stretch in new directions, engage in activities and rituals that awaken positive potentials.  Practice, because your old linear, logical approaches, as valuable as they are, are not valuable enough, not extensive enough.”

Barnet provides many powerful exercises throughout the book, and here’s a simple one that you can try this weekend… no matter how busy you are:

Rearranging the Routine in Your Life
Doing ordinary things in a different order, consciously mixing things up, rewires and refires the flow of creativity.  Try different approaches to routine activities:

  • Sleep on a different side of the bed
  • Drink from a cup instead of a glass
  • Use chopsticks instead of a fork
  • Follow a new path through the grocery store
  • Find new routes for your drive or walk to work
  • Fold the laundry in a different room
  • Greet people in a new way
  • Answer your phone in new ways
  • Reposition the items on your desk.

By rearranging routines, you actively generate new perspectives. Creativity does not come unbidden.  You have to encounter it and invite it.  Ask yourself, “How can I approach common things more inventively?” Have fun with it.

As we head into Labor Day weekend, we have another opportunity to “shift” before starting a new school year, a new Season, a new Fiscal Year.  What are the actions YOU can take to start that process?

If you’d like support in creating purposeful intentions, and creating the personalized strategies to move those intentions forward, I invite you to schedule a Clarity Call with me.
Click here to schedule your complimentary Clarity Call today.

As always, I’m grateful to have you as a part of my email community, and I stand by you in FULL support of your intentions, dreams, and commitment to making a big difference in the world.

To your success,
Kathryn