Sweating palms; anxious butterflies. The excitement of being told I had been awarded ALL of the grant I applied for. Building a brand, launching the site. Living the mission: part-time work in a senior role; balancing building a business, a career and a family. Then a massive change, I was blindsided. My security blanket of a great team and a regular income was gone. I won’t lie to you, I did have more than one moment of self-doubt. I was planning to build The Balance Collective whilst working on another passion of mine, project managing a graduate employability service.
It was never an exit plan.
When it came to pass that a change at work could leave me without a role, after nearly nine years at Aston University, I decided to work through as I would manage a project; let’s call it “Project Don’t Panic”. Over many months of uncertainty, this unexpected alliance grew. Using coaching and project management techniques I was able to feel excited with what this change meant to me and in control of my future.
I introduce to you coachject management (where coaching and project management collide!) Bear with me, it might stick! I identified my issue (the redundancy) managed the risk (working in the business full-time), confronted the monster (self-limited beliefs) and channelled my purpose (values); all neatly pulled together in the next few steps.
LOOK INSIDE
When everything that you know around you is changing, the first place to go is inside. I considered what I wanted out of life? What did the answers say about me and my values? In the context of work, I want to make a difference, have flexibility and work with people.
MAGIC WAND
This is the “What if” question. What if money or time were unlimited. If there were no consequences to my decision? What could I do? I started to see possibilities – but, like most people the internal, negative monologue (my self-limiting beliefs) starting rearing their ugly head at this point.
CONFRONT THE MONSTER
At this point it is essential that I challenged my fears with a reality check! My greatest fears (from personal experience and multiple personality profiles!) is rejection and failure. So I battled that monster with the resources I had around me; skills, experience and effort! I also asked myself, what else would I need? Finally, what was I prepared to sacrifice or change to make the next step; where was my wiggle room?
RISK MANAGEMENT
The issue was real; redundancy. However, I had a small list of risks that could impact taking things forward. I needed to confront these and prepare for them, if left unchecked then they become “deal breakers”. When I reviewed these, the only thing I would lose was security; and bear in mind this was my definition of security, which may not necessary be the same as everyone else’s!
Using project management speech, what could I do to “mitigate” these risks; what would I need to do to protect myself and my family from the impact of losing security?
THE PLAN
A picture started to build; I knew what I wanted to do, continue to build and grow The Balance Collective to reach the social enterprise mission.
I could see that the loss of security was temporary and much more influenced by perspective and mind-set. That working for myself actually could provide more security than being employed; and yes I recognise the irony of being concerned about security in the midst of a redundancy consultation!
I had identified what was important to me and my family, what might get in the way, and how I could overcome it.
So here I am, at the beginning of my solopreneur journey, launching feet first in with the right risk appetite, all thanks to a bit of coachject management.
Clara Wilcox is a straight talking, practical and experienced coach helping clients navigate the tricky waters of returning to work, career changes and professional development. The Balance Collective is a social enterprise focused on improving the lives of parents, by working together to build inner confidence and promote a healthy work/life balance.
