When the Professional Becomes Personal

When I start working with new clients, I ask them to choose their top five values and then define what those values mean to them.

Inevitably, a third of clients ask, "Should I choose my professional values or my personal values?"

This a moment where I smile, pause and lean into curiosity. "What do you think?"

After 30 seconds or so of quiet, the insight lands on them like a cozy sweater. They smile back. "Ah, they’re the same, aren’t they?"

Yes, exactly.

This is one of the most powerful keys to unlocking a meaningful career: defining what is most important to you and then using it to build a bridge between the professional and the personal.

Right now, in the face of the pandemic I am bearing witness to widespread acceptance of this truth—rather than the typical instinct to fight it, to compartmentalize, to play the role we think others expect of us.

For me it looks like:

Joining a group of coaches, each with our own businesses in a weekly meeting to provide space for each other. Our emotions. Our fears. Our silver linings.

Opening my corporate leadership trainings with a quote about the grief we are collectively feeling right now. Naming it. Giving permission to go there. Being in it.

And for my clients it is:

Choosing vulnerable leadership. Scheduling team meetings where the agenda is, How are we doing?

Encouraging employees to take their days off, even when they know they will not be leaving their homes.

If you’re a leader, take note that we are in an identity-shifting moment where ignoring the personal will be received and called out as callous, apathetic and tone deaf. Even if it has not been your style in the past, dig deep and find a way to see and hear people fully. Be gentle and compassionate. And not just with others. Also with yourself.