Time flies… I can’t quite believe that it’s been three years since I retired my CEO trainers along with the job title and became my own boss.
Little did I know what the future would have in store for me when I made that transition, and three years into the new chapter I still have that same curiosity but fortunately, some things have also become clear.
Making a big pivot takes time
A big career transition is a process and I didn’t hurry it. This sounds like an obvious truth, but every time I thought I had arrived somewhere, I realised that I was still in it. So I intentionally focused on enjoying or at least being present in the moments of transition and change. It wasn’t always comfortable and it took a lot of energy to gain the rewards of the process.
It also took time for my life to take on a new rhythm instead of one shaped by the milestones of an organisational year: year end, conferences, travel and so forth.
One day I released that I had stopped thinking about it, and instead had found a new cadence that determines my year now.
Returning to ALT’s Annual Conference this year, which happily takes place in Cardiff in October, feels not like a return to old grounds but a new opportunity to share my work and get feedback from peers.
Keeping what matters most…
Making a big career transition is an opportunity to reinvent yourself, and in those heady first days I felt little desire to take things with me. I needed space and I needed to gain some perspective. Once I had that, I was able to keep doing what mattered most to me.
All Things Open
I started working in Open Education during my years as CEO and quickly developed a deep interest in and commitment to all things open such as open source technology, open educational practice, open research and publishing and open leadership. Indeed my work now focuses much these elements, and I continue to work in the Open Education Community more than any other.
Running a Business
I LOVE running an organisation, and my approach to leading my own company is in practice very similar to how I went about leading a charity. I still have an operational and strategic plan, I produce quarterly budgets and reports, I have impact measures, values and use open source technologies for IT wherever possible. Apparently, you can take the CEO out of an organisation, but I can’t take it out of me.
It’s a huge asset, not just for my business, but also for coaching senior leaders and strategic consultancy.
Travel
Giving keynotes was one of the greatest joys of my CEO days, and especially towards the end there were some wonderful trips that I have the best memories of: like travelling to the ETUG Conference in Kamloops and to Hong Kong for a keynote at a CMALT event. Post-pandemic travel has been far less frequent, so I enjoy the rare opportunities all the more now.
Later this year I am heading to Brisbane to give a keynote (and a leadership workshop) at the Ascilite Conference, and I am thrilled that this event, which has long been on my wish-list to attend, has invited me to speak.
Collaborations
Working with interesting people that bring out the best in me is one of the things I was very lucky to have from the very beginning: Jim Groom and the team at Reclaim, Emma Procter-Legg and her colleagues at Oxford, Lynne Taylerson and AmplifyFE colleagues, and later coaching clients and other consultancy projects.
Working from home and running my own business with me as the only employee can certainly be a solitary pursuit at times, but these days my weeks are so busy that I find the quiet moments, like this Monday morning, a welcome change of pace from meetings and working in collaboration and I am grateful for both.
“Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!”
Ever since I listened to the audiobook version of Project Hail Mary, the alien Rocky’s outbursts of “Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!” have stayed with me, and become a shorthand for bouncing up and down with joy and amazement. It’s a good reminder to myself to find ways to truly celebrate the milestones*, whilst living in a timeline that encourages anything but.
Instead of championing and celebrating my successes when they formed part of a single team’s efforts or in service of one community with a cause, I now get play my part in the work of a whole range of organisations, teams and individuals. I get to be part of projects that benefit more leaders, more students, more communities, and for that I am very grateful indeed.
Three years ago I was sad to retire my CEO trainers, to say goodbye to working for an organisation that had been my home base for 15 years. Moving on has given me the bigger canvas I needed to develop as a leader and to take that next step in my career to think bigger, and create more impact.
Thank you for an amazing three years, and thank you for the adventures ahead of me.
*Milestones like recording my 150th podcast episode this summer, or passing 250 professional coaching hours. Or running successful projects and events. Getting the best feedback for teaching and training. Travelling to events and giving talks. And offering at least ten percent of my time free for pro bono work, and volunteering as a mentor for national initiatives. Running my own business in as ethical and sustainable a way as I can.
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