“Hold my coat, please…”
“Hold my coat, please. I’m about to take a leap of faith.” The words were going through my head for umpteenth time that day while my favorite song from the Broadway show “Wicked,” appropriately named “Defying Gravity” played on repeat with one particular line skipping over and over in my mind like an old-timey 45, “It’s time to trust my instinct close my eyes and leap…leap…leap…leap…leap…” Over and over it repeated as I took a deep breath and mustered up my courage with a Wonder Woman power pose yet again.
After 15 incredible years working for an amazing company surrounded by world-class colleagues and the best clients anyone could hope for, I was about to do something completely out of character by giving my notice and stepping into a dream that I had wanted to embrace for the past 7 years but thought it would take another 7 years to make a reality. I was going to start up my own executive coaching and advising business. There I finally said it. And now that I’ve done it, I think I want to say a little louder. I’m starting my own executive coaching and advising business! My dream has come true!
But first, back to how I got here… when I first realized this dream was not a passing whim but instead one of those deep-down desires of the heart, I put a number of milestones in place that needed to be met in order for me to feel comfortable leaving my organization to start my own business. You see, I really loved my job and my team (and, perhaps, the safety of a regular paycheck, if I’m honest with myself). At the time, given current business conditions, I had thought it would take 7 years to hit all of them, but the more-than-capable team I led had hit every single milestone in a mere 18 months. I am constantly in awe of that team and the amazing solutions they deliver to their clients with uncompromising quality.
I had also spent 8 months interviewing friends and former colleagues who had made similar moves to try to understand every aspect of what it would be like to be on my own to know if I would be doing the right thing (everyone who is on your own, please hold back the chuckles… even two months in, I realize I had no clue…). My husband and I also worked with our financial planner to try to line up as many of the details as we could from a financial perspective.
So, with my proverbial ducks in a row, that day I gave my notice and, not surprisingly, received many encouraging words from a number of coworkers who felt much more like family than colleagues after all the years we had worked together. It was well known that I have a deep passion around helping executives unleash not only their potential but also the potential of their teams through both executive coaching and talent consulting. In order to do this more effectively, I had been training intensively as an executive coach in the majority of my free time since 2014 as well as doing a great deal of coaching for our organization and clients acquiring over 1,000 hours. I had also spent a great deal of time apprenticing and training in other areas of consulting to build out my core skills so I could help leaders unleash potential across all aspects of the talent portfolio.
But, despite all that planning and preparation, what I realized in the end, is you can’t plan for every scenario. When you dare to dream big, you have to be willing to have faith in yourself, faith in your higher power, faith in those you love who will be there to catch you and bolster you back up as you go on your journey.
So I’ll say it once again, “Hold my coat, please. I’m about to take a leap of faith, and, I could not be more excited!”
