Wednesday, May 14, 2014

What the heck is going on?

I realize it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted but some really interesting and exciting things developed for me in ways that left me stunned (in a very nice way).

I got a job! I wasn't really looking for something full time, but an opportunity showed up that swept me off my feet. It wasn't the money or the amazing name but the remarkable convergence of events that made this seem like the right thing to do (even though it wasn't what I was planning on).

First let me be clear--I haven't abandoned coaching. Far from it. Working with clients one on one is my passion. However, in time my new gig is going to empower me to share my skills and talents on a far greater scale.

First, a little back ground.

Even though I was making progress with my new business, I needed a job to help pay the bills until I could fully transition away from the corporate world. My intention was to find a position that would bring in additional income while allowing me to focus on my coaching work--I found something that fit those criteria really well and considered my search a done deal. 

It seems the powers that be had other plans because literally minutes after I had a verbal offer on that position I got a call from The Recruiter.

I was shocked to be hearing from this company--not to mention, the timing couldn't be worse! I told the recruiter I already had a verbal offer and that it was really nice and flattering to hear from them but I didn't think the timing would work out unless they planned to move fast.

I mean seriously, how could they compete with an offer I already had?

Well, apparently they could.

Within a couple of hours I was scheduled for a next day phone interview--that was followed by onsite interviews.

Just a week after I got that first phone call I had an offer letter in hand.

And as amazing as that sounds, that isn't the magic part.

No, the magic showed up when during the interviews they asked about my decision to become a life coach.

Life coach? What?

Why did they have my coaching resume when I had a focused, no nonsense technical resume? I wanted to reach through the phone line and hand them the "right" document. I wanted them to know I was "a serious professional". I wanted to explain that I would be a good addition to their organization even with the "life coach" thing.

Turns out they wanted more than "just" a technologist.
 
In my rush to be "sensible" I didn't leave any room for the possibility that the corporate world would value anything besides my technical skills or that a "serious" job could be the way to share my passion for coaching others.

Letting myself trust that maybe, just maybe, these good people weren't making a mistake allowed me to get out of my own way and just be myself.
 
I could never have planned any of this--the environment, the incredible people or how when I think things couldn't possibly get better some new amazing gift arrives to show me that I haven't even hit the ceiling on how good it can get. I'm just grateful I didn't talk myself out of it when I felt so sure I had engineered the perfect answer--sometimes there is an even better one waiting if you can just allow it some air and space to be.

If you are curious about where I ended up, you can see it in my profile here.