When Susan McConkey joined Women Leading Change (WLC) in November 1999, it was during low ebb for her. Susan felt she'd hit a roadblock as to where to go next in her career and her life. Before WLC, she'd been contemplating leaving Compaq.

Afterwards, with new-found clarity and purpose, she decided to look for a new position within Compaq that would make better use of her interests and talents. From being an engineering manager on a debugging product she moved into a program management position within the New Opportunities Solutions Engineering team, where the focus was on a new initiative called zero latency enterprise (ZLE). The ZLE initiative provided Compaq's large customers with a real-time view of their businesses. Over the next four years, and through the very high-profile merger of HP and Compaq, the division and Susan experienced great success branching out with the ZLE framework into the supply chain world in addition to retail and telecommunications markets.

In the late summer of 2003, Susan was successful AND exhausted. It was time to evaluate her career once again. "I was being very successful with my work but wanted to change the way I was approaching it," Susan explained. "I was 'pathologically' a workaholic." In the autumn of 2003 Susan requested a five week leave without pay and requested that the company fund her to take Women Leading Change again. Some of her friends thought she was crazy. "It was a difficult time economically and they thought I was risking too much by taking a leave at that time."

As it turned out, the leave and taking WLC again were some of the most important things she's done in her career, according to Susan. "I needed a new model for myself, one where I could be successful without burning out. I adopted Rayona's model of 'success with grace and ease' as my own."

Susan felt she needed on-going post-WLC coaching to fully integrate her new approach to work. She'd connected with an IWL coach, Lesly Higgins, during a pre-course call and felt they really 'clicked.' For Susan, working with a coach was a natural extension of her time off. She realized she could really benefit from having additional support to stay on track.

"Talking things through with Lesly helps me manage my energy level. I realized I needed to expand my network of support. I also proposed to my management that I get more involved with sales and become more connected with our customers." Since then, someone else has stepped up to help take on the day-to-day focus, while Susan's been working with sales and customers directly. "It's been quite a journey," reflected, Susan.

One of the benefits of WLC and coaching was that Susan realized how much of a partnership she now has with her own manager. "I asked my boss what had made the difference that allowed our relationship to grow and change,' said Susan. "My boss told me that a defining moment for her was when I took a stand for myself and requested the time off. She knew I was successful and she knew I was burned out. What she didn't know was how to help me . When I took a stand for myself my boss took it as a sign of my willingness to work things out. She said I gave her a way to help."

Lesly, Susan's coach, has helped her frame the context of conversations she's having with third-party supply chain software suppliers. Once she was clear what she was looking for from the suppliers, the meetings went splendidly. "A coach isn't mired in details," said Susan, "and Lesly's fresh, non-judgmental view of what is going on helps me to see things that aren't immediately obvious. Lesly also validates and helps me notice what's changing in me. I feel completely at ease talking about things with her whether or not they are going well."

"Everything's so different now. Even on hard days I'm very conscious of my energy level and whether I'm focused solely on the details. The way I do my job is different. I'm more in control of my own feelings and am not wound up and miserable . I've got my smile back. Before, I was working all the time. My life was work. Now that I'm clearer about what I'm doing, I don't mind reading articles on supply chain at night if it will help me better connect with a customer the next day."

Lesly Higgins, Susan's coach, has been an IWL coach for the last year and a half. Coaching is a second career for Lesly. She spent 20 years in the high-tech industry ultimately holding senior positions within Charles Schwab and Commerce One. During her high-tech career Lesly was coached three times and all were transforming experiences. One coaching engagement provoked her to look within to see what she wanted her life to be about. "I saw a major misalignment," relates Lesly. "Never a techie, I finally realized I was in a vocation that wasn't meeting my overall goals of working with people." Lesly risked financial success by quitting a lucrative pre-IPO position and earned her masters degree in Organizational Development. Then she completed the New Ventures West coaching certification. For the last six years Lesly's coached leaders in being effective and leading fulfilling lives. She's never looked back on her career change with regret. "This has been the most rewarding period of my life," she enthused. I asked Lesly how it was that she became affiliated with IWL. "I see a real alignment between IWL's and my approach. One of the things I notice is that Rayona emboldens women. One of my clients told me I do that, too. Rayona helps people get in touch with a power that was there but not tapped. That's a huge area where we connect."

And how was it for Lesly to work with Susan? Lesly felt a real connection with Susan from the WLC pre-course conversation. "We had made a similar journey," said Lesly. "I encouraged her to use her time off to explore but not to try too hard to figure it all out. I encouraged her to let her thoughts percolate. During WLC, I could see that Susan was discovering a different way to be at work that allowed her to have more a strategic and fulfilling impact, and to live a more balanced and integrated life."

"One of the things that makes Susan such a wonderful person to coach is that we've formed a strong relationship based on trust and mutual respect. Susan is open and willing to explore anything. She embraces new ideas that may make her more effective. She's always walking away with something from our conversations because she's always open. Susan's excelled at work because she did take a stand for herself. She acknowledged her burnout, gave herself a break, redefined her role and made it all happen. Every time we work together Susan's gotten 'bigger' in the sense that she's more able to see and to appreciate her own value in a variety of ways. It's a pleasure to work with her."

What tips do Susan and Lesly have for those who'd like coaching?

• Take a stand for yourself and the life you truly want to live. Everything flows from realizing your own value and that taking care of you actually benefits those around you.

• Be clear about the value you provide to your organization. If you've made significant contributions in your organization, know that. Balance the risk of how hard you push your request with the facts regarding your past contributions. Be confident and appropriate when requesting support for coaching.

• Give yourself the freedom to ask others for help. For Susan this was a new experience. Once she shifted her context she discovered lots of people willing to help. Being able to help Susan has actually inspired people around her.

• Get clear about what specifically you'd like to be coached about. For Susan it was to make a shift in her approach to her work that would expand and sustain her performance. The outcome has mutually benefited HP and Susan.

• Provide a specific context and outcome in your coaching relationship. Share with your management a register of accomplishments that will help tie together the benefits of your coaching relationship and good outcomes for your company.

IWL offers follow-on coaching for IWL alumni. Contact 650.556.8803 for information.

Volume 5, Issue 2 – April 2004