How’ve you been and what do you want to do differently?

The months are passing fast!

How have you been?

I’m not just asking to be polite; I really want to know.

Because how we’re feeling — and looking after ourselves (or not) — is our most talked about leadership coaching topic over the last 12 months and is spiking “infamously” right now!

I’m asking because I recently got sick. And I mean sick.

Even if (especially if) like me, you talk about self-care as part of your job, please stop looking at the computer / phone / to do list, take one minute, close your eyes, breathe a little deeper, and reconnect to “you” in this moment. Not the busy you, relaxed you.

And ask yourself:

“How have I been?”

Okay, so now you know the answer. Please read on for what happened next for me. See if it relates to where you’ve been, are now, or could be soon...

Thankfully, my sickness was not serious or long term, although severe enough to make me stop and pivot my work and life for the first few months of 2022. 

What happened to me?

After a huge stressful 2021 (dealing with new client demands, staffing, virtual learning/meetings, unrelenting changing workloads, daily safety and wellness concerns for my business and our people — sounding familiar!?) I had unwittingly entered a very depleted state… one that required three month’s recovery and which probably wouldn’t have happened had I been more present in my body, my life, and my unbalanced expectations of myself.

Yes, despite all I know and talk about with leaders, I did not take my own advice!

During recovery, I had plenty of time to think about my motivations, how I love to work and live, and how to look after myself better, strengthening my resilience.

And I concluded that self-application of the practical advice we share with leaders we coach, that we know works, was long overdue.

I know, what a brain wave🧠

I was also very certain the answer was not just “toughen up and do more”.

This was a BIG message from the Universe. I needed to slow down and listen.

I began searching for the mix between performance and well-being that would work for me. The coach in me quickly worked out two key questions:

• What do I really want?
• How do I want my life, and me, to be in the process of getting it?

I’d thought I’d always had this pretty much worked out… but I couldn’t avoid the fact that if I did, would I have been this unwell?

Clearly, I did NOT have this worked out.

Looking at who could help me, I realised: our own LIFT Collective, has accredited and experienced profilers whose expertise I could request. Duh!

I mean, I’ve been an accredited BELBIN® profiler since 2003 (obviously, this means I’ve been working on these since I was 10 😉) and despite thousands of profiles by LIFT, along with truly amazing results, it’s still not the full picture of you.

BELBIN® is all about identifying our (and our team members’) natural team roles and strengths. It’s designed to increase team performance and it really works.

However, I needed to add a me-focus and a wellbeing / resilience focus to really make this picture 3D (which was a really cool realisation given that’s how us humans see the world).

I (uncomfortably and courageously) asked for help, from LIFT Collective’s accredited profilers, Kath Clews and Di Murray.

They’ve helped me answer my two questions. And what I discovered led to a new balance for me — and a new LIFT service!

My PRINT® profile revealed my Unconscious Motivators ® in everything I do, at work and at home.

They’re all about enjoyment, having fun, and being confident/self-reliant. Without these, work lacks the meaning I need.

We also identified my “shadow” side — the side that shows up when conditions aren’t right for me. I think of it as my early warning system for when things are “off”. It’s the dashboard oil light… that I just kept ignoring.

Now, I have way more awareness when I exhibit certain behaviours and feel a certain way; I know I’ve moved away from my best self/flow. I’ve gone from creative and adaptable to (too) self-reliant, stubborn and abrupt (AKA, Cherelle’s not fun! ☹)

Working with Kath, accepting and not making excuses for my shadow behaviours, meant a few deep breaths and some chocolate but it was SO worth it — life changing!

My RESILIENCE ENGINE® Indicator profile revealed my current resilience levels and Di and I worked on how to sustain myself and my performance in a healthy way. What work or life tasks/situations make me lose energy? Which replenish it?

For example, I re-examined my work and life purpose. Part of which was re-establishing LIFT’s vision, mission, values and “why” (important to revisit now it’s 12 years since I started LIFT!) and talking about our 2-5 year life plans with my partner, Adam.

I could beat myself up: “Stupid girl 🤦🏻‍♀️, the answers were right in front of you – and you do this for a living!”, the fact is I just didn’t join the dots until I was forced to.

Like you I’m a leader and sometimes we’re too focused on what everyone else needs…

And I always advocate compassion for others and myself.

As with many tough moments, I’m better for it because this new self-knowledge created a clearer direction for me and LIFT.

Of course, I can’t keep this revelation to myself; I’m not built that way! I’ve been thinking how I could support leaders to find their mix of performance and well-being, too.

What if, lots of leaders, like me, think they’ve got it worked out, but they don’t?

I could see, only too well, how my experience runs parallel to what our leaders are talking about in coaching. I also knew sharing with you would be vulnerable for me, challenging myself to keep “walking my talk” about the courage to connect. So, here I am.

As the amazing Brenē Brown says, “Owning your own story and loving yourself through that process is the bravest thing you’ll ever do.”

So here goes. This is me walking my leadership talk, being brave with you, and sharing my story — full of imperfections and, I hope, useful learning.

And maybe a great new service that you’ll love.

Introducing: the LIFT Insightful Profiling Triple Power Pack⚡

You get 3 x powerful profiles:

	PRINT® The Why of You (and your personal early warning system to ensure performance at your best)
	BELBIN® Your personal team contribution handbook
	RESILIENCE ENGINE® INDICATOR Your resilience engine tune-up to lift and sustain your health, well-being and leadership performance
	FREE MENTORING SESSION Your bonus 30 minute personalised mentoring session with LIFT Performance Solutions founder, Cherelle Witney, will lift your Profiling learning and support you in building trusting relationships and leading at your best.

Each of the profiles includes a 90 minute debrief session, offering tailored insights and practical plans to lift your leadership performance immediately. (And each Triple Power Pack includes a FREE 30 minute mentoring session with me!)

To celebrate EOFY, we’ve come up with a special bundle price of just $2,667 (that’s a saving of $597).

This pack is a great way to provide professional development for yourself or your team, especially if you haven’t had a chance to in ages. It’s the best PD gift you can buy – in time for EOFY too!

TL;DR:

This Profiling Triple Power Pack is available at this special price until midnight, Thursday 30 June.

Want the Profiling Triple Power Pack? Then, right this way 👉🏻

Want to know more about profiling? Check out LIFT Insightful Profiling here

Have more questions? Then contact me!

PS: Behind the scenes, during my recovery, my team and I have been working on a couple of other exciting things which I’ll be ready to introduce soon. No surprise, they match my Unconscious Motivator® for fun!!!