Do you ever get to the point when you simply need to de-clutter? It could mean de-cluttering your home, your car, your office…or your mind. Throughout the year my mind flips from one course of study prep to the next, from classes to contracts, from strategy to application, from delivery to review. What I long for at times is to let my mind be still, to reflect, to let it wander and wonder, and reflect on what I have learned, and what I want to develop. Only in those reflective moments can one find clarity around next steps.
As I enter into my final semester of full-time teaching at a business school, I'm excited for what the future holds. I'm looking forward to de-cluttering. Since 2009 I've been engaged part-time with my own coaching and consutling business, and have decided to finally give it my full time attention. So no, I'm not retiring. At the end of December 2023, I'm leaving my tenured teaching position and fully embracing the flexibility that comes with freelancing.
I love the thrill of coming alongside others to help them strategize, plan, made sense of their professional lives. Basically, I am passionate about helping leaders achieve their leadership goals and meet the needs of their team members. This may be through upskilling, re-skilling, or simple conversations.
I am also committed to learning and development. Have you ever considered what the difference is between learning and development? For many years I used the terms interchangeably, but eventually realized that while both are vital, they each have their own focus. The way I see the two is that training focuses on the skills I need to do the ‘job’ right now, while development is more about learning new skills and techniques for the future. The terminology may change, but the concepts remain.
I love the element of past, present and future that comes into play here; we consider what skills we have used to be successful in the past, tweak them for efficiency in the present, and creatively consider what skills will carry us into the endless possibilities of the future. The idea of learning and developing took on a new meaning to me when visiting Il Duomo di Firenze in Florence. Do you
know that they built the cathedral with the skills they currently had, but counted on the development of new skills to complete the dome? That’s what I call blue sky thinking! And…history proves their optimism paid off, the result is breathtaking!
That’s what my reflections are all about these days…looking back on what I have learned from past experiences, reflecting on what I am learning today, and challenging my mind as I prepare for the possibilities of tomorrow.
I really appreciate this quote from philosopher and educator Mortimer J. Adler.
“There is a strange fact about the human mind, a fact that differentiates the mind from the body. The body is limited in ways the mind is not. One sign of this is that the body does not continue indefinitely to grow in strength and develop in skill and grace. By the time most people are 30 years old, their bodies are as good as they will ever be; in fact, many person’s bodies have begun to determinate by that time.
But there is no limit to the amount of growth and development that the mind can sustain. The mind does not stop growing at any particular age.”
I hope you’ll reach out and allow me to walk alongside your learning and development journey.
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