SC Calhoun Training & Coaching

Motivation Monday: EmpowerHER - Daring & Audacious!

The one quality I wish I had early in my career is the ability to be audacious. I was far from being this bold and daring. For my own reasons, many having to do with Imposter Syndrome that stemmed from feeling unprepared when I started college and in many cases, being the only woman on my teams. So my tactic was to get in, learn what I could, and do my job with excellence. There's nothing wrong with that, it's exactly what we should do, but it took years to finally speak up and make suggestions for improvements. To make a bigger impact. I only came out of my shell after working on my communication and leadership skills and thank goodness because it prepared me for my transition into project management. Now I speak up, I provide suggestions and I've impacted positive change.

But why is it that many people stray away from this trait? Think about it. Audacious people are bold, they're fearless and they're not afraid to challenge the status quo. They hate mediocracy. They loathe the phrase, "this is how we've always done it." But let's face it, these people make us look at things differently. Their thinking requires change and most of us don't like change. These are the same people that make huge impacts wherever they go, so we have a love/hate relationship with them because when it's all said and done, we enjoy the outcome.

During 2019, the consulting firm, KPMG produced their Women’s Leadership Study. They asked over 2,000 women what had most contributed to their professional success. The top factor was working hard, 73%. Next were being detail-oriented, organized, having a strong will, being a good leader and being creative. But risk taking was by far the lowest at 8%. As you can see, most of us have been afraid to be daring, but it's the daring who make the greatest impact. So if you were like me, afraid of being bold and taking risks, I challenge you to become Daring & Audacious!

As always, let me know how I can help you with your career journey.

Nicole Calhoun, The Career Conscious Coach
www.sccalhoun.com

Motivation Monday: EmpowerHER - You Too Are Powerful!

We all have heroes or sheroes. People we admire & look up to and think, "I wish I could be like that." Two of the women I admire have been included in the Barbie Signature Edition collection. They represent some of the most powerful and impactful African-American women in US history, Maya Angelou & Ida B. Wells. Their work has provoked our thinking, changed our culture, and inspired others to do amazing things.

Many people never consider they can also make powerful impacts, in fact, I was one of those people. The difference is those that do have pursued their passions and leveraged their talents. It is as if they are doing what they were born to do! But I would imagine they first had to know what their passions & talents were. In one of the talks I deliver, "The Courage to be Uniquely You", I talk about the importance of self discovery, because it's in discovering our true selves, our passions & giftings, our skills & accomplishments, our strengths.... It's in discovering these that we make the biggest impact wherever we go. And that's why I believe you can make impacts in your world too.

I've said it before, I tried to fit the mold and be what was expected of me & I did I it for years, but it was frustrating. Once I stopped trying to be what was expected, and released the Nicole I kept hidden, that's when I saw that anyone can impact their world, including you. Guess what? You Too Are Powerful!

As always, let me know how I can help you with your career journey.

Nicole Calhoun, The Career Conscious Coach
www.sccalhoun.com

DISCovery Tuesdays: Predictably Different

Today we are wrapping up another great Leadership Retreat with a new Leadership Rowlett Class, class #31. This is two days of team building activities, bonding, and the group learning about each other as they embark on a 9-month leadership program. And it was my 2ndtime facilitating the activities for this program!

One of the first things we do is use the DISC model to help the group understand how identifying a person's patterns and behaviors can be useful for improving working relationship. It's funny because as I ask the group a series of questions and group them based on their answers, they slowly realize that though no two people are the alike, they are predictably different. The biggest eye-openers come when those styles show up while they are working together during the team building activities. You start seeing that certain people start using their strengths for being detailed and become the designers & architects. Others direct & guide the teams toward a solution. Some are the encouragers who help the teams stay inspired to get the job done and others are the supporters, doing the heavy lifting. It never fails, when I get to work with these groups, they quickly begin to see how using DISC helps them work better together.

Schedule a consultation today and let me know how I can help you and your team DISCover together and work better together.

Nicole Calhoun, “Helping teams work better together.
www.nicolecalhoun.com/DISCover

DISCovery Tuesdays: What is DISC?
I worked with this lady once. I won’t mention her name, but she was the biggest pain in the butt I’d ever met! Well, she was a bit bossy and clashed with pretty much everyone. LOL. But would you believe that by the time she retired, we were very close? So close that she taught me everything she knew, and I became the subject matter expert for our team. There’s a long story of how we got there, but through circumstances, which I still believe were orchestrated by my then boss, we got to know each other and learned how to work with each other. And that’s what DISC is, it is a tool to help people to understand each other. In fact, one of my most requested services are my DISC Personality Style workshops, and I can imagine why. These are full of activities and fun while learning about personality styles.
DISC is an acronym that represents the 4 main Personality Styles: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Compliance. According to PeopleKeys, one of the leading providers of DISC Behavioral certification, “the DISC personality styles help to understand that there isn’t just one type of person out there – everyone has different ways in which they operate based on their preferences.” DISC is a tool that helps improve communications, employee engagement and team dynamics. The bottom line? If you can get your people to work better together, you can improve your team’s results.
When I hold these workshops, I can see the lightbulb moments for the attendees. Like my former colleague and I, they start DISCovering how to better improve their working relationships. In fact, I hear the comment, “It all makes sense now”, quite often. See, because people are different, they’ll communicate differently, which can cause conflict & misunderstanding. When colleagues understand each other’s preferences, they work better together. That’s what happened for my colleague and I and that’s why she’s no longer a “pain in the butt” and I was no longer a pain in hers. Ha ha!
If you would like to learn more about DISC and how we can get your teams working better together, schedule a consultation today.
Nicole Calhoun, “Helping teams work better together.”
www.nicolecalhoun.com/DISCover

Back to school Special Offer!

Do you feel stuck?
Are you struggling with achieving your goals?

Do you need help staying on track?

GREAT NEWS! This is back-to-school season and a great time to start working on your goals.

For this week only, the Accountability Partnership Program is offered at a special rate.

The Accountability Partnership Program will enable you to move forward on your goals and dreams, building confidence with action and accountability.

This is an awesome program including seven 1-on-1 sessions and guess what? The first 5 people to register (this week only) will receive a discounted price of $299 (regularly priced $499).

See link below for more info: https://calendly.com/nicolecalhoun/ap-register-disc

Nicole Calhoun, The Career Conscious Coach
www.sccalhoun.com

Motivation Monday: EmpowerHER - You've Got This!

Some years ago I decided I wanted to do something different with my career. I still enjoyed everything about Information Technology, but I wanted to expand my options. I started applying for new positions and at first, I only applied to openings where my skills were a complete match. I felt like I didn't have a chance otherwise. Then one day I learned I was not alone. In general, women tend to apply for postings only if they feel they are 100% qualified, on the other hand, men apply for jobs when they meet only 60% of the qualifications and they actually get the positions. Well that did it for me! I started doing the same thing and guess what? I got that job which opened even more doors and options over the last 5 years. And it made sense, how I was I going to expand my options if I did not stretch beyond my current conditions? From that I've learned there's something to being confident in your capabilities AND your ability to stretch yourself beyond where you are, but it starts with believing in you and reassuring yourself that, "You've Got This!"

Nicole Calhoun, The Career Conscious Coach
www.sccalhoun.com

Motivation Monday: EmpowerHer - Your SuperPOWER

When I look at this picture, I see power, strength, and dignity. I see a woman who is surer than ever about what she wants out of life, but there was a time I couldn’t say that, especially with regards to my career. I started my career 25 years ago in an old dingy building called Chevrolet Central Office outside of Detroit, MI. I was fresh out of college and excited. I had landed a job making more money than I’d ever seen in my life, and I thought I’d made it big! Sidenote: If I’d only known better. LOL! But that’s another story for a different day. I began a program called the System Engineering Development program with Electronic Data Systems along with a group of other college grads. We were so green and ready to take on the world. I was ready! Or so I thought. I didn’t know I was in for one of the biggest challenges a woman can face in her career, the struggle to shape her career journey while remaining true to self.

See I expected a straight shot up the career ladder, but the reality was more like climbing a rugged mountain... John Maxwell says everything worth having is uphill. Sometimes when I hear him say that during a conference, I just want to yell out, “Does it really have to be that way?!” Because that uphill climb isn’t fun and sometimes painful, and it can be tempting to try the easy way out by emulating what seems to work for others, but that never works does it? I’ve learned the struggle turned out to be one of the best things to happen for me, because it led me to career options I would have never imagined.

It was in that uphill climb that I discovered and embraced my SuperPOWERs, those unique mixtures of skills, talents, accomplishments, and strengths that empowers me to be great at what I do... It’s not until you discover what those are for you, that you’ll be able to shape your career as you see fit, because your SuperPOWERs are unique to only you and they are exactly what you need to EmpowerYou.

If this sounds like you and you need a little help discovering your SuperPOWERs, I’m here to help.

Nicole Calhoun, The Career Conscious Coach

www.sccalhoun.com

Motivation Monday: Game Changer

The t-shirt in this picture is one of my favorites. It's funny how one simple sentence can resonate so much. It reminds me that over the years, I'd lost sight of who I was meant to be. See I was raised by a strong-willed, persistent and determined woman, which in turn shaped me to be the same. Into my adulthood I quickly realized that didn't go over very well, especially being a woman & African-American in a male dominated industry. But like lots of women in STEM fields, I realized there are certain expectations of women, no matter who you are or your role. Women are to be humble, mild mannered and meek, and soon I realized as a woman, appearing strong and empowered would be interpreted differently. I couldn't show passion or distain. I couldn't be too confident or direct. So I conformed and started hiding myself. Ladies, you know how we do. We dumb ourselves down. We display a meek, quiet, false humility so that we don’t “offend” anyone.

I remember one day my former pastor telling me, “Nicole… a lamp is not lit and hidden under a bed. A lamp is lit to give light.” The truth is, when we hide ourselves, we hide the very things about us that impacts those around us, the things that makes us great at what we do. Because I was strong willed and determined, it also made me a critical thinker and problem solver, which is what I was hired to be. But it wasn't until I decided, this is me and this is how I'm gonna show up that the "game changed." So if this is you, I'm challenging you to remember who you are and watch the game change for you. And if you need a little help getting there, I'd love to help you, just inbox me and we'll get you headed in the right direction.

Nicole Calhoun, The Career Conscious Coach
www.sccalhoun.com

A little Communication humor:

A teenager sees her Mom busy in the kitchen and asks, "can I help?" Mom says, "sure, take this bag of potatoes, peel half of them and put them in a pot to boil." Did she get it right or what? 🤣

Happy Friday Everyone!

Motivation Monday: Can I be honest? Years ago I found myself at a crossroad. I enjoyed my job and was good at it, but I was also frustrated. I was frustrated because I wanted more. I wanted the promotions. I wanted the progression. I wanted the pay that should have matched what I was doing. I knew that as a software engineer, when I was taking random calls between 11 pm & 3 am to fix system issues (in addition to my normal working hours), that I deserved more. I knew that when my colleagues were being recognized and promoted over me, that I deserved more. I also knew when I was doing the same hard work alongside colleagues who were paid more, I deserved more… but I didn’t know how to get it. I… WAS… STUCK. What I’ve learned is the “MORE” I was seeking was up to me. I couldn’t rely on someone else to get me there. As I review this list, I must admit I was held back by 6 out of 8 of these reasons, but once I understood my role in my career progression, I began getting unstuck. I share this because I want to help you, the person who’s reading this & who’s had similar feelings.

I will be sharing more of my journey in a new series soon, but until then, if you’ve found your career is stuck, I would also like to invite you to a virtual talk I’m delivering this Friday for Girl Develop It (https://girldevelopit.com/.../girl-develop-it-career.../
). I believe, it might be the thing needed to kickstart YOU into getting UNSTUCK.

Nicole Calhoun, The Career Conscious Coach
www.sccalhoun.com

Motivation Monday: How many times have you said: “I thought it would be easier than this?” Let me tell you… I did too. I post a lot about my professional journey on social media and one of the things I posted last year was about my opportunity to speak on stage in from of a crowd of 3,000 people. It was awesome! But that was one moment. To get there it took hard work, growth, tears, failure… you name it. Progression and growth aren’t easy. In fact, John Maxwell says “Everything worth having is uphill.” Reaching your full career potential is challenging but guess what? You can do it.

Think about when a seed is planted. The plant must struggle to break through the soil. Even the butterfly must struggle to break through the chrysalis. Struggle is a part of the process, it brings about maturity. So yes, it’s not easy but stick with it because it is so worth it.

Nicole Calhoun, The Career Conscious Coach
www.sccalhoun.com

Motivation Monday: Did you know that 70% of people will experience imposter syndrome at least once in their lives? 70%!!! (Time Magazine 2018)

Imposter Syndrome is “persisting self-doubt and feelings of incompetence despite your education, your experience, and your accomplishments.” But what is the root of imposter syndrome? Comparison to the success of others. How can we compare if no two people are alike? No one has the exact same experiences, skills, talents, or opportunities, so we’ll never be where someone else is at any given time. And if someone is successful in a specific area of interest to you, what if you leveraged their experience? Learn from them? Ask them to become a mentor.

Can I tell you a secret? There will always be people ahead of you. That’s a good thing. You don’t want to be the smartest person in the room all of the time, if you do, you’ll remain stagnant. So instead of comparing yourself to someone else, learn from them. This will help your career and will help you get unstuck.

Nicole Calhoun, The Career Conscious Coach
www.sccalhoun.com