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Have you considered working with a Career Coach?

29/3/2022

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In 2022, I am committed to sharing tools that have helped me thrive in my personal and professional life. One of the tools that have significantly impacted my professional journey is career coaching. Until a few years ago, I did not know it was for me. I worked with a career coach when I moved to the US, and five years later, I just completed six months of working with another coach. 
 
In this blog post, I will share some of my experiences and lessons learned from working with career coaches. My goal is to help you see that this is a tool that is also accessible and can be beneficial to you. 
 
What is a Career Coach, and when does it make sense to work with one?
Career coaches provide a range of services, from helping you figure out what you want to do to explore opportunities for professional growth to supporting you through the ups and downs of looking for a new job. In my experience, you can work with a coach at any time on your professional journey. If you are planning to keep growing, exploring new things, and taking on new opportunities, working with a coach will help set you up for success. 
 
What were my goals when I worked with a Career Coach?

Interestingly the two times that I have worked with a career coach, I was in very different places in my career and had vastly different needs. 
  • 2016: It was my first year in the US, and I realized that the professional environment was very different from what I was familiar with when I worked in Germany. By observing my colleagues, I could see that I was missing some skills that would help me thrive. I wanted to learn more about building my career plan, establishing my professional brand, and understanding the professional culture
  • 2021 - 2022: I was preparing for a huge transition at this stage in my career. I knew that I needed to map my 3 - 5 year career plan to have some orientation as I embark on my journey. I needed some support with understanding where I want to go in the long term in my career, framing my new role, and setting myself up for success.
 
How did I approach my search for a Coach?
As I have progressed in my career, I have become more intentional about planning and preparing for the moves I make. Before I started my search for a Coach, I thought about what I wanted to work on with them. I had three goals that I have wanted to accomplish. The actual search for a Coach was different the first time. While taking professional certification classes at UC Berkeley, one of the professors mentioned that she was a coach. We had an introductory call where I learned about her work, decided it was a fit, and we worked together for about six months. My second coaching experience was part of a program at work where we partnered with a company that had coaches in their Network. I was able to select my preferences and was offered a pool of coaches to choose from.
 
Some of the things I look for in a coach include:
  • Someone who understands my industry a little. As someone in Tech, I like working with coaches who have worked or coached others in my industry and understands the challenges 
  • A person who has worked with people who have similar learning styles. It's easier to work with a coach who knows how to pass information so that you can easily digest it. I learn through studying and doing research. While I'm working with a coach, It helps me a lot when they make recommendations of things I could learn 
  • The coach's price works for your budget. It is crucial that you can afford their services and want to invest at that time. Worrying about the money you are investing won't make the experience fun
 
How to make the best of your coaching experience
  • Be honest and transparent: working with a coach is the best opportunity to be transparent about things you want to do better in your career. We don't have a lot of spaces where we can be vulnerable, and this is the right place for you to get the support you need 
  • Be organized: I strongly believe that if you are organized and manage your time well, you get the most from the experience
  • Prepare for your sessions: you need an agenda for each session that is shared with your coach beforehand. This ensures that the time you have together is very productive 
  • Document your learnings: take notes during every session, document your next steps and review your notes before the next session
  • Take action and be committed: prioritizing sessions was a way to keep your commitment to learning and growing
 
What did I get out of my coaching experiences?
Working with a coach has helped me grow professionally. Some of the outcomes of coaching include:
  • Learned more about my strengths and found language to talk about them
  • Revamped my professional brand on various platforms such as my blog, LinkedIn and my resume
  • Streamlined my view of where I want to go and what I want to do professionally
  • Discovered what I really care about in my life and work 
  • Found encouragement to ask for what I want professionally and support to work towards my big goals
 
Final Thoughts
I recently talked to one of my colleagues, and she shared that she never thought working with a coach was for her. It got me thinking about how hesitant I was to work with a coach initially and how much my investment has paid off. If you are unsure if coaching is for you, test it and see. A lot of coaches offer info sessions where you can learn more. Coaching is a tool that has helped me a lot, and I hope you will take advantage of it. 
 
Great Resources 

  • Benefits of coaching: Purpose, clarity, and passion in daily life
  • Here's the Real Deal on What a Coach Can (and Can't) Do for Your Career
  • 10 Benefits of Career Coaching
  • 11 Benefits of Coaching in the Workplace
  • 3 Reasons To Hire A Career Coach
  • 7 signs you're ready to hire a career coach — and 3 signs you're not
 
Time for reflection
  • In what areas of your career do you want to grow?
  • How would you go about searching for a Coach?
  • How do you plan to make your coaching experience worth it?
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What are you learning this year?

22/3/2022

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One of the greatest tools to help us accomplish our goals is learning. We need to learn and develop new skills to achieve our bold goals. As I have progressed in my Life and Career, learning has contributed to my success. I am a strong believer in continuous learning and have enjoyed adding knowledge and new skills to my toolkit.
 
In this blog post, we will explore five ways to make learning a part of your life. For more tips and resources, check out some of my previous posts on learning at the end of this post.
 
Set learning goals every year
We need to be very intentional about learning and building new skills. It takes planning and scheduling time actually to make it happen. When I plan my goals every year, I identify three new things that I want to learn and work towards them. My learning goals are typically geared towards developing skills that I do not have but know that I need to succeed professionally and personally. The process of planning what I want to learn excites and empowers me.
 
Questions to consider
  • What new skills do you want to develop this year?
  • What are your learning goals for this year?
 
Find learning formats that work for you
We all learn in different ways, and it is crucial to know how you learn best and go for them. I really enjoy learning from other people's experiences, taking formal trainings, and I also learn through teaching others. When I set my learning goals, I plan for trainings, podcasts, or books that will help me.
 
Questions to consider
  • How can you learn the new skills that you need? 
  • What mediums of learning help you the most?
 
Find your learning community
Having accountability partners is crucial to maintaining your learning mindset and accomplishing your learning. Knowing that you have people around you who support and encourage you to stick to your learning goals increases your chances of achieving them. I feel fortunate to have a community of people who enjoy learning and work towards their own goals. They provide me with motivation and support while I continue my learning journey.
 
Questions to consider
  • Who could be part of your learning community?
  • How will you make sure you stay connected to them? 
 
Share what you learned
In my experience, one way to amplify your learning is to share what you learned with others. Whenever I learn something new, I make it a point to write a quick summary and share it with people around me. Professionally, I get to share my knowledge with my team and mentees. In my private life, this blog is an amazing medium for me to share my learnings as well. It is great to be able to deepen my learning by sharing with others.
 
Questions to consider
  • Who can you share your knowledge with? 
  • How will you make sure you share what you learn?  
 
Continue learning
To thrive and accomplish all our goals, we have a lot of learning to do. It is crucial for us always to be learning something new. Unlike when we were studying for degrees, we get to choose what we learn, when, and how. There are so many great resources available to support us on our learning journey.
 
Questions to consider
  • What will help you stay motivated to learn continuously? 
  • How will you make time to learn new things continuously? 
 
Final Thoughts
This year my professional learning goals are to develop my skills around leading teams and impact programs at scale, driving sustainable organizational culture change. And in my personal life, I want to learn about storytelling and writing a book. I am very excited to learn awesome things this year and continue growing.
 
Call to Action
  • What do you need to learn to be successful? Identify the skills that you want to develop
  • How are you going to learn? Find a mode of learning that works for you
  • How can you make sure you learn something? Commit to learning something new in the next quarter
 
Great Resources
  • Video: Continuous Learning as a Tool to Build your Career
  • Build your Toolkit: Learning new Skills
  • How to be a life-long Learner
  • How to Develop a Growth Mindset
  • How to start your self-development journey
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About your Goals - March 2022 Progress Check-in

15/3/2022

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This year has been going by very quickly. I think I say this every year. However, I still cannot believe it's been three months already. So much has happened in such a little amount of time. It is highly crucial not to lose sight of our goals with everything going on in our lives. A quarterly review is one of the amazing tools to help you stay on track.
 
In this blog post, we will complete a quarterly review with the help of 10 questions, and I will share an update on my top goals. Check out my other "Her Plan" posts for additional tips and resources to help you accomplish your goals and live your best life.
 
10 Questions for your intentional quarterly goals review

Making time to reflect on the past three months will help you accomplish your goals. The exercise will provide you with information on how you're doing and insights on what to focus on for the following months.
 
Some great questions to help you take stock of where you are compared to your plan include the following:
  1. What is one word or phrase that would describe 2022 so far? 
  2. Have you been taking care of yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually? 
  3. Which of your goals have you made progress on? 
  4. Which of your goals have you not made progress on?
  5. What is one of your accomplishments so far in 2022?
  6. How did you celebrate your accomplishments?
  7. What are three lessons that you learned?
  8. What do you want to do differently in Q2 2022?
  9. What are three things you want to accomplish next quarter?
  10. How will you recharge and take care of yourself?
 
MCs Journey - Q1 2022 Goals Check-in
2022 has been a very busy year for me so far. Starting this year, I knew that I would have a lot going on in the first six months. However, I did not realize how much I would be juggling and its impact on me.
 
Reflecting on my goals for the year, I have made progress on some and not on others. Generally, I am very thankful for where I am today. This year, I have learned that I need to pace myself not to burn out.
 
Let's check in on my progress towards my top goals for 2022:

  • Personal: Prioritize self-care and create sustainable routines
    • Highlight: One of the new routines I started was going outside with our son almost daily. It feels so great not to be indoors all the time and to see him discover new things.  
    • Lowlight: I have been exhausted over the past weeks, mainly because I do not have enough sleep. I definitely need to take better care of myself.
    • What am I planning to do differently?
      • In order to get more sleep, I need to stop working earlier and ensure I am in bed by 10 pm. 
  • Family: Make memories and enjoy our time as a family
    • Highlight: We have been exploring new places as a family almost every weekend, and we have had a lot of fun. 
    • What am I planning to do next?
      • Over the next months, I am looking forward to a short vacation with my husband and son. 
  • Professional: Expand my sphere of influence and lead programs that reach more people
    • Highlight: 2021 was a great year for me professionally, and 2022 is shaping to be even bigger. I have launched new programs, done great work, and accomplished my professional goals. In addition, I have an incredible team.
    • Lowlight: With all the amazing things that I have been doing, it has caused me to work too many hours and on some weekends. I started the year wanting to avoid overworking.
    • What am I doing differently?
      • Over the past few weeks, I have been trying to end work by a certain time every day. I need to set better boundaries around work.
  • Financial: Set the financial foundation for our next investment projects
    • Highlight: the discipline that I have developed over the years in my finances is paying off. I have been saving towards our goals.
    • What am I planning to do next?
      • There is a lot that I will be learning about our next investment to ensure we make the right decision. 
  • Business: Grow our community of women and create helpful content
    • Highlight: I am proud that I have published a blog post every week. It is very important to me that I do things that I'm passionate about.
    • Lowlight: My YouTube channel is something I planned to restart this year. I have not yet found time to dedicate to it. I am telling myself that the time will come.
    • What am I planning to do differently?
      • When the time is right, I want to strategize and plan for the relaunch of my YouTube channel. 
  • Learning: develop the skills needed for the next phase of my career 
    • Highlight: I have been reading a lot of great books this year and learning a lot.
    • What am I planning to do next?
      • I have scheduled my first training in a long time. I am very excited to be expanding my toolkit. 
  • Bold Goal: Take the next step higher in my career
    • Current status: I am working towards setting the foundation for my next significant career move. It has been an exciting journey, and I have been learning to overcome self-doubt.
 
Final Thoughts
Quarterly check-ins are a great opportunity to reflect on the progress you have made, celebrate your accomplishments, and plan for the upcoming months. We have nine more months to have a great 2022. Stay hopeful and take action towards accomplishing your goals.
 
Call to Action
  • Find 1 - 2 hours to reflect on how your first quarter has been
  • Plan a special way to celebrate your accomplishments
  • Refresh and update your goals for the next quarter 
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Celebrating International Women's Day 2022

8/3/2022

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Happy International Women's Day to all you amazing Women!!! The theme for this year is "Break the Bias." Imagine a gender-equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women's equality. Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.
 
Being a woman is a crucial part of my identity and then layer on, being an immigrant black woman in Tech, people often do not know what to expect when they set me. I have been on the receiving end of many stereotypes based on people's perception of what someone that looks or sounds like me should be.
 
Starting Point: What is Bias? 
  • unfair difference in the way women and men are treated
  • unequal treatment in employment opportunity (such as promotion, pay, benefits, and privileges), and expectations due to attitudes based on the gender of an employee or group of employees
  • prejudiced actions or thoughts based on the gender-based perception that women are not equal to men in rights and dignity.
 
The first time I noticed bias growing up
In Nigeria, where I spent my childhood, there were very strong gender norms. Women were expected to be primarily supporters of men and not be vocal. In most conversations, people reminded us of how important it was to be someone's wife and hardly any conversations about becoming the person you were destined to be. I was fortunate to grow up around women who defied the expectations of "what a woman could do." However, I knew society's expectations for me as a girl child. Deep inside, I always knew that I wanted to be a whole person and not be invisible. This led to a constant battle with who I am versus how I was expected to act.
 
My experience with bias in a professional setting
After graduating from university, I had no idea what I would experience when I began my career. I was very fortunate to start a job where I had a lot of responsibilities and a growth path. Most of the bias that I experienced had to do with a combination of my identities as a black woman. Especially at client visits, people expected the person in charge to be someone other than me. I did not fit the picture they expected of an experienced program manager.
 
How I deal with bias
My life experiences have made me very resilient. I learned not to let people's thoughts or stereotypes define me. My identity and self-confidence do not change because someone else sees me differently. I see experiencing bias as an opportunity to share my experiences with people to provide a different perspective. And more importantly, I have learned to move on quickly.  
 
How I am paying it forward
Being on the receiving end of bias has made me very aware of the bias that others are experiencing. In my role as Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Program Manager today, I build strategy, plan, and lead programs that train people on how to be inclusive and respectful of others from many backgrounds. I feel very fortunate to be able to support others actively.
 
Final Thoughts
There is something very empowering about seeing women who have succeeded against all odds. All the women who have faced bias and still done great things - are heroes.
 
Call to Action: What can we all do? 

We all play a very active role in making our world more equitable. Here are five things we can all do:
  • Raise confident and amazing girls
  • Celebrate women's accomplishments
  • Increase awareness for bias happening around you
  • Treat everyone equally
  • Be a positive role model  
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Comparing my relocation to the US vs. Germany - Year 6

1/3/2022

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My life experiences living in multiple countries have shaped me significantly. Over the past months, I have reflected on my amazing journey over the past 21 years. It has been very empowering to remember all that I have been through, my accomplishments, the amazing relationships, and the places I have been.
 
In this blog post, I will share the factors that made my experiences different and the lessons I learned. Check out my other Her Relocation blog posts about my experiences living in Nigeria, Germany, and the US.
 
First trip to Nigeria
In 2006, my sister and I traveled back to Nigeria to see our mom. It had been five tough years of living and surviving in Germany. I worked hard to save the money for our tickets and still remember the excitement we felt as we packed our bags. Interestingly, my memories are mostly centered around the people we spent time with when we returned to Kaduna, the city we grew up in. I still remember sitting with our Grandma, who was very surprised and happy to see us. We also spent some valuable time with some of our childhood friends. When we were living, I was hoping we would visit more often.
 
What did I learn? 
  • The people in our lives are a gift
 
A summer to remember
I spent the summer of 2006 in England as a nanny for a family I met in my first year in Germany. After a few months of living in Germany, I met the mom on a train ride, and we bonded immediately. Having a friend who spoke English was special. Once she had her daughter, I babysat her before they moved back to the UK. This was actually the first income that I made in Germany. Fast-forward to when I spent the summer with them in Northern England years later. Taking care of a five-year-old over the summer was a lot of fun. However, I had no idea what the time away from Germany would do to me. This was the first time I re-evaluated where I was in life, and I realized I had to make some changes.
 
What did I learn?
  • To gain perspective, you sometimes have to leave your "normal" life and space 
 
Trying times
When I returned to Germany from Nigeria and England in 2006, things started unraveling very quickly. I knew that I had to make some tough choices. The first choice I made was to change the university course I was studying, which meant I had to move to a new city. I had an immense feeling of failure that stemmed from the fact that I expected to have completed my studies after being in Germany for six years, but I was far from it. Looking back, that was one of the pivotal moments that changed the trajectory of my life for good.
 
What did I learn?
  • Do what you need to do for yourself even when you are scared of what the future holds 
 
A year of significant changes
One common theme was between my sixth year living in Germany and the US. In 2006, I made the major decision to change my university course and move to a new city. In 2020, the world was changed by a global pandemic, and my life was changed as I became a first-time mom. While the changes in both years were significant, I was in a much better place in 2020. The main difference was that I was surrounded with love, financially and professionally stable. That made my experience with significant change more pleasant.
 
What did I learn?
  • Changes in life are required to make progress
 
Living through chaos
Going through the first year of a global pandemic meant that we were mostly at home. I was very grateful that I was in a place where I was comfortable and could continue living my life with all the chaos happening in the world. It made me reflect on other phases of my life where I felt uncomfortable in my skin and home. Another great thing in my life was that I was in a very happy relationship which made the time at home enjoyable.
 
What did I learn?
  • Being in a safe and loving home makes a huge difference
 
MC's Moment of Reflection
The person I was in 2006 was very different from who I was in 2020. However, my journey had a similar theme; I was going through many life changes. In 2006, I had hit a "wall" and was not making progress. Compared to 2020, I was progressing and entering an amazing phase in life. As I wrote this post, I was overcome with gratitude for how far I have come on my relocation journey.
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    Marie-Christin Anthony
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