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Exploration. Co-creation. Transformation.
Not your usual home page
I am not going to market myself to you in the well-recognized ways. Instead, I am going to start by telling you a bit about me and what I am passionate about. I trust that if some of what you see here resonates, that you will be drawn to continue reading and scanning about, and will contact me to learn more.
My values and intention
- I value exploration, experimentation, and experiential, laboratory-based learning
- I treasure spaces and containers that invite creativity, risk-taking, and thinking big
- I believe we are all works-in-progress and the point is not so much in “arriving” but in “living”
- My intention is that this website be a forum for the sharing of valuable services, solid knowledge, and an emergent exchange of ideas in a manner that is both professional and heartful . . . in a way that is humanly imperfect in a rough-around-the-edges, ever-evolving sort of way.
If you are inspired by generative co-creation, I welcome your collaboration. If you have ideas, questions, or suggestions to share, big or small, on the site itself, my offerings, or anything else, I’d love to hear them.
A snapshot
I am fascinated with questions about how people grow and learn and develop themselves. Ever since I can remember I have been drawn to learning and teaching. I have spent more than four decades, moving dynamically between these roles, formally and informally. My journey has been filled with curiosity and wonder as well as confusion and fear.
I have watched my own teachers and mentors attentively and thoughtfully. I have drawn great inspiration from published people with star power and regular folks who simply have something – a particular form of knowledge or a quality of being – to share with the world. Who I am today is shaped by all of these experiences … the hopeful and inspiring experiences as well as the challenges and disappointments. What is most true is that I am continually learning and exploring every day, ever-curious about what works, what creates environments for safe-enough growth, renewal and transformation.
Why coaching?
I have done a lot of group work in the past: leadership, facilitation, training, communications, project management. In graduate school I came to realize the power of the individual and an individual’s impact on the system. Since I had not done much one-on-one work, I became fascinated by what could be accomplished individually in such a partnership.
A coaching partnership is a fascinating relationship between equals committed to a person’s growth and development. Having experienced a variety of coaching experiences with helpers and healers of all kinds, I have been developing my own point of view about what works and about what I can uniquely offer in this space. This is something I actively explore and continue to test with my clients.
Why the Enneagram?
The Enneagram is an ancient psycho-spiritual system of personality. I have been immersed in working with it personally since 2006. When I started, I was fascinated by how it helped me understand my own experience, of myself and of others. In January of 2007 I began actively training with esteemed teachers. As I entered my certification program I had only a vague idea that I wanted to share this gem with others. It is something I felt drawn to pursue with no particular plan or strategy. While I may not have made the decision through pragmatism, it turns out that the Enneagram is a phenomenal complement to my passion for coaching. What a magical example of both honoring my intuition and trusting the process!
I am fascinated by the dynamism and complexity of the Enneagram and the creative and innovative ways it is being applied with individuals and groups around the world. Unlike other theories and models which can sometimes seem static, the Enneagram invites self-study, discernment from the inside-out, and validates our lived experience. It offers valuable keys to understanding motivation and the core beliefs that drive human behavior. It has been written about and used in a variety of ways. I continue to learn, integrate, and explore as I develop my own point of view about how it can best serve. The Enneagram is one of many tools that I use in my coaching work.
Curiosity & Love of Learning
I am naturally drawn to people and environments that embrace curiosity and love of learning. Curiosity and love of learning are two of my hallmark strengths. They show up in assessments and in the feedback I have received over the years in all areas of my life (work, graduate school, leadership courses, volunteer and civic organizations, friends, and family). You will also read about them in testimonials from my clients. As two of my signature strengths, I deploy them with care. I pay attention to their gifts as well as to the shadow qualities. The shadow side of curiosity might show up as discomfort with “the answers” and with expertise or it might show up as seeking out the answers. The shadow side of my love of learning might show up as boredom or frustration with the status quo, a perpetual need for new experiences and ideas, and at worst, an elitist attitude about growth and development. It is my invitation and my opportunity to hold space for all of this and stay conscious so that I can use my strengths with care.
Why Adult Development?
I have some final words to share about a theory and body of work that have stirred something deeply in me. I first had the opportunity to explore “constructive developmental” theories of adult development during my evidence-based coaching program in 2009-2010. A light bulb went off and I was completely drawn in to studying this work. This feels like a missing piece in my understanding of human and adult development and in how people grow and change.
In 2010, I completed training in the Subject-Object Interview (SOI), Robert Kegan’s measure of adult development, and became a reliable scorer of the SOI. I am working with the Kegan and Lahey Immunity to Change model which has become popular in coaching and consulting circles. I am fascinated by how this theory categorizes the subject-object shifts that occur at different stages of meaning making, as well as what that meaning making tells us about how we get along in and move through our world. When the level of complexity we encounter is beyond where we are, we are, in Kegan’s words “in over our heads.”
The SOI is valuable as a measure of growth and development. The SOI also helps identify the unique kinds of challenges people face at certain places in development and what paths of growth might best support the individual’s journey. My coaching work is supported by a variety of theories, methods, and perspectives that together constitute the “team” I bring to the table. The lens of adult development is surely the newest member of my team.
I don’t yet know where all of this curiosity will take me. I am interested in research and application and open to various forms of collaborative co-creation. If something I have written here piques your interest, please contact me.