Successful, But Unfulfilled: Corrie’s Leadership Turning Point (a client success story)

Corrie 0:01

I kept thinking, I’m okay, and then I got to a point where I just wasn’t happening anymore. I wasn’t excited to go to work, I wasn’t excited about, you know, those results I was driving I was just dreading getting out of bed. And it was more than just, like, depression or anything like that. It was like I really had nothing to look forward to, and I just noticed it was, like, impacting my life, my relationships, and I’m like, I need to make a change. 

I didn’t realize that you can be happy in your career once you climb the ladder, but this whole process has really just opened up my eyes, and not just in my career, but like in life in general, with my family and my friends and hobbies and everything

Blake Schofield  0:44  

Real leadership, real life, real impact, no more choosing between your career and your life. Here you’ll find honest conversations, science backed strategies and inspiring stories to help you thrive at work and truly enjoy your life outside of it. 

I’m your host, Blake, and I’m honored to help you create more impact with ease. 

Corrie wasn’t burned out or failing, but she was unfulfilled, stuck and questioning herself. After a long stretch of rejection, uncertainty and lack of clear communication, she built a solid career and done some pretty phenomenal work, but after leadership changes and years of being given work, she felt like she’d already done it before, she stopped feeling challenged and slowly lost the spark that once made her excited about work. She wanted clarity on what she actually needed, how to move forward and how to do it without sacrificing her income, her family time, or who she is and what she values. 

In this episode, Corrie shares how she moved from feeling stuck and undervalued to rediscovering her Spark, understanding what was really creating stress in her career, and massively improving her career, her leadership, her life in just a short three months, building the clarity and confidence to recognize that she’s empowered and is creating the life and career that she wants. She describes this work as life changing and shares why it became the foundation that she didn’t realize she was missing. Well. Corrie, thank you so much for joining me today. I’m really excited for you to share your journey and your insight in terms of what you’ve learned about what’s possible in terms of a fulfilling career without having to sacrifice your life.

Corrie  2:50  

Yeah, thank you for having me. I didn’t realize that you could be happy in your career once you climb the ladder, but this whole process has really just opened up my eyes, and not just in my career, but like in life in general, with my family and my friends and hobbies and everything

Blake Schofield  3:08  

Awesome. So I’m excited to dive in. Can you share a little bit about sort of how you and I became connected, and what was happening in your career, in your life, leading up to us starting to work together?

Corrie  3:20  

Yeah, so we were kind of in each other’s orbit for a while. Both worked at Target ages ago and LinkedIn, and I just kept seeing your content over and over again. And I’ve been with my company for 10 years doing similar things, kind of bouncing around, doing a lot of pm work, and I was just getting a little burnt out, and I kept seeing the content, and I kept looking at it, I kept pulling up the website, and I’m like, You know what? No, I am okay. I kept thinking, I’m okay. 

And then I got to a point where I just wasn’t happening anymore. I wasn’t excited to go to work. I wasn’t excited about, you know, those results I was driving. I was just dreading getting out of bed. And it was more than just, like, depression or anything like that. It was like, I really had nothing to look forward to, and it just noticed. It was like, impacting my life, my relationships, and I’m like, I need to make a change. 

So I started doing a lot of people do, I just start looking for another job, and the market’s a little tough, but it was just a lot of the same things over and over again, and I just wasn’t getting the results. I’m like, I don’t want to go, you know, just to another patch of brown. I want to do something that I enjoy again. So I finally reached out, and I was like, It’s time for me to do something different. And that’s when, that’s when we started working together.

Blake Schofield  4:38  

Awesome. So I think you experienced what’s so typical and so common, and I’m interested to hear, as you said to me, you know, No, I’m okay. I think that’s such a common thing. We’re so used to pushing through and making things happen. What did you think back then? About how your life and career were versus what you have experienced and know now about what’s possible.

Corrie  5:08  

Yeah, I always thought I had to do it myself. I had to fix it myself, like this was my problem, and there must be something wrong, because I’m not happy. I have a good job, I make a good salary, I have a lot of flexibility. But I still wasn’t happy. And I just thought that that’s just kind of how it is. Once you start climbing the ladder, that’s just kind of how it is. And then I was like, there, This can’t be it, right? I’m like, I have to make a change. 

And then when we talked and just about how, you know it just changes your whole mindset as you approach life, as you approach your career. And I’m like, No, I I am talented. I can do more things, but I can also describe what I really want out of my career, like I want to work, I want to do some I want to give back. And I think I just realized I don’t have to do it alone. It’s okay to ask for some help, and I’m really glad I did.

Blake Schofield  6:05  

I actually, you reminded me, and so now I’m going to try, and I’m going to try and pull it up. This morning, I read something that I think is really relevant to what you just said. Let’s see if I can find the email that I sent to myself. Yes, it was from Sheryl Sandberg, and I know you and I have had some conversations about Lean In and maybe not being in full alignment with sort of the full approach of it, but she shared some statistics that I thought were really interesting. 

Lean in and McKinsey and Company’s Women in the Workplace report shows that senior level men are 70% more likely to be tapped for leadership training than women in the same roles. On top of that, senior level, women report the highest levels of burnout, the most concerns about job security and the strongest belief that their gender will limit their opportunities to advance.

Corrie  6:55  

I would say that sounds pretty accurate. I wish it wasn’t, because I know a lot of women who work a lot harder and who are a lot more talented. It doesn’t make sense why they would get overlooked. I’ve been lucky enough to have few really good women leaders in my life, and I that’s the kind of leader I want to be. I want to lead from a way, from a place of, you know, work life balance, like you’re you have to take your kid to the doctor. That’s okay. I know you’re gonna get your work done. 

And I’m also lucky enough to lead a team of women like my, all my drug reports are women, and I, I love it, because we can all kind of reminisce about how hard it is to be a mom like the holiday season, when that was coming up and we were trying to the end of your planning, and we’re like, but we have the concerts and all the all the stuff going on, and it was just we could lean on each other, because we all understood how we were going to balance it. But I would, I would say, I feel like I don’t know if that type of leadership would get me tapped on the shoulder for promotion.

Blake Schofield  7:52  

It’s interesting, you know, I’m nine years into doing this work, and it first started with helping people who were unfulfilled, who wanted to change jobs, and we’re struggling with that. Because I saw that was a common belief system. And as the work progressed, I saw over and over again, people that became much more filled and much happier in the same circumstances in all areas, work and life and family, and I began to see broader that really the work that we do is leadership development. I’m interested in your perspective, and maybe this belief system around I can do and I don’t need help, which I think is extremely pervasive for women. 

This context of today, that 70% of senior level men are more likely to get leadership training, and the gap that exists there for burnout, for the fact that women are more responsible for their household, like everything, Data Wise, shows that women are experiencing more burnout. They’re more responsible for things in the home. 

There is this gap in the workplace, and I’m interested in your perspective. Like I said, it took me a while to get to this place to recognize like this is leadership development, it’s burnout resolution, it’s understanding how to maximize your skills and talents and in the most optimal and efficient way. But I’m interested in your perspective. As somebody who’s been through it, how would you describe it, and what do you look at it like now, three months later than what you did when you started the journey? You know, I think I put too simple of a lens on leadership when I

Corrie  9:30  

Prior to this, because, you know, I’ve had good managers and bad managers in between. And just because, how do I want to say this, it made me more aware of how I was leading my team, because if I was having frustrations with my managers, you know, sometimes that kind of bleeds through and through this, I learned you kind of have to cast a wider net on your perspective, like, Okay, this may be happening to me, but there’s probably something else in the background. Like, I can’t take it too personally, and that was really a key factor of, you know, I think this is coming from a different leadership team. 

There’s pressure, you know, financial pressures, or a different type of pressure that I’m just not seeing, and not just shielding my team from some of that, but like, trying to be open and honest about it, like, we’re going to have this, this, I’m going to talk you through it, because you shouldn’t take it personally, like, it’s kind of being triggered by some other things. And we just had something yesterday where somebody was asking, like, make sure these two teams work together on discrepancies for, like, billing and stuff. And they’re like, both of them came to me. They’re like, well, I thought we were already doing that, like, Is there something wrong? And I was like, No, I think it’s stemming from a different situation. And it was like, top of mind, because you guys are doing exactly what you should be doing. 

I don’t think I would have had that perspective prior to this. I think prior I would have gone to the person that had said those things and been like, Hey, what’s going on? Are there examples? Like, can you, is there a problem? And kind of drill down further, but then, but now, I’m like, wait a minute, I already know that they’re working with other teams. I already know that there’s issues over here that are just fresh, and that person’s just bringing it over here, and it was just a lot easier, just to kind of kind of relax the anxiety a little bit by having that perspective. 

And that was a major shift for me, and another colleague who I, who is a really great leader, has has been giving me more feedback lately that I’m leading the team really well because I took one of his direct reports. So that was just really nice to hear that, you know, you can use these, all these concepts, in practice and without them, even knowing, like, kind of carrying it forward.

Blake Schofield  11:53  

I love that when I look back on your journey, one of the from my lens, one of the very first big shifts that came for you was some of your day to day and weekly frustrations that you were having in your job, and how much time and energy that was stealing from you being able to do the work that you enjoyed and feel like you were showing up in a way that felt in alignment with your value system, and it feels tied to what you’re talking about here. I’m interested if you could share, you know, a circumstance that you were experiencing that might be common. What did you think and through this journey, how did it shift how you perceived that circumstance and why? And how did that make your life easier? Did you have less burnout, and are you now able to show up and be more transparent with your team and be already seeing the fruits of that labor through the positive feedback?

Corrie  12:52  

Yeah. So one big thing I was frustrated was communication. It was very limited, and it was hard to get information and as, like a program manager, like, that’s your bread and butter. You need to know what’s going on so you can, you know, work through the problems and work through the projects. So I got really frustrated at that, but through this, I kind of learned like it wasn’t personal. I had to do a little exploratory with some of my colleagues and talk to them how they were feeling, and they were getting the same response as I was. 

So just kind of, you know, lightly, asking some of those questions was helpful, just to be like, Okay, it’s not me. There’s something else going on here. It doesn’t mean that I don’t I’m not skilled. Doesn’t mean that I can’t do my job appropriately. It doesn’t mean that, you know, my manager doesn’t want me on my on the team. This is just kind of how they operate. And I learned that we have very different styles, and it we’re button heads. 

But I had so I had to try some different things to figure out how to work with with them and how to make it successful. And it has gotten better. I don’t think I’m through my journey completely yet, but even on those days, I was like, every day got a little better, and my my attitude towards it just improved a little better. 

And my family noticed. They’re like, Oh, you’re not as you’re not as sad anymore, like you’re excited to go do things after work. I’m like, Yeah, because I’m keeping it there. And it’s just kind of having a better understanding of there’s different pressures coming from different places, and it’s just not you.

Blake Schofield  14:32  

I think there’s so much value in an impartial perspective, especially when we’re repeating or finding ourselves stuck in the same patterns I know for me 10 years ago, I didn’t ask for help, either I had a lot of belief systems around not wanting to burden people, or that I should know the answer, and then if I didn’t that, I would be seen as incompetent or incapable. And I think that for so many leads. Others, there’s so much pressure to get it right all of the time,

Corrie  15:03  

Yes, and I was always the person who had the answers. So I was in a role where, if there was a problem, they came to me and I came to fix it. They kind of joked that I was the everything person. I was the fixer, like, no matter what, I was there and when it came to the point where I needed help, I didn’t even know what to do or how to turn so I was like, but I’m the one that fixes everything. So I felt like I had to do that to myself.

Blake Schofield  15:30  

And you just, you just can’t like it just, it’s okay to ask for help. It’s actually a good thing. I was like, Yeah, I am not great at everything. We all have our strengths and opportunities, but asking for help is a good thing. It’s even, you know, I’ve always embraced the when someone asked me a question, like, I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. Or like, I don’t know, but I’ll do some research. And I think just having being a little bit more vulnerable has and taken a step back kind of propelled me further forward. 

One of the things you shared earlier on is that when you found yourself burned out and disengaged and not looking forward to work in the way that you used to, you went directly to the job search, thinking that was the place that was going to solve it for you. And as I already said, that that is absolutely what I did over and over again, changing jobs or companies thinking it would fix it. What have you? 

Well, I guess there’s two things I have with that. I think when we go through the job search and we find ourselves not seeing what we want, that rejection or that long process has some effects on us, and it affects on how we look at our capabilities or our career. Did that happen to you, and how do you think that sort of contributed to how you were feeling on a day to day basis in your job?

Corrie  16:49  

Yeah, I mean, the constant rejection is really tough when you know, you know you have all these great things on your resume. You know you’ve done all these awesome, all this great work, and you have a lot of colleagues that are supportive of you and give you referrals, and then it just doesn’t pan out over and over again. And I remember I would go through cycles of, like, all right, I’m motivated, I’m gonna, you know, jump in and network or start applying to stuff, and then a couple weeks later, I’m like, it’s all rejection. And I would just stop. And I would stop for like, a good month or so, and then get back into it, and it was just, it was just over and over again with the same results. So it wasn’t working. 

And I’m like, you know, Googling at your chatGPT, what am I doing wrong? But it really wasn’t me. I think when the job market is really tough right now, and also things have gotten a little more impersonal with just everything’s online, like, networking is really what’s going to make it happen. But I was also because of that rejection. I was like, my really talented, like, what skills do I have to offer? Because this place doesn’t want me, This place doesn’t want me. And I had to get out of that mindset and be like, You know what the worst thing is, I don’t get a response at all. 

So I started reaching out to different, different people in my network, and just got a really positive reaction of like, oh, you’re looking let me, let me think about this. Let me email this guy. Let me, let me refer you to this, you know, this posting, and I’m going to connect you to HR. 

And it just, it just started to snowball, and I had a lot more hope, because I’m like, Okay, I wasn’t so scared to reach out. I’m naturally reserved and quiet, and I don’t like to toot my own horn, but I had to, and it was, it was tough getting out of that comfort zone, but I’m really happy I did, because once I did it, it got a lot easier, and the reception was so much better. No, people really do value my skill set. It just I had to find a different way to to get it out there.

Blake Schofield  18:50  

Yeah, and when you, you know, came into this process, I always say, when you keep facing resistance like what you faced, it’s a sign to stop and slow down and say, What am I missing? And I think that as a society, we are so used to pushing forward that we miss often the signs like you’re all the networking efforts that you’re talking about that you had so much success with, came after you got clear on what is my unique fingerprint for success? Oh, what’s actually happening inside my organization? Oh, I actually can and am improving the day to day work. 

And how am I experiencing that right now? So you know that momentum for you came after you did some of this deeper work. I’m interested to hear your perspective. You know you came in saying, I want to get clarity on how I can be more fulfilled, how I can be excited to go to work, what that right path is, how I can use my skills and make sure I’m communicating them effectively. What have you learned about yourself through this process, about your natural way of working? What was misaligned for you? Know, and being able to truly communicate that, has created those shifts for you to have more comfort reaching out and start seeing much more positive momentum there too.

Corrie  20:10  

Yeah, so I, I mean, at first I was a little frustrated, like, I have to stop and, like, take a step back and do the reflection. And that was really hard to do, because I’m like, I want to go, I want to, I want to make the change now and see the results. But after, I think it was the first to second week, I was like, Nope, that’s the point. 

So I took a break completely from, from trying, you know, to find another role, and just really focused on looking at myself, looking at my skill, looking at how exactly like, how I like to work. And a lot of it, you know, came down to communication. It came down to just kind of being that, like the smaller teams, actually, which I was a little surprised about. Okay, I know these are the things I enjoyed about my job, and then these are things that was I didn’t quite enjoy. 

So I was learning to figure that out was just a big key piece, because I got on a networking call and they’re like, so what are you looking for? And before, I was kind of a little wishy washy, I’m like, because I just kind of want a new place. Now I was like, this is exactly what I want. And these are the things that I don’t want to do, like, I don’t want to travel every week. And, you know, I kind of was very clear about the type of role I was looking for. And, you know, it was actually very well received. And then they started generating ideas of like, oh, well, maybe we can. We could push you over here. And what would, you know, once a month travel be okay? And just starting to negotiate, because they knew my skill set. They knew they’d seen the results, but I think they were also very respectful. Like, okay, these, these are the boundaries. 

And I was never, I never communicated my boundaries before. Because I wanted to, you know, people, please. I wanted everyone to like me. I wanted everyone to be like, Oh, she’s great. Hire me. But I felt stronger and more confident knowing that these are, these are the boundaries I’m setting, and it was just a lot easier for them to think of ideas of where I could be placed in a different company based on, based on those values.

Blake Schofield  22:18  

I remember the process when we started to go through to uncover your unique fingerprint for success. Can you share a little bit about that experience I’ve had for years? People ask me, like, well, how is it that you help people figure out what they’re great at and get clarity? And so I always think it’s fun. What’s the peak inside the covers? What was that experience like for you, and maybe what was the biggest aha from that?

Corrie  22:43  

So when we did the test and it came back and it was like, Oh, that’s true. Oh, that’s true. Yep, that’s right. And it was just kind of like, eye opening of, oh, gosh, this is, like, really accurate, and then diving into it actually taking some really hard looks at myself too, of self reflection and just reality. You can’t be great at everything. It’s just not real. But I can soar with my strengths and just, I think just seeing it down on paper was really validating, too. Of you know, this is a great thing. I can translate this, and I can actually communicate that, versus like, Oh, this is what I like to do. This is what I’ve done in the past. But I wanted to, like,

Blake Schofield  23:30  

I really focused on, I wasn’t just being adaptable. This is what I want to do, and this is how I’m wired. And I like to create systems. I like to look at chaos and, like, figure, get everything organized. And, you know now I know that when I’m looking or when I’m networking, that’s the stuff I should be looking for, versus, oh, that sounds fine. Like, oh, that’s that. I could probably do that and just get a lot more focused, because I’ve had a lot more success doing that. I often talk about that 90% or 95% of the problems or challenges or stresses we have in our life are due to misalignment, and that misalignment in our careers and our lives really comes in three buckets. 

One, we’re misaligned with how we’re naturally wired to thrive, how we naturally work best, which includes right, your natural pattern for success, your unique fingerprint for success. 

The second one is our beliefs or conditioning, the things that we keep repeating because we believe them to be true that we probably don’t even know that we have. 

And then the third one is environment. Whether it is often people assume oh, that means I’m in the wrong environment, but often it’s Oh, the way I’m working or communicating or doing things isn’t in alignment. I’m interested. As you look back where you were three months ago, and you look at those three buckets, did you believe that that was the cause of your problems back then? And what do you understand about how that misalignment was costing you, even if you weren’t clear that that was what was. The problem?

Corrie  25:00  

Yeah, I mean, I didn’t even realize I was misaligned. Because I don’t think I even really knew that was a thing. I thought, you know, when you go through college, like, if you get a job, you figure it out, and you make your boss happy, and that’s what you do, and you just keep going. But I didn’t, I didn’t even like, think about the fact that I want to make sure I’m doing something meaningful in life, whether that’s, you know, helping patients in health care, or doing something else, I need to make a difference. And when it’s all only focused on, like, revenue and money, that’s not enough of a motivator for me. 

So I learned that when I’m under leaders, that that is all if they’re concerned about, I lose all motivation, and I I just kind of fall into a rhythm, versus when I realize that when I have something very meaningful I’m driving towards, then I get then I get energized, and then I want to work more, and then I’m like, I’m like, I’m going to figure this out, and I’m going to, doesn’t matter what kind of chaos is presented to me, I’m going to figure it out. And that was just really interesting to learn that I need to have certain motivators that aligned with my values, so that it is the right environment for me. And that’s the stuff I can look for. 

I can look for, you know, companies that have that meaningful impact, and really focus on those. Three months ago, I really had no, no, no clue. I’m like, I was just going in every direction. I’m like, oh, there’s an opening here, but, but it wasn’t something that I really wanted. Now I’m like, Okay, this is what I wanted. I have my checklist of does it hit all these marks, and it makes it so much easier to go through and talk with people and even just look at postings and review things and just be like, Yep, this is a yes, nope, that’s a no. So yeah, did I answer both questions? I think I answered the first

Blake Schofield  27:04  

who did? I think you did. I threw you a tough one, just to go straight for it, straight through it. So she said you didn’t realize you were misaligned. You had a lot of assumptions about what it looked like to be a successful, professional, working mom, this is where we talk about beliefs and conditioning. I think only through sheer tenacity, honestly, did I make my way out of that, because I kept saying everyone around me seems unhappy. Life has got to be better than this. I think it’s so normalized. Knowing what you know today, I know one of the things you shared with me is that you went to a party and you were telling everyone about the work that you’ve done here and what we do at impact bees, knowing what you know today,

Blake Schofield  27:51  

What would you share with other professionals who are in a similar spot to you, where they feel like you know they should just keep pushing through her, it’s not that bad, but they’re lacking the passion that they really once had for their career and the energy at the end of the day to enjoy their life too.

Corrie  28:09  

You know, it just, it just wasn’t worth staying in that mindset. Life is short, like and I didn’t want my kids seeing you know, I have two daughters a work. And, you know, you tell them they can do anything. And I, I loved that they could see me do all these really cool things. But then when, when it died, like they noticed a shift in me, and I don’t want, I didn’t want them to see that that’s the only way to earn a living is to hate your job. I guess it’s a strong word, but that you’re just unhappy and and outside of work, I had happy things, but because it was just so overshadowed, I just didn’t enjoy that stuff as much as I as I used to. 

So I would, I would say to them, you know, jump in and just give it a try. I was, I was sharing the books we read with my friends. I’m saying this, this is changing my life, like, not just at work, but my entire life. And I’m, you know, telling my husband about it like you have to read this because it’s amazing, and I want you to be as happy as I am, because I think we all deserve to be happy and enjoy our career. 

You spend 40 hours a week there, at least like you should enjoy it. And my mother always told me that the good days shall outweigh the bad, and when the bad are starting to creep up, to become too much, then it’s time to make a change. And I knew that my bad days were outweighing my good days by quite a bit. And I’m like, that’s it’s time to change. 

And, yeah, you can be happy and you can still, you know, make the money that you need to to support your family, because that was a big thing for me. I’m like, I can’t take a step back. I’m supporting my family, and you don’t have. To it actually is possible, and it sounds too good to be true, but it’s really not. It’s possible. Like, it just it takes time to figure it out and, like, trust the process, because it works. It does work. It’s out in the end in the right way.

Blake Schofield  30:17  

Do you think one of the reasons we have so much challenge with women moving up into senior level roles is because they don’t have the support, the tools or the understanding to know how they can do that without creating more sacrifice.

Corrie  30:34  

I think so because, like you said, like we’re still doing most of the management of the home, and even though I have a wonderful husband who does a TON TON around those, we actually are pretty equal. In my head, I’m still doing a lot of stuff in the background, of like, I have to make this appointment. We have to make sure we get this done so it never really turns off. And a lot of the the women I saw in more senior executive roles didn’t play as big of a role at home as they did as they did at work. I mean, everybody you know To each their own.

But I knew that in my life, I wanted to be as present at home, and that was the priority, and that’s what I’m going to put first. But I think it does kind of hinder you a little bit, because I might, I’m done with working at, you know, 4pm or whatever, and and then I need to shut it off. So I I think it’s also this culture of you just never stop working. And that’s those are the people that get promoted, but that’s just have the life I wanted. So yeah,

Blake Schofield  31:43  

What have you learned about how you work best? I guess what I’ll say is we know that when you’re working in alignment with how you’re naturally wired, you’re two to three times more productive. Is a path to moving to the top of an organization working non stop. Absolutely, we’ve seen it our whole careers. What I want to challenge is that that’s not the only path. It’s often that we don’t have the skill sets to understand how to be more efficient, how to focus our time and energy on the right things, how to have the boundaries for what we want in life. Has your perspective shifted any about your potential in your career path and your growth based on what you’ve learned in the last three months? Yes, like, I,

Corrie  32:30  

You know, I’ve learned that I work best in the mornings, like I get up, I get ready and I want to hit the ground running, but then mid afternoon I get, you know, my brain kind of is done, and knowing that this is how I work best, I customize my calendar so it aligns. I’m like, Okay, I have this work time before meetings start, and just getting really organized in that and prioritizing that time has made me a lot more efficient, and I can get the same amount of work done by adjusting how, like, times a day of working, or even depending like, I kind of like to get the hard stuff done first and then second, go focus on stuff that’s more fun. 

And just like, little adjustments like that have actually, like, made my day shorter. I still get everything done on time, but then I can log off and I can go enjoy my life. So even though, like, the hours aren’t the same, hours are less, that’s still the output is the same, I’m still delivering what I need to deliver. So I think that that was just a huge shift of like, Man, I’m working the way I works for my brain, and it’s working out. 

And I tell my team that too. I’m like, hey, if that works for you, that’s great. I want you to work how what’s best for you. Like, even if I send over a document, I’m like, This is how my brain works and organizes it, but if you need to do it differently, it’s totally cool, because I trust them. I hired them. I trust them, and I just know it’s it’s a lot easier when, when you can do it the way that your brain works.

Blake Schofield  34:12  

Yeah, what you just said is a fundamental belief system I had to break years ago, and I’ve watched now, as I’ve watched hundreds of people come through this program, the shift in the belief that our success comes from how many hours we work to our success comes from the value that we add. And so when we learn how to be most efficient and the things we’re best at and how to use our time to create more of the best outcomes, that belief system around moving up in your career because of the sacrifice required from a time standpoint, starts to shift. 

And I believe that we are at a critical time point in our workplace and with more change than we’ve ever seen, more stress, more anxiety. Anxiety, more burnout, that the way we lead and live has to change in order to be successful. You know, it’s easy to look at the job market and say it’s difficult, and that’s what my challenge is, or the problem is my boss that doesn’t communicate, or the issue that are going on. 

But what I’ve learned is that the only way we really can truly create changes to understand what we need and how we can be empowered to create that change for ourselves, and that that bottoms up approach actually does have huge impact in our life. So many people are believing that the next job will solve their problem, or that the problem lies outside of them. When you look at the degree of frustration or anxiety or stress or lack of fulfillment you were feeling in your life three months ago, and you look at it today, how many of the problems do you think you were dealing with were things that you’ve now been able to internally solve, see differently and have the advocacy to be able to change

Corrie  36:01  

Maybe a good like 75% of the issues were just my perspective and making assumptions about things that I just didn’t know about because the environment has been changing so quickly. I I’ve been on my current team for, I guess, two years, two and a half years, and I’ve had five managers in that time. Like it was, it was constantly changing, and it’s really hard to to hone in on goals and to figure out what you’re doing when every few months, it’s changing. 

And again, I had to realize, like, it’s not me. I’m still keeping this business afloat. I’m still going to be a show up for for the team, because they’re a great team, and I want to do that for them, but I also need to start advocating for myself and empowering myself like no I can make this better, because I can’t kill myself for the team. I do have to take care of me. If I don’t take care of me, then I can’t take care of them, which is a very mom thing to do, because we always like take everybody else. But I think getting that empowerment to be like you, you can make a change, even if you’re not making a job change right now, it can still get better. 

And I just had another leadership change actually last week, so I get to go through the cycle again, but this time, I’m just taking a different perspective to it, and just a different viewpoint of like, no, it’s going to be fine. I’m going to stay connected with my my colleagues, who we have been working together for a long time, and we’ll keep pushing through, and we’re going to figure it out. But in the meantime, we’re still going to take care of the team, but now I have boundaries. So yeah, I think just taking that empowerment back is really important, because you can do it and you you are entitled to be, to enjoy your day and to do what you need to do to also take care of your family 100%

Blake Schofield  37:58  

And the data shows, the more fulfilled your employees are, the better your company results are, period. And a huge part of my passion is to be able to help leaders and organizations understand that burnout and employee disengagement and losing your high performing people is a solvable problem when you can empower your people to understand how they naturally work and to be able to communicate and start shifting the way that we’re showing up and believing work has to look like, so thank you.

Corrie  38:34  

Like people, I think sometimes leadership, you get treated like a number of like, oh, we have to cut 30% of the workforce, or, you know, and it’s just numbers, but I’m like, No, these are people. And I spend a lot of time trying to get to know the people on the team. Like, I, I can show up to our warehouse and I, I know the custodial staff. Like, I just treat people as people. There was a story I learned when I was doing my masters. It was like a beer company in the UK, and they had a problem moving the beer from one side of the street to the other, because it was just so busy, they couldn’t move trucks back and forth. 

And one day, you know, they had all these executives in a meeting, and it was a full, full blown, you know, problem solving. And then they were taking a break, and the custodians like, well, there’s just, there’s a tunnel that goes right underneath the street. You could just, you know, go through the tunnel. And it just always stuck with me. Of like, good ideas can come from anywhere, and it solved their problem, and they were able to, you know, just move it underneath the street, and everything worked great. 

And like, if you treat people like people, you’re going to get those great ideas, and they can come from anywhere, and just putting up a system that value is has really stuck with me ever since I heard that story.

Blake Schofield  39:49  

I love that one of my friends here in Seattle focuses on executive storytelling, and he talks about the importance of leaders being able to tell their story about what they value. And who they are. We certainly see, from a macroeconomic standpoint that a lot more leaders are becoming thought leaders in the market. I think it’s a huge shift from where the world was when you and I started working. 

But the importance of being able as a leader to say, This is who I am, this is how I show up, and this is what I value, and therefore this is the right type of job. This is the right type of environment for me. I have always felt like is really critical. Has your opinion or perspective changed some about that? And how are you now leveraging what you’ve learned to show up differently as a leader?

Corrie  40:39  

You know, I’m talking through it a lot more with my team, in trying to, you know, tell them about some of the lessons that that I’ve learned through this, and just being like, this is the type of leader I am one day, you know, they came to me like, Hey, can I take this day off work? And I’m like, yeah, it’s your PTO, you do what you want with it, because I value as a person. Or I think they said, like, I can’t get this done today, but can I get this report done tomorrow? And I’m like, Yeah, that’s fine.

Like, I trust you that you’re going to get it done. Like, yeah, we have deadlines, but if you get it done in the morning you get in the afternoon. I don’t care. Like, I trust you to do your job. You don’t have to run appointments by me. You don’t have to, you know, I’m not, I’m not your parent, I’m not your keeper. I trust you to get the job done. 

And it’s just like, opened up a door with them. Of they can do things. And I’ll, you know, I’ve been able to, like, step back on client meetings because I know what. They handle it. They can handle it unless they ask me to. And I’ll be like, Yeah, sure. I’ll be there. I always have your back. I’ll have your front too, if something goes wrong. But I’m like, I trust you to do this job. And I’ve, I’ve tried to make a huge point on, like, communicating that now, of like, this is what I value in you as as an employee, and this is the potential I see. 

Like, you can get to this leadership role. Let’s get you there, because I don’t need the spotlight. That’s just not who I am. I want to lift others up. So I think it’s changed in how I communicate with my team, just like being more upfront of like, this is what I value, instead of just doing the actions like, I’m actually telling them how how I view it. And I think I still have some work to do there, but I have seen a shift in how I’m interacting with them.

Blake Schofield  42:23  

And have you seen a shift and how they’re showing up, or what’s happening? And can you give some examples of how you’ve seen it already help your team?

Corrie  42:32  

Yeah. So we do account management, and we have, like our QBRs and our monthly meetings, and I used to run all of those, and I think it was about maybe halfway through the program, maybe two months. I started handing it all over to them, because I know that they could handle it. And, you know, they’re a little nervous the first few calls I could, I could sense the nervous that, but then I would immediately follow up with feedback. I’m, like, that was great. Like, maybe just do this next time. Or, you know, just the positive feedback, of like, it’s going to get better. We just have to keep doing it. And now, like, I don’t even join the meetings. They don’t, they don’t need me. They they have it all handled one because I feel like they know I I put my trust in them, and they’ll come to me. 

We’re like, Hey, I had this issue last week. But, you know, I reached out to reached out to the supplier, and we figured out it’s fine, like, I didn’t even have to do a single thing. So it’s just giving them and trying to give them more opportunities to step up one, knowing that I’m kind of working on a different plan at the moment, so that if I do leave, they’re fully prepared to, like, I’m thinking about reviews and like, let’s get you to the next let’s get you promote. At some point, this is what we’re gonna have to do. And I’m I told, them, I’m like, I’m always gonna look for these opportunities. 

You know, I don’t know when they’re gonna come up, but I’m gonna put your name in the hacks. I know that’s what you want to do. And now that you know the new year started, I need to get, like, a better understanding, like what they want to so that both of our values are matched, so I can find the right things. But yeah, I’ve just, I’ve noticed them just like starting to Blake, starting to blossom, and even like, my leaders are noticing it, of like they’re really strong in this area. I’m like, yes, let’s keep that going. 

So it’s just being able to shift the responsibility and opening the door to, you know, to people who are still developing in that area, because how else do you get the experience you have? You have to try it and have a leader behind you, saying, encouraging you and also coaching you on the side. Because I know I’ve had that, and I’ve always appreciated it, so I’m trying to pay that forward.

Blake Schofield  44:37  

So it looks like, if I heard correctly, you’ve been able to take the same job where you were unfulfilled and not not feeling the passion of going to work and drained at the end of the day, and in a three month period of time, been able to really shift into understanding how you naturally work best, change your perspective and be able to start solving the things that frustrated you and. Then actually be able to take your heart and passion for people, but not taking over responsibility for them, instead helping them learn to step up and spend more time developing them as leaders. And as a result of that, other people and other leaders are seeing positive momentum with you and your team. Is that right?

Corrie  45:19  

Correct? Yeah, yeah. 

Blake Schofield  45:21  

Did you think that was possible three months ago?

Corrie  45:23  

No, I like the way you just said it and like that. That sounds crazy, like that doesn’t happen, but it did, and I’m just, like, so excited about it.

Blake Schofield  45:33  

I am just so honored to be on this journey with you. Your journey, I think, is a perfect example of what’s really possible when you get support and the skills and tools that enable you to show up as the type of leader that you want to be able to grow your career without sacrificing your life. There was so much mismatch in how you were showing up from what you valued, and the beauty is, when you align that the natural motivation is there, and all of the benefits happen across the board.

Corrie  46:07  

Yeah. I mean, I wish I did this so much sooner, but, you know, it’s probably exactly the right time that I needed to. But, I mean, I can’t just rave about it. I can’t rave enough about it. It was, this is the life changing program in my entire life. So I loved it. I’m just so grateful that you coached me through this, took me on as a client, because there’s no way I would have gotten through, gotten to this point by myself. I’d probably be in the same spot as I was three months ago.

Blake Schofield  46:41  

Thank you. It’s been like said, such an honor. Let me see, I had a little notes on what I wanted to ask. Let’s see if there’s anything I didn’t ask you that I wanted to Yeah, I definitely want to ask you this one. There’s only one question I wanted to ask you, and then I’ll and we’ll kind of close out, which is, you talked about it a little bit, but I’d love to jive just a little bit differently, because it’s one of the things I constantly see that I try to share. But I think it’s easier when you have an example of somebody who’s experienced it. One of the things I struggle with so much is that, and it’s interesting, I went back and looked at a post, a social media post I did eight years ago, and I was like, Oh, I Yes, I used to do this. 

So in saying it, it’s not judgment at all. But I used to believe that the problem was external. It was a micromanaging or toxic boss or crazy environment, and so the problems that I saw were external. And I thought, well, if I just didn’t have to work for this type of person and I could work for a better boss, then I’ll be okay. And I came to really realize that with as many leadership changes as there are, you’re always going to have people that you don’t work well with. 

And so it’s about developing the skill set to know how to work with people that are challenging, because it’s going to happen to you again at some point, and of course, putting yourself in environments and being able to stand up and communicate for what is the right fit so that you can, you know, avoid it as much as possible. But the reality is, that’s going to happen.

Blake Schofield  48:15  

Yeah, you shared that when you came in, you were feeling undervalued, and there was frustration with regard to your boss and some work working relationships, and that was significantly impacting you on a day to day basis.

Corrie  48:29  

Yes.

Blake Schofield  48:29  

What have you learned that now has shifted that relationship and maybe how you’ll deal with future relationships where there isn’t that immediate alignment?

Corrie  48:41  

Yeah, so I think, I think I was very similar. It’s like, if I just get a different job, if I just move to a different team, it was always like an external, you know, factor, but through, like, just the reflection of it, I think I realized I have more control than I thought I did, because I have experience dealing with a lot of challenging personalities, I’ll say, in leaders, and I figured out how to work with different ones.

Basically, I would start by listening and just kind of trying to figure out their different styles. And I was very successful with that. And then I got a few leaders who were a little bit more of a challenge. And I think I just, I put too much power into their hands, of like, you’re gonna get me to the next level, you’re gonna help me get promoted, when, in reality, I’m gonna get myself promoted. It’s, it’s my I’m in control here.

And I think taking that power back really was empowering. I guess that was really eye opening. Of like, No, my career is not in my manager’s hands. It’s not my manager manager’s hands. It’s in my hands. I have control of this. I can speak up, I can be strong. I can say what I need to say and put the boundaries in place. Place. And you know what? Nothing really bad has happened. Like it’s all been positive since then, but just taking that power away from somebody else was very important for me, because I always felt like your manager is is the key to more money, more promotions, more work when it when it’s not you can work with other managers. You can, you know, you can get creative. 

But yeah, I just needed to take, take all of that power back and put it on myself. And then I was like, Oh, I can figure this out. And then it was like, this, the opportunities just bloomed. Of like, oh, there’s an opportunity here. There’s one here, and I, I have the power to make that happen.

Blake Schofield  50:46  

Amazing. You also mentioned earlier, with regard to this, a shift of being able to get move outside of it, feeling personal, into being able to see broader things for the company. Can you share a little bit more about that, and how do you think that will impact your career going forward?

Corrie  51:03  

You know, a lot of changes were because of other teams. And with we got railed with something of like, we have to get this, you know, done immediately. We have to, you know, go after this contract. We have to go after this goal. It was like, Where is this coming from? I thought we were doing really well, and it because of lack of communication. I didn’t know it, but it was because, you know, the business over here wasn’t performing. And so because we are, we have to compensate for that, so that the overall company, those numbers stay where, where they were forecasted. 

So just kind of taking that step back of like, oh, this is not personal. We’re still, still doing great job to actually too great, because now we have to cover for another team and make up their revenue. So I think just take, I’m going to be taking that forward. Just be like, well, take a step back, look at the bigger picture. Maybe reach out to some people, or just kind of do a little bit more listening to figure out where’s this driver really coming from. And I’ve even, you know, experienced it with my friends, of like, oh, that person seems really cranky today. And then Few days later I found out, like, Oh, something, something rough happened in their life. I’m like, Okay, well, it wasn’t me. And there was one time where I was, you know, with a friend, and I noticed they were cranky, and I’m like, this has nothing to do with me, like, I just know it. And a couple days later, I found out something, something bad had happened. 

So just taking that step back and looking at things on a macro level, it’s just helped you, like, fully understand the big picture, and then I could react appropriately and also talk to my team about it and communicate to them what I didn’t get be. Like, nope. This is, I think, where it’s driving from, because then I think it just kind of calls a lot of anxieties. Like, no, it’s not me. But you really do have to take take the personal piece away from it can’t be completely objective, but take least alleviating some of it, because it’s not always about you.

Blake Schofield  53:07  

Yeah, and, and now that you’ve been through the journey and you’ve understood how to shift your mindset and your belief systems and see circumstances differently, do you see and understand why it was so hard for you to try and change those internal feelings and stress and lack of feeling valued on your own.

Corrie  53:26  

Yeah. I mean, I was internalizing everything. Of like, it’s I got to figure this out myself. It’s my problem. Like, what am I doing wrong when? When the majority of it wasn’t me at all, it was a lot of other factors. But again, I have the power to change those factors. I don’t just need to sit and wait for someone to fix it. For me, I can fix it. That was a journey, but it was a mind shift, because now I can apply it in so many different areas.

Blake Schofield  53:56  

Amazing. Two more questions for you, if you can, or do you have a couple more minutes?

Corrie  54:00  

I’m good.

Blake Schofield  54:01  

Thank you. Looking back on your journey, what are you most proud of?

Corrie  54:09  

I’m proud that I could take a current situation and make it better. You know, when I came in, my goal was like, I need a new job. I need to go find a new job. How? How am I going to do that? And now I’m like, I’m okay for now, I’ve made things a little better. If a new role comes along, I’ll probably look at that opportunity, but it’s not I’m no longer in that desperation, because I don’t want to run away from something, I don’t want to something, and that that probably was the biggest thing of like I am empowered, I can do this. I’m strong. 

And everything we have written down in my morning magic, because it just helps set the tone for the day when I can do so much more than I was giving myself credit for. But I’m very proud that I took my current situation and made it better, so that eventually, when I do find the next great opportunity, you know, my team is going to be okay, like everything’s going to be in place and it’s going to be the right one,

Blake Schofield  55:11  

And you know how to look for the right thing. And when you run into challenges, you now have a skill set to manage it differently.

Corrie  55:18  

Yeah. Yeah.

Blake Schofield  55:21  

Amazing. All right, my last question for you, is there anything I didn’t ask you when you kind of thought about our time together that I should have or, if not, there’s not anything that you’re like, oh, I want to share this. Then I would say to you, is there anything on your heart that you would like to share? Because I know a part of you doing this is your passion for people and wanting to make sure that people are in environments where they feel valued and supported and successful. So basically, the floor is yours.

Corrie  55:51  

Yeah, I think the only thing I’d want to say is, like, you can do it. I mean, I’m skeptical all the time of everything. If it’s too good to be true, like it’s not true, but it really did work. And you know, I’ve been in some tough situations at work, and as a woman, I think a lot of us have been in certain situations that you question your skill set. You question, Did I get that promotion for the right reason? Things like that? But through this, I learned that, no, I did. I earned everything from it, and other people can’t take that away from me, and it’s just possible. Like, there’s just so many opportunities everywhere. 

Every time I look around, I think of new ideas and and things like that. And I’m just like, I just feel so hopeful and excited that I did the work. Like, I will say not all of it was easy, but it was worth it, because there is a light at that end of that tunnel. And think things can be can be so much better, even if you don’t change roles, it can still, still be better until you get to, like, the final place that that everything clicks like it’s a journey. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it’s totally worth it.

Blake Schofield

Thank you, Corrie, I appreciate you.

Corrie

I appreciate you. I appreciate this whole program. I appreciate you doing this. Yeah, I can’t say enough positive things.

Blake Schofield  57:15  

Most Successful People don’t realize they’re in burnout, because stress and exhaustion have become so normalized, but burnout is actually a sign of deeper misalignment between how you’re wired to thrive and how you’re actually working and living. Fix the misalignment and everything changes. 

Take the free quiz at www.impactwithease.com/burnout-type.com to discover your burnout type and get next steps to reclaim your energy, lead with confidence and create more ease in your life and career.