Career Conversations | S2 EP1: Transitioning into Leadership (part 1)

Transitioning into your first leadership role can be an exciting, nerve-racking experience. Leadership coach Catherine Bachy walks you through some of the most common questions and concerns about this important step, and shares some qualities and skills you can develop to be a better leader.

Show Notes

Transitioning into Leadership

with Catherine Bachy

Transitioning into your first leadership role can be an exciting, nerve-racking experience. Career coach Catherine Bachy walks you through some of the most common questions and concerns about this important step, and shares some qualities and skills you can develop to be a better leader.

Certified executive coach Catherine Bachy brings over fifteen years’ experience as an advisor and coach to leaders and teams in both corporate and public sector settings. She has shared her expertise as a leadership coach, strategic facilitator, and instructor as part of POD’s University Consulting Alliance and quarterly courses since 2015.

Catherine is known for her ability to capture and communicate insights and visual metaphors that help her clients find clarity, map their future state, see their work in new ways, and move beyond roadblocks into the territory of solutions and achievements. Catherine is also gifted in creating safe space for important and sometimes difficult conversations to take place. She is skilled at noticing the deeper dynamics of what is going on and enabling others to respond in ways that produce more satisfying results.

Her key clients include leaders who want to help their teams become high-performing while creating a positive work environment, and managing conflict and stress along the way.

Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Creators and Guests

Host

Michaela Gormley

Michaela Gormley (she/her) is a proud alum of the University of Washington, graduating in 2009 from the Foster School of Business with a degree in Business Administration – Marketing and a minor in Spanish. She recently started a new role in tech sales after 10+ years in marketing. She served as a member of the UWAA GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) Council for two years, including one year leading the diversity, equity and inclusion subcommittee. As a proud member of the UW Alumni community and as a first-generation college student herself, Michaela is passionate about increasing the inclusivity and accessibility of higher education. She is excited to be back for the second round of UWAA Career Conversations and is grateful to be part of a resource that helps others achieve their personal and professional goals. In her free time, Michaela is an avid fan of Husky Athletics and has been a football season ticket holder since graduation. She loves spending time in the sunshine of Eastern Washington with her family and friends and prides herself on being a cool aunt to all of her nieces and nephews.

Guest

Catherine Bachy

Certified executive coach Catherine Bachy brings over fifteen years’ experience as an advisor and coach to leaders and teams in both corporate and public sector settings. She has shared her expertise as a leadership coach, strategic facilitator, and instructor as part of POD’s University Consulting Alliance and quarterly courses since 2015. Catherine is known for her ability to capture and communicate insights and visual metaphors that help her clients find clarity, map their future state, see their work in new ways, and move beyond roadblocks into the territory of solutions and achievements. Catherine is also gifted in creating safe space for important and sometimes difficult conversations to take place. She is skilled at noticing the deeper dynamics of what is going on and enabling others to respond in ways that produce more satisfying results. Her key clients include leaders who want to help their teams become high-performing while creating a positive work environment, and managing conflict and stress along the way.

What is Career Conversations ?

Frank conversations to help you take control of your career.

Going beyond resumes, interviews, and cover letters, each conversation brings a unique perspective on relevant topics for you and your professional development.

Presented by Pepsi, Career Conversations is produced by the University of Washington Alumni Association.

Learn more: https://www.washington.edu/alumni/career-conversations/

Thank you for tuning in to career conversations, an audio series created for the University of Washington alumni community, where we focus on deeper topics to help you create and sustain a fulfilling career I'm your host, Michaela Gormley. I'm a proud University of Washington alum who graduated in 2009 from the Foster School of Business. I'm an active member of the UW alumni community, a former member of the Alumni Association's Gold Council, and I'm so excited to be back as the host for this series. The topic of today's career conversation is transitioning into leadership, and I'm thrilled to be joined in this conversation by Catherine Bachy. At the core of her work with individuals and teams is the belief that all are brilliant, resilient and capable to achieve excellence. She works with leaders who want to help their teams become high performing while creating a positive work environment and managing conflict and stress along the way. Her clients say that she is gifted in creating a gracious space for important and sometimes difficult conversations to take place. She uses multiple modalities in her work with individual coaching clients, as well as with teams, drawing on appreciative inquiry systems thinking and organizational change theory, as well as the martial art of aikido. Emotional and somatic intelligence, liberating structures, graphic and visual representations and even poetry. Catherine has degrees from Georgetown, the University of Massachusetts and Seattle University, along with certifications in executive coaching and leadership embodiment coaching. She is currently a consultant for the University of Washington Professional and Organizational Development organization. Along with being a certified executive leadership coach. Catherine, thank you so much for joining us today.

Thank you, Michaela. It's a pleasure to be here.

I'm so excited to be talking to you and I'm just reading through your bio here and thinking how perfect this conversation is for the two of us. And I'm so excited to learn a little bit more from you.

Thank you.

OK so before we get started, I like to ask this kind of fun question. I know things have changed a little bit over the years, but you are you do work with you, don’t you? And so do you get to spend any time on campus. And if you do, which campus is it? And do you have any favorite spots, hidden kind of quiet spots on campus or any place you like to go?

Well, yes, I do spend time on University of Washington campuses, mostly on the Seattle campus. I've also spent some time at the Bothell campus, but at the Seattle campus, the one some spots that I like is there's this little garden. It's called I think this is how you say it, Grieg Garden. G-R-I-E-G and it's kind of tucked away. And I had a chance to take a yoga class there a few years ago through the whole and then Drumheller fountain. I mean, there is such an iconic place and I'd love to go there slowly and watch the people. So it's great people watching space and it's also such an expansive space. And, you know, looking at the vistas, Mount Rainier when the mountains out and it reminds me of, you know, how in leadership we need to have vision, we need to have a sense of what's on the horizon. And so that's why it was one of the reasons why I loved that space, the Drumheller fountain.

I love it there. It is. Actually, the background on my cell phone right now is a picture. It was a beautiful day. I had gone to see the cherry trees in the quad and it was a beautiful, clear day. The mountain was out. And, you know, it's just perfect when you look down the vista and the fountain, you know? So it's one of my favorite spots, too. I think that's an excellent pick.

Yeah.

OK. So I'm excited to talk about our topic today of transitioning into leadership. And I think that can mean so many different things. And look so many different ways for people. And in talking with you, your perspective is so great on it. So before we get really into it, can you tell us a little bit about how you define leadership in the context of someone's career? Are you talking more about becoming a manager, a specific role, or is there more to it than that?

Yeah, and I think a lot of times, you know, people do think of leadership, in terms of a title or a role, and that certainly does signify a level of leadership. But I do think it's more than that. And I like a definition that one of the people that I follow, Otto Sharmer, he is a researcher and social scientists at MIT. And he talks about leaders are people who engage in creating change or shaping their future regardless of their formal position in institutional structures. So that really means that we all have the capacity and the capabilities of becoming leaders. It's beginning with ourselves, you know, what are we leading? What is what is our purpose? What's our mission and leading ourselves first and then how do we influence others in joining us in that purpose? I think ultimately leadership is about influencing how that happens. For what purpose and what impact does that influence have?

That's so great. OK will you tell me his name again or. What's his name again?

His name is Otto. Otto and his last name is Scharmer S-C-H-A-R-M-E-R.

Oh, I love that quote. I'm going to have to look him up and see what else I can learn from him. OK so we have sort of a working definition of a place of influence is how we're talking about leadership today. And can you say more about how someone can sort of start to look for those opportunities of leadership or influence and how do they move toward those leadership roles in their career?
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of developing that sense of influence. It's a lot around relationship building, in relationship building that goes beyond, you know, networking. It's really, how do you make a contribution? How do you make a deeper contribution, where you are, in whatever place you may be working already? How do you cultivate deeper relationships? Sometimes it's, you know, asking a manager to be involved in a particular project, to sort of be involved in some more strategic conversations. I think we move from sort of transactional work in the workplace to more strategic work. And strategic work we're talking about, you know, what's the ultimate purpose, what's the vision and how to contribute to that. And I think that's a way of shifting from shifting into more responsible and more leadership type roles is by deepening those connections and those relationships.

Yeah.

I mean, I think that sometimes that can happen in a person's workplace, but it really depends on the workplace and on the context. And

Sure.

I think if it's not possible, if people don't feel like they can or there's really not a lot of opportunity, maybe they work in a small organization, then there's also chances to look outside of that for opportunities to develop leadership, leadership opportunities that places where, you know, people can engage in a more strategic way. Sometimes that can be through volunteering on the board of a nonprofit, for example, or on a committee. If a board leadership that's like too much, then maybe on a committee for a nonprofit that, you know, someone really whose mission Someone is really dedicated to. Also, though, I mean, there are other programs that are a little bit more intensive. Many counties have what they call sort of leadership tomorrow is a is, for example, one in King County in it's a program that is for mid-level or career people who want to know, they want to make a deeper contribution and learn within a cohort of their peers and also have a context in which to practice leadership. I think that's the thing about leadership. It's not just something you read about. It's actually how do you practice it, right? How do you get into context and practice leadership?
Yeah that's kind of the whole how it's kind of how leadership works. Right? you can't just read a book and say, well, now I'm a leader. It's like, well. It's part of how you interact with other people. So yeah, that's a good point that you don't always think about. Like, you have to practice, you have to be amongst other people and work on those skills.

Yeah and sometimes people make mistakes and that's OK. That's how we learn. That's how we come back. And you, you know, get sharpen our saw, you know, and that's one of the ways that we learn.

Yeah I mean, we've definitely all been around leaders who have made mistakes, I'm sure. I've been around a few and I've probably been one of those from time to time as well. So learning from those and just trying to get better. And I didn't know about these sort of County level organizations. That's such a cool opportunity.

Yeah are you talking about, like, the leadership tomorrow type of organization?

Yeah, yeah, Yeah.

Yeah and there's, you know, there's there's, you know, different counties have them and they're nonprofits themselves. Right and they're dedicated to serving other public sector organizations, nonprofits and public sector organizations, and doing so by kind of training a group of mid-level or early level career professionals who want a different context. Right they're looking for another opportunity. And it's a mix of, you know, series or of lectures and, you know, presentations as well as the opportunity to make a contribution in an organization, something that perhaps they wouldn't otherwise have a chance to work on, you know, a unique opportunity and learn a lot from other people. And I think when we're with other leaders, we learn a lot. And that's part of that, you know, developing relationships and being within a cohort that you really get to know people you get to really know what they're doing in their work. And I mean, it's true networking, right? Really just really rolling up your sleeves and working together, getting to know each other.

Yeah, Yeah. That is really awesome. That's a cool opportunity. OK, so we've talked about some opportunities and where people might find those. Let's talk about what would you say are some attributes that maybe make someone a skillful leader and we can also maybe go into how does someone go about developing some of those skills? So what would you say those skills are or maybe some ways to develop those if we know that we're not the strongest at them.

Yeah, that's such a great question. And I've been thinking about this a lot. And in my work, when I think about when I'm coaching people, coaching executives are leaders working with teams. There are four areas that, that, that I end up, you know, thinking about and and I think about four intelligences and we commonly think about, you know, intellectual intelligence or IQ. Right we've heard a lot about IQ is it's been in our vocabulary for a long time. And so we understand that sort of intellectual acuity and the ability to make meaning. And it's really focused on knowledge and it's really it's one of the most common. But then, you know, over the years, more intelligences have surfaced. So for example, emotional intelligence. And that was something that was studied and then popularized by Daniel Goleman in 1995. And that emotional intelligence, it's now something we hear about a lot in terms of a leadership skill and the development of leaders is, you know, how do we recognize our own emotions? Like how do we know, there was this idea that, you know, you came to work and you left your emotions at the door. But that that's an old idea like that doesn't that's not true. Like you, of course, you bring your emotions with you, but what have you with them, how do you manage them? And skillful leaders have a really keen awareness of that for themselves. They're able to Ah, to, you know, assess the emotions in a room, right. Reading the room, assess the mood of a place and, and they're able to assess, you know, when a mood is constructive or when it's destructive. There's a lot of, you know, people have a lot of leverage with how they show up in their with their moods. Do you think about, you know, gratitude is an example of an emotion that is really constructive. It's very generative. And, you know, we should have people to keep gratitude journals. I mean, it's one of the most actually one of the most generative emotions that we can have. And the reason why people keep gratitude journals is to develop that appreciative inquiry and develop that sense of it's a virtuous, reinforcing loop. The more we appreciate things, the more things appreciate. It's just it's ongoing love. And then, you know, by contrast, you know, we can think of other emotions that are not productive, right?

Right.

You think about, you know, just fighting. Example, the emotion of resentment and anger. If we carry resentment, how are we in the world if we carry resentment, you know, and how does that spread into the places where we are? It also reinforces. But the reinforcement is more on the negative side. So so as when you're thinking about EQ or emotional intelligence, it's really having a knowledge of this, having an awareness of ourselves in that emotional space and how we impact others and how we are impacted by others in having ways to regulate and manage our emotions so that we can come, you know, show up skillfully in leadership moments.
Yeah, Yeah. I think of good leaders who I've experienced in my life and how well they could. Not to shut off their emotions, not just be a robot, you know, not just be a blank slate or a face, but recognize their emotions, recognize how they might be influencing their interaction with the people around them and also recognizing the emotions of the other people that they're interacting with. Right? Recognizing that the other people come into their interactions with emotions and lives and feelings and all of those things as well. Right? If you had something horrible happened or maybe you just got stuck in traffic or whatever it is, you spill coffee all over you or hopefully not. But you know, other hard things happen in life and those all come into play, especially at work when you're there all day, every day or whatever your schedule might be.

Yeah, for sure. And you know, I think you're right, you know, being a leader who can recognize the emotions of others and just it's like it really forces people to slow down. And pause and notice what's happening. What are the emotions here?

Yeah,

Yeah. It's a real art.

Yeah, it is. And I think. Sometimes one that gets a little bit. Dismissed as not as important as maybe intellectual intelligence like you were talking about earlier. But can make a huge difference in those leadership roles, either formal or informal.
That's right. Yeah I think another area which, I work with leaders with is something I call embodied intelligence or body intelligence and that's a new term it comes out of.

I don't know that one yet.

Yeah it comes out of the martial arts, the martial art of aikido and also the discipline of mindfulness, which, you know, mindfulness has been around for a very long time. It is not.

Right.

It's a couple thousand years. And we're just finally realizing.

You didn’t come up with it for this show?

I didn't come up with it. So no. And, you know, we're I think we're finally recognizing how valuable it is. And in that, you know, the embodied intelligence for me is just a recognition that, you know, leadership is not just in our heads. We can't think our way through all of our problems and, you know, and all of our leadership challenges that we bring our whole bodies and that our bodies store a lot of wisdom and knowledge. It can help us, you know, sense what's happening help us regulate our own responses, for example, to stress or pressure and enable us to come back to places of being centered and accessing more of our intellectual capacities in the moment. Because when we're stressed or under a lot of pressure, our access to some of our creative thinking and problem solving and even managing information, really, it it narrows and we become much more focused on, you know, managing that the stressor in the moment and less about intuition, creativity, resourcefulness. Our mind literally starts to narrow, the capacities start to narrow. So when we become when we can when we can understand that and observe that in ourselves, then we can reset, we can recenter and come back to those capacities that we admire in leaders. You know, that ability to process information, that ability to be compassionate and yet also strong, the ability to be creative and resourceful, all of those things require us to, you know, have access to our greater mind. And sometimes our mind gets really preoccupied with sort of feeling threatened and at danger when we're in situations that are stressful. So I think so this body intelligence is very useful and it's becoming more something that is taught in leadership development courses and in leadership training. Is this how do we really tune in to what's happening in our bodies and how can that help us respond more skillfully in those moments of pressure and stress?

I love that idea. Yeah, that is not necessarily an idea I've heard before in a leadership setting, but definitely one that I've heard outside of that. So it would make perfect sense, right? That that is also part of all of this conversation as well.

Yes well, you know, we privileged the intellect a lot in Western society and particularly at universities.

Right.

And and I think in doing so, we may have missed some other capacities that we are also part of who we are. I think, you know, sometimes we think of our bodies as, you know, our short transportation devices for our heads, but actually our bodies, like totally connected and we're missing. We're missing information if we don't actually connect with the rest of our bodies.

Isn't that funny?

Yeah,

It's like. When you are so overwhelmed that this happens to me. I hope this happens to other people too, sometimes. And you're just fighting it. You're like, no, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. And your body says no, and you'll have some sort of physical reaction that your body is just like, no, I'm at my limit. I'm too stressed. I'm to whatever it is. And it's like, OK, even my brain couldn't take that over.

Yes Yeah.

Yeah

You know, I'm just looking over here at my desk, and there's this quote that I have on a post-it note, and I just want to read it to you.

OK. Let’s hear it.

It's by a man called. His name is Viktor Frankl, and he wrote a book called Man's Search for meaning. Viktor Frankl is a Holocaust survivor, and he became a scientist when he came after World War Two and was able to come to the United States. And he writes this between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom. And so. So what you're just talking about now, right? The overwhelm. Oh, my gosh. I'm overwhelmed. My body is telling me. To pause. Stimulus I'm overwhelmed my body is saying take a break, take a breath.

Right.

Find some space. And in that space is where you find is where you have choice to respond in a way that is more skillful. But sometimes we just keep going. We have this drive, this sort of default mode of go, go, go, go, go. And that's what we're missing. We're missing it. We're not getting all the information.

Right.

And why would we want to make decisions without all the information?
That is a very good question. But sometimes that is it seems to be what we do. I love that you just have that sticky note on your desk. I might need to add that to my desk.

I have a lot of them.

I love that one. That's so that's great. This has been part one of career conversations, a conversation about transitioning into leadership. Be sure to listen to part two for the rest of this conversation.