What’s My Playground?

In a coaching session, one of the leaders I work with asked himself this question out loud. He wondered: “Where can I have fun at work again?”

He was searching for the breadcrumbs that would lead him to his Next Great Thing, and needed to gain some new perspective; over the years, he’d drifted away from what lights him up up and into what people needed from him. It was time to rediscover his playground.

I’m writing to you today from the porch of the Mohonk Mountain House on the Hudson River. The view ain’t bad.

This is my playground.

I’m here to lead a day-long leadership development retreat with 50 members of the strategy team from a well-known global candy company. 🍫

This is the beginning of a three-month leadership exploration that I’m facilitating on behalf of Harvard Business Publishing’s Corporate Learning.

I can’t believe I’m here.

To be sure, it’s a majestic setting. The view ain’t bad, especially after a career in the nonprofit culture of barely scraping by. (It nearly makes up for all those times I had to share a hotel room with four people at the National Children’s Museum Conference…)

Even so, I would happily facilitate leadership development at a Motel 6 next to a busy highway.

—> My playground is convening a group of leaders.
—> It’s conversations about authenticity, trust, and strategy.
—> It’s colorful post-it notes and chart paper and reflective handouts.
—> It’s crafting an agenda that fosters individual reflection and community discussion.
—> It’s sharing frameworks that leaders can apply and practice right away.

I remember a day early in my career, when I was getting ready for a public event hosted by my organization. I looked through my closet, searching for an outfit that would make me invisible. I wanted to blend in with the wall.

At the time, I thought I wanted to hide because I was young and scared and didn’t know what I was doing.

But I know now that I wore that plain brown sweater and black pants because that was not my playground. I was in the wrong role, in the wrong room.

Today, I’m wearing an outfit that feels like me. I’m in the front of the room and can hardly believe that I trust myself to do this.

But I feel it in my bones—the joy of being in the right role, in the right room. This is my playground.

—> What’s your playground?
—> Who are your playmates?
—> What is your playground equipment?

For my client who started out this story, his playground is a room of whiteboard where he can strategize to his heart’s content.

His playmates are educators and policymakers, paving the way for meaningful change.

And his playground equipment is a pen and paper; he writes grants and articles that make the case for that change and share successful models that can be replicated.

Let’s get you in the right role and the right room. Start with the Career Reset Course here.