Client Spotlight: Alex Lehning
Like so many leaders this year, Alex has been through the wringer. He’s the director of a small museum in northern Vermont, and even before the COVID crisis led to the closures of cultural heritage organizations, he was charged with inspiring a small team to do more with less.
When he joined a Leadership Lab session back in March, he shared some of the challenges he was facing, as well as how pandemic added layer upon layer of complexity and urgency to an already stretched role. Through his little Zoom box on the screen, I could see the heaviness of this charge weighing on his shoulders.
In that session, Alex realized: “I was ignoring the classic signs of burnout. I knew that my exhaustion ran deeper than simply shifting my schedule or delegating a project. I needed to look at my own priorities, to set new boundaries, and to redefine my purpose in order to serve my career and my community.”
As mission-driven leaders, we are taught to be martyrs to the mission—to put ourselves last, to give and give and give. But what happens when you give everything you have to the cause? You are all used up.
If we shift how we relate to our work, we can show up with energy that naturally refuels itself. We can cultivate sustainable leadership practices.
Before we met, all of Alex’s academic and professional training taught him to focus on his position and responsibilities as what defined his work. But years into this approach, the line between where the job ended and he began blurred. As he embodied his organization’s mission and goals, parts of him disappeared. This all came at a cost—physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.
Then Alex joined the spring cohort of the Career Strategy Circle. It was the first time he was given the permission and tools to consider what is meaningful to him at work—how he expresses his own personal purpose, shares his unique strengths, and envisions change.
Alex, what inspired you to join the Career Strategy Circle?
I first met Carole Ann at a workshop she led at the 2019 New England Museum Association Conference. Simply put, that session changed my perspective around my own career journey forever—I left inspired to be more intentional and mindful about my personal mission, my goals, and how I could achieve alignment in a way that felt genuine. When COVID-19 forced me (along with all of us) to radically rethink my role and my work, I knew this was the moment to honor my commitment from the previous winter to seek personal and professional growth. I joined the coaching cohort..and nothing has been the same since; the inner work, reflective practice, writing assignments, and deep conversations changed my life.
What was your experience in the program like?
I recognized immediately that my cohort was a special group, and that each week would hold new insights and ideas for me. Coaching is not easy. It is complex, challenging, and requires a genuine commitment to introspection and change...all in the best way. As a natural introvert, I appreciated that under Carole Ann’s facilitation our group held space, asked critical questions, pushed back on assumptions, and supported each other through this journey. It was an opportunity to open up, to listen, and to offer and receive feedback. There was a natural progression to our work, and by the end of the series I knew that I was in a different, better place.
What discoveries did you make about yourself through our work?
I entered into this experience thinking my goals were mostly practical—focusing around cultivating a set of tools or skills for advancing my career or switching fields. "If only I could read or study the right career advice, everything would make sense and fall into place." I was surprised, and thankfully brave enough, to move past those expectations to fully engage with the inner work of exploring my strengths, barriers, opportunities, and values...all of which I sometimes have a challenge in trusting. I feel more confident that I will be able to navigate what comes next through my refreshed sense of purpose, mission, and authentic collaboration.
What has changed for you as a result of our work together?
I am better at embracing my personal strengths, more deliberate in defining boundaries, comfortable with asking deeper questions, and more confident around utilizing my Compass as a ‘personal north star.’ I also learned how to bring my full sense of self to my organization's work, rather than my usual practice losing myself in their mission. The distinction is simple, but it means everything. I am finding joy again in my work, and recognize that this coaching process has allowed me to position myself for success in whatever comes next. With a full heart, I can tell you this cohort changed my life.
What advice would you give to others who are navigating their own career and leadership journeys?
Pause, and then take that first step in a new direction. Give yourself permission to ask for help, to seek new wisdom, to ask bigger questions, or to follow a different path. You will never regret making an investment in yourself. This experience truly was a gift to myself (personally and professionally) in ways that I never would have anticipated.
Ready to give yourself permission to follow a different path? Learn about working with me here.
