From Wavebreak to me
It's December 1st 2017 and I have pressed the 'go live' button on the Jayne Lewis Coaching website.
I’ve had my own business website for seven years, so what’s different about this and makes it worth writing about?
I’ve worked as an organisation and behaviour change specialist for over 20 years, held senior jobs in large organisations and had some amazing opportunities, often with great autonomy. However, I also seemed to fly in the face of the organisation’s politics with increasing frequency.
So I left corporate life in 2010, set up Wavebreak and was free to work with the organisations and people I chose. I worked on some great projects, with the freedom to be creative and challenge thinking. It was fun, satisfying and delivered some great results.
In reality, most of my time was spent coaching leaders, informally as well as in formal sessions, to help them deal with their anxieties and self doubt, enabling them to be authentic, make conscious decisions and perform at their best. I firmly believe that this work had the biggest impact on the organisations I worked with, and it was certainly when I was enabled to be myself and most effective.
So what changed and why has Wavebreak been moved to simmer on the back burner?
A period of reflection happened. It wasn’t voluntary, it was created by a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery. Consigned to the sofa, unable to pursue my beloved triathlon training, write or type, the question of what was driving me and what I really wanted to do with my work and my life loomed large. I had the time to evaluate the way I was working, the work I was doing and the impact I was having. I have always been self aware and interested in my own capability and development, but now I had time to really reflect.
I trained as a Co-Active Coach with CTI in 2010 and have coached individuals from many backgrounds. This opportunity to sit back (literally) and reflect on when I am most effective made it very clear that when I am truly myself I have the power to enable others to be the best that they can be. I have often said, “I am also a coach” however, this is the work I love the most, where my skills are sharpest and satisfaction the highest.
Back on my feet, I set off to get WavebreakHR.com updated — "let's bring the coaching page to the front, add a new photo of me; I will start a blog and link it to Twitter and Linked In." I sat with Jamie Gallagher at Hello and he asked me what felt like hard questions...
“Why do you want to update Wavebreak’s website?”
“What is Wavebreak really about, and is it what people think of when they hear your name?”
“Are you now hiding behind the Wavebreak brand?”
Well that last question made me sit up. Was I hiding behind it? Was I somehow avoiding pursuing the work where I was at my best?
All of my work has been driven by one common factor: a passion for enabling people to be the very best that they can be, seeing them unlock and achieve their potential, whatever that means for them. It is in my work as a coach that I get to live out this passion, with people from many walks of life and in many different situations.
Decision made.
Jayne Lewis Coaching is the outcome of this realisation and I am excited to focus on work that I love, the work that enables me to be the truest version of myself and use my skills to the fullest. Thank you to Jamie for making me focus and to the team at Hello for making it a reality.
If you would like to know more about me and how coaching may be able to support you to achieve your dreams for your work and your life, click here or follow me:
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