THE POINT OF NO RETURN
One afternoon in early 2013 I held my newborn daughter Edie. Like most first time dads, I felt the additional responsibility that a baby’s arrival brings.
Somehow I didn’t feel mentally weighed down by that responsibility. At least, not any more than I felt physically weighed down by the tiny 8lb ball curled up in my arms.
In fact, Edie’s arrival emboldened me. I had been waiting for this. I made a vow to myself, “This is the point of no return”.
For the previous 18 months, I had been unfulfilled in my work and career. Edie was the ignition that the dormant fire in my belly needed.
After reflecting on where I was personally and professionally, alongside many external considerations, I decided to change careers and leave corporate employment.
That was a big transition for me. As was the move back from London to Dublin (the ferry trip is captured in the image above). The tools and skills that I’ve used and developed over the years are relevant to many other types of transitions and many other people.
TRANSITIONS
Your life is a series of transitions. The significance of each transition is subjective and circumstantial.
As you move through your 30s into your 40s and beyond, you’ll typically perceive that there’s more at stake. Whether you welcome it or not, you are constantly changing as is the world around you. You can therefore either choose to consciously navigate the change process, or be a subject of it.
Your career will involve many mini-transitions. In recent years the frequency, variety and intensity of these transitions has increased.
- New job
- New boss
- New shareholders
- New team
- New project
- New product line or offering
- New technology
- New partnerships
- New dotted line
My business focuses on helping leaders and their teams navigate these transitions. But not in a ‘change management’ or ‘project management’ kind of way. That’s not our gig.
We help the people involved develop their own best approach. We give them the tools and strategies so they can navigate this transition, learn from it, and then tackle the next one themselves.
The tools and strategies are simply a framework. It doesn’t give them an answer. It gives them an awareness that they can apply to any circumstances.
You and/or your team can use this framework to understand:
- Where/how are you today? This is point A
- Where/how would you rather be? This is point B
- What needs to change in you, and for you, to transition from A to B
- Make sure that you’re up for that journey.
This is a coaching framework called TRIPS™.
IS TRIPS™ FOR YOU?
TRIPS helps you zoom out, see the bigger picture and clarify your direction of travel. With a fresh and objective perspective, you then zoom back in and execute your own well-designed plan with conviction and purpose.
Our clients typically share some or all of the following transitions and challenges.
Maybe you can identify with some?
- Taking on a wider remit
- Promotion – preparing for, or adjusting to, it
- New leadership creating a shift in culture and ways of working
- Generational transitions bringing new approaches
- Impact of a merger or acquisition
- Launching into new territories
- Forming a new team
- Incorporating new technology
- Relocations
That’s just a snapshot.
You can’t tap into the best of others if you can’t tap into the best of yourself first.
That’s why it’s more important than ever to have a way of working and living that fits you, your strengths, circumstances and ambitions.
No one else’s way will work for you.
See your challenges as opportunities for growth and to be at your best.
See your transitions as TRIPS to be enjoyed, not journeys to be endured.
TRIPS is an acronym, and here’s how and why it will work for you.
HOW CAN TRIPS™ HELP YOU?
TRIPS helps you zoom out, see the bigger picture and clarify your direction of travel. With a fresh and objective perspective, you then zoom back in and execute your own well-designed plan with conviction and purpose.
WHY TRIPS™?
TRIPS is adaptable for individuals, leaders, teams and groups of senior executives. And it’s evergreen (you can use it again and again in different circumstances, with different people and timelines).
We can work with you directly, unconnected to your business – become a high-performer with MyTRIPS.
We can work with your team members to better understand themselves and each other. Convert your high performers into a high-performing team with TeamTRIPS.
We can with you and your organisation. Our clients include global brands in professional and financial services, leading-edge technology companies and indigenous SMEs in Ireland and the UK. LeaderTRIPS is suitable for established leaders who aspire to even greater success.
Your life and career are a series of transformations. How you lead yourself and others impacts your performance in work, your well-being and those closest to you. This is your life. Live it to its best.
The full breakdown of the TRIPS™ Framework is outlined here.
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