By Dave Veale
This article was originally published by Vision Coaching here.

‘Is the work I am doing making a difference?’

Danae Johnson was running hard as an HR executive in a company with a workforce of more than 15,000 when a session with a leadership coach changed her life.

It was a moment of revelation.

“I was being coached on the challenges of the day and then the coach asked me a question that stopped me in my tracks: ‘If you could do anything you wanted today what would it be?’ … I remember letting that question in, and I remember where I was sitting, in an office on the 14th floor, and asking myself ‘How did I get here?’” she recalls.

“Within a year, I made a change and had started at Royal Roads studying executive coaching. I had loved working at Intrawest and the incredible people I had met but I wanted to learn more about coaching and conversations that could have such a profound impact.”

Today, Danae is among our top-flight leadership coaches on the Vision Coaching roster, having the same kind of profound conversations with clients.

I first met Danae in 2005. She was one of my classmates at Royal Roads, where we were both intent on becoming leadership coaches. She is both a long-time colleague and a friend.

Power for change

She recalls how the revelation came amid a successful career with Intrawest Corp., both with its ski resorts and in its real estate arm. As a vice-president of people development, she led the human resources function for the real estate division of the company.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, she was involved in a pilot for leadership coaching at Intrawest. As part of that, she was coached and found those sessions transformational.

“I would come out of these sessions feeling reenergized, better equipped, more courageous, clearer. I was coming out of them feeling more capable. I always felt I was in over my head to some extent, and these sessions reduced that feeling. I knew I wanted to find out more about executive coaching and its power for change.”

After completing Royal Roads in 2005 and securing her accreditation as a leadership coach, she has gone on to coach more than 400 professionals in both the public and private sectors. She has created customized workshops that produce quantifiable results for organizations to improve performance and grow leadership capacity.

Search for meaningful connections

“My work focuses on one-on-one leadership development through coaching and whole system culture change work, helping organizations navigate culture by learning how to measure and ultimately transform it.”

As part of her own climb down from the hectic and high-flying corporate life, Danae went on a pilgrimage of sorts, a journey that included a 10-day silent retreat and a stint building homes for Habitat for Humanity in Paraguay.

Like all of us, she is searching for the key to meaningful connections in our rapidly changing work environment. She believes the world needs coaching now more than ever.

“We are all evolving, changing and trying to navigate these complex times. Leadership coaching is one of the best resources available to us.”

Danae says she has really enjoyed coaching people in health care in particular over this last year along with professionals who are increasingly seeking out leadership training. And she finds that, more than ever, people are seeking deeper meaning from work.

“They are asking, ‘Is the work I’m doing making a difference?’ People are looking for that and questioning and challenging it at the same time.”

To learn more about Vision Coaching, visit www.visioncoachinginc.com.

The Global COVID-19 Culture Assessment recently conducted by Barrett Values Centre revealed how our values and cultures are changing and evolving during the pandemic.

Research not only shows how values are shifting, but provides key elements needed on the path to recover and thrive.

On the results landing page you can find tools to dig deeper into the data and meaning for organizations, including a recording of a recent webinar.

For leaders and organizations looking to navigate the impact of COVID-19 and designing the ‘next normal,’ feel free to get in touch with us.  For over 15 years we have assisted leaders and organizations to create cultures that help their organizations thrive.

In May, with our colleagues at CE Holmes Consulting Inc., we co-hosted the Vancouver edition of the Canadian Values Conversations, and had the privilege of hearing from some Vancouver BC residents about what matters most to them.

One of the key questions we all walked away with was, “How can we bring our values more to life in our communities?” In this blog we’re exploring 5 simple ways you can use your own values to make a real difference in your community – whether that’s your family, group of friends, team at work, associations you’re part of or more broadly.

1. Identify what matters most to you

It’s easier to take action when you are clear about your passions. What do you value most? As values can change, it’s a good idea to do a check-in with yourself every few years to discover – or re-affirm – what matters most to you. You can do this in a few different ways.

• The DIY route – reflect and note down 3 times over the past year that you’ve felt most happy or fulfilled. Think about: what you were doing, who you were with, what did you feel connected to? Draw your values out from these experiences.
• The assessment route – the Barrett Values Centre offers a free, online values assessment that will help you to identify your core values: https://www.valuescentre.com/our-products/products-individuals/personal-values-assessment-pva
• The coaching route – partnering with a coach is an effective way to uncover the values that are most important to you, especially if you are looking to bring those values more to life personally and professionally.

2. Connect with others

Now you know what your values are, a next step can be to connect, either with those who share similar values or by exploring values that are different to yours. If you are looking to connect with people who share some of the same values and find your community or “tribe”, check out your local newspaper, Facebook groups or ask friends and colleagues. If a group or organization does not yet exist in your passion or interest area, consider starting one by reaching out to people you feel might share similar values.

3. Listen

You know what matters to you, and perhaps you’ve found others who share these values, so what next? Listening is a powerful tool when you want to make a difference. Listen to understand others’ needs and dreams; don’t offer solutions or even ideas for now, just really listen to what they’re saying. Once you feel you have understood what those around you need, you can move on to taking action.

4. Take Action

Whether you’ve gone through steps 1 to 3 or found another route that works well for you, taking action will likely be your next move. What “action” looks like will depend on many factors. For some, it could be updating language used on a website or newsletter so it better reflects an organization’s core purpose; for others, it could be sending off funding applications, starting a coffee morning for new Canadians, reflecting on 3 things you are grateful for every day, or making a new habit to connect with people you don’t know well – actions can be small or big. What matters most is to do something that you feel brings your values more to life…

5. Inspire others

Positivity is contagious! Celebrate and share what you, others and/or your community are doing to inspire others either to join you or take action in a way that fits their values. Use social media, email signatures, word of mouth, letters or articles in local papers, community centre notice boards, and so on. Use the hashtag #WorldValuesDay to share your efforts and be inspired by others who are taking values-based action to make positive changes around the globe. World Values Day happens once a year, but the positive impacts it inspires happen every day!!