You’re a deep thinker with a big job - and right now you’re getting a bit lost in how to do more of what you’re actually here to do (which is bringing about a better world, right?).
When you started on this path, I’d hazard a guess that you had some vision of the change you wanted to nurture in the world. Or maybe right now you just have a sense that there’s something bigger for you to do.
But the reality is that, amongst some crystalline achievements you’re proud of, most of the time you seem to be creating very imperfect results way too slowly, in comparison to your dream.
Ever torture yourself with the idea that there’s some kind of alternate you who could be taking better, more effective, more aligned action, and somehow you just don’t measure up?
That pressure can at times leave you feeling sad, alone, overwhelmed, exhausted and like you’re somehow failing at being the person you know the world needs you to be, particularly at this moment in history.
But at the same time, when do you catch a breath?
You’ve tried some things to try and improve your situation.
You’ve obviously tried, you know, working harder, or smarter or whatever.
You’ve probably spoken to trusted colleagues and friends for advice and clarity.
I bet you’ve tried to grow your capabilities or glean some wisdom from others - via books, training, podcasts, panels, and so on.
And if you have a spiritual practice, you’ve leaned in to gain some insight from there.
But still, you just can’t always identify what your best next steps are to be an actual light on this shadowed planet. (Yes, my favourite book as a child was A Wrinkle In Time, why do you ask?)
Here’s the thing.
As someone who’s balancing as much as you are, when you try to Lone Wolf your way to clarity, taking bits every now and then from here and there, it will always feel like you haven’t quite pieced it all together.
For me, this feels like I’m somewhere really noisy and I can’t quite think as clearly as I’d like to.
What you need is consistent, dedicated time to step back and see the whole picture so you can more easily divine what your next best steps are. You need some quiet. (Can someone just turn the music and the psychic leafblowers OFF?)
You need to be able to find your way with five aspects of leadership.
Self: To remember all the magic of who You are as an embodied soul (or however you conceptualise being down here), get some vision on how you think and feel your way through things, and learn more about how you actually get work done.
Complexity and Mess: To grow your ability to step back and stay conscious of the entanglement of contexts, influences, ways of knowing, timelines and patterns that you think and work within, including questioning how you frame and define the challenges and opportunities in front of you.
Relationships: To reflect and hone the way you relate to others - both individually, and as groups, teams, and within the shape of organisations, governments, nations - while nurturing your empathy and boundaries.
Freedom from oppression: To find your place in the bigger challenges of getting us all free.
Planetary futures: To know your role in creating better possible futures for human and more-than-human life on this planet.
Hi. I’m Meg. I’ve been working with leaders for more than 20 years.
Like most of us, I look back and go, ‘Wow, I didn’t start here,’ and ‘Thank goodness.’
In terms of roots, I’m a survivor of two worlds: Neuro-Linguistic Programming and New Age spirituality.
Both of those worlds were ultimately empty and harmful, but they led me to my meditation practice based, which means I’ve been working daily on reliable spiritual vision for over twenty years.
Alongside that development, I spent 14 years running an international consultancy, mainly teaching masterclasses in conversational presentation skills to speakers from all over the world. At the same time, I was facilitating groups, writing about conflict resolution and communication plus coaching individuals in whatever they needed support with.
I ended up writing a book at Pearson’s request on how to plan presentations rapidly, which was in the bookstores for a while. (It sold really well in airports and train stations!)
I have a deep interest in group dynamics, conflict resolution (I’ve trained as a transformative mediator) and participatory decision making, plus and have a pretty wide experience of ‘productivity’ systems.
I started my coach training back in 2006, and have since felt called to specialise in working with leaders to grow their ability to take wise and timely action in the face of complexity and mess. I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the leading researchers into the field of adult development.
I started to really coalesce my approach to supporting deeply thoughtful leaders back in 2018, when I spent an intensive six months in what we used to call a Learning Marathon (now a Huddle), which is 12 people exploring their own personal research question in community - like doing a Choose Your Own Adventure mini-Masters degree.
My learning question was:
How do I nurture interdependent leaders?
That question has been my constant companion ever since.
More recently, during lockdown I hosted my own leadership themed six-month Huddle with all the participants exploring how they could grow more into the leaders they want to be.
And in case you’re wondering: has she ever had a job?
Since October 2020, I’ve been managing a city-wide trans health service for the NHS here in the UK, so I know first-hand what it’s like to try and make things happen within the inertia of wider systems. It’s hard, innit? (This means I currently coach on Fridays and Saturdays, in the main.)
I don’t know about destiny, but I do know the time we’re alive in, and this - supporting people like you to do your bit in shaping another, better world - is my place in it all, my soul’s work.
Do you want to find out more about my story or are you curious about how coaching with me might work?
Choose your own adventure ;)