This is one of the most personal interviews I’ve done. It’s rare that I get the chance to talk publicly about the personal motivations and values that have guided my work throughout my career, from agency to in-house to leadership coach.
So I was excited when the team at Reconsidering invited me onto their show to talk about my personal career journey, and how it has shaped the work I do today. What I didn’t expect, however, was the context: recording live in a glass booth in the middle of the show floor of San Francisco Moscone Center among the 10,000+ attendees of Figma’s Config 2024 conference.
Incredibly, it’s hard to tell from the recording, but it was an intensely loud and chaotic environment in which to have this at times very personal conversation. Nevertheless, Meredith and Bob managed to get into some very rich topics during our time together. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the things you can hear us talk about:
- the arc of my career that’s brought me to leadership coaching (03:38)
- what is coaching, the value it provides, and how it differs from mentoring (09:58)
- when leaders turn to coaches for help, and why outside perspective matters (12:47)
- the first momentous, disastrous week of my coaching business (24:12)
- why I chose to return to coaching after my year away battling cancer (26:52)
Lastly, starting around 35:45 the hosts share some truly humbling reflections on our conversation that I felt captured some deep truths about why I do what I do. I hope it resonates for you!
https://www.reconsidering.org/p/taking-an-adaptive-career-path-with
Jesse James Garrett 