A simple path please

When I lost my job at HP in October I was truly lost. I didn't know what job I would be able to get and I was certain that I didn't know how to go about looking for one. So I did what I often do when I don't know what to do, I talked to God. I have often asked God to make things simple.  I tend to get confused if I have to read into circumstances or if I have to figure things out on my own. While I think of myself as smart, life is really serious and mistakes can be costly. So I asked that God make my path as simple as possible. As a response I really felt like He said that it would be clear but I had to walk through every door with an open mind.

So God and I started a ritual each morning. The alarm would go off, I would delete 12-15 junk email and then check out a series of job boards for new jobs. I worked with a placement agency provided by HP to spiffy up my resume and sent it out endlessly. By the end of November, I had been called out for only one interview and that company wanted me to travel about 50% of the time and all across the globe. I loved the position but not the travel. In my final interview with them I was asked if I would take the job for a specific amount and I said I couldn't do it for that little money and told them what it would take for me to do the job. Core Labs decided to pass on me.  So now it was middle of December, I didn't have any job interview lined up and didn't have any real prospects. The only thing I had was my teaching license which had been provisionally approved for transfer from Colorado to Texas.

It looked like I was destined to head from the boardroom to the classroom again and bring my life full circle. The thought of teaching children again was one I could definitely get excited about - at least most of the time. I have to admit I was a bit scared of the way education is done in Texas with so much emphasis on state-wide testing. But the rest of being an educator was definitely appealing.

With all the signs pointing toward going back to teaching, I have to admit I was surprised when I received a phone call for a position at Ensco plc, as a talent management analyst. After all I don't really have any direct experience in that portion of HR. The recruiter who called me the week before Christmas indicated that they wanted to have the position filled by Christmas Day. And well Christmas came and went and so did New Year's and the kids headed back to school and I hadn't heard anything from them. Another closed door - and another sign pointing to a shift in my career path from private to public sector.

At least that is what I thought until Wednesday, January 8, at 530 pm. I got a call from the recruiter wanting to know if I could interview on-site that week. I showed up on Friday morning fully expecting this to be a closed door that pointed me even further into the world of teaching. But I had a fleeting thought that I should call a former neighbor and church friend, Michael Howe, to see if his company(the name of which I can never remember) is hiring. 

My first interview of two interviews on Friday was great. It was a breeze since she didn't ask me any questions and we just had a great conversation about the business and HR and general life experience. As I was lead over to the next interview I was warming up to the possibility of working in this company. The second interview was a very unique experience in that Elizabeth only asked me one question. And then we had another great conversation about the company, the work and what I might be doing. She mentioned the VP of HR, Michael, who had come from a finance background. As she continued to talk I realized that she was talking about our neighbor and church friend, Michael Howe.  So I asked if that was he full name.  She was blown away that I knew him and our kids played together. So we walked over to his office and met with him for a bit. As we were ready to leave he gave me a hug and said how much we were missed in the neighborhood. It was a very impressive endorsement from a very hands on VP who requires that he meet all the potential new hires.

45 minutes after I left the site, I had heard from them again to see if I could come back on Monday to meet the director, Kurt. When I sat down with Kurt, I notice his bracelet first. Maybe because bracelets on men are unusual or maybe because I could see that it said "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." It was about all I needed to realize I wanted this job. Working for two men who believe as I do in integrity, honesty and have strong moral convictions was definitely something I was finding interesting. Then Kurt says he worked with one of my cohorts at HP, Caroline Atherton.  For those who don't know Caroline was my last mentor at HP and the only senior manager who fought to keep me at HP. It was all I needed to know.  I was coming to Ensco. But God wanted it to be even more simple.

As my interview with Kurt wound down, he asked if there was any reason why I wouldn't come to work at Ensco. I told him honestly that I was worried about the 830 am report time since the boys don't start school till 845 and Tom still has bootcamp M, W, F at 830.  He assured me that they would work with me to get it all covered and then said he could not think of one reason why he would not want me to be employed there and that his only concern was he might not have enough to challenge me.

When he returned me to the recruiter, I was very surprised to see an offer sitting on the table for exactly what I had told Tom I would take if they offered it. God is all about simple. He wants us to know His path and if we sit tight He will always lead. In the midst of all my job hunting and finding, God has created some great new ideas for our family that He is still cementing in our hearts. So what I know is that simple paths are still ahead of us. There will be a day when I will leave Ensco and start the next chapter of my life but in the meantime I can rest assured that my journey is unfolding in exactly the way God intends and all I need to do is walk hand in hand with my Father and He will make the way clear and simple.

Who are you listening too?

There are so many voices out in the world that you can easily get distracted and miss the best parts. It is really important that we pay attention to the people who can speak truth and wisdom into our lives. For the sake of this conversation let’s call these people our coaches, life coaches.

If you have ever played a sport, been in a band or choir, or even sat in a classroom you should be able to understand the concept of a coach. They are the people who see what we can do, ask us to do more, and are there to pick up the pieces for us if things don’t work out.  Most of us have at least one person in our lives who immediately comes to mind when you say coach. They were the one person who “got us” and they inspired our best and we would do anything to make them proud. The good coach understands the power of their voice and uses it with wisdom and integrity. Some however, don’t. When you find a coach who can pull from you an inner reservoir of strength or who can develop in you a desire to succeed beyond your farthest dreams, you have found a voice worth listening to.

We are blessed to have some great coaches in our lives currently. I want to acknowledge them for their words of wisdom and levels of inspiration in our lives.

First, let me acknowledge Gary and Marvia Robbins, aka mom and dad. They are amazing coaches in my life. Some of you have had the privilege of meeting my parents and others of you have only heard of them through my stories. They live their lives grounded in The Word, floating on prayer, and looking toward heaven. When I lost my job they were the first I called and the first to say trust in the Lord, He has a plan. They are the voices I call the most often and the ones that I know I can trust to always turn my eyes back to the Lord.

There have been other great coaches in the faith for me as well.  Some of them older than me and some far younger. All of them possessed a voice capable of challenging me to stretch my faith.  Doug Burroughs always moved me to a new place of worship. Abbie Stumvoll to a new place of wholeness. And Betty Thom to a new place of trust.

I have had coaches that have given me courage to step out and do things I never thought I would. Coaches who listened to my heart and helped it heal, helped it fly and challenged it to soar. When I was in a broken place voices like Pam Casey and John Lupone helped me to love myself and believe in who God had made me to be. When I was venturing out in business they challenged me to be better than everyone around. They were the voices of Ken Clark, Joe LaTerra, and Doug Sexton.

As you can see my list of great voices could fill volumes. I have had some terrible voices along the way as well. They hurt and lied and hurt again. They tore down what other coaches had helped to build and they beat me down. Some of them did it aggressively. They swung verbal sledge hammers at my heart while others were passive not even realizing I had made them a coach in my life. The passive ones peeled away my veneer simply by ignoring my cries for attention. The negative voices had power because I paid attention to them. I gave them credence and allowed them to have affect. I had the power to shut them off but I paid attention and they continued to do their damage.

Paying attention can be powerfully constructive or destructive. In December, Karl swam at his normal monthly swim meet. It was tough meet. His coach was on bereavement leave and he didn’t know where to focus his attention. He was lost without a voice to listen to. His simple mistakes turned into huge mountains he couldn’t conquer. He lost heart and he lost time. His focus was missing. His smile faded and he stopped having fun. Then he swam in January. This weekend proved to me that having a voice to listen too is possibly the single most important part of our lives. When you have someone who is watching and is there to add a voice of hope, a voice of reason and a voice of encouragement you have focus. You can accomplish greater things. You have fun and your smile is wide.  I wrote about coaches today to honor his. She is a voice for him that I can’t be. She takes it seriously. She honors him with her attention and she points him toward a greater goal. I know she loves her job and she is vested in his success but more than what I know is what he knows. He knows that Morgan can help him achieve what he wants. He knows he can trust her. And in the moment when he trusts her voice I know he is learning to listen to what is important. He is learning to discern good voices from bad ones. And he is growing. 

So to all the coaches in our lives who speak from their heart to help ours. I want to say thanks but to one coach in particular, Morgan Cordle, I want to say what words can really express but I will try anyway. Thanks for being something to my son that I can never be. Thanks for speaking truth, wisdom and humor