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The Community has Helped Members...

Develop Leadership

corey malone

Director of UX
Affinity Solutions
Male
Age 34
I’m becomeing the authentic and empathic leader I’ve always aspired to be.
Prior to joining the community
Corey was questioning whether he wants to spend a lot of time on management. He felt as if he were spending so much time improving things for others at the expense of foregoing things he genuinely wished to do, all without any appreciation in return.
How he leveraged the community
Leveraging the support he received from the community, Corey turned his weekly design sessions with direct reports into a psychologically safe space to discuss the emotions everyone felt in relation to their work and life. He also carried out a very difficult and honest conversation with a direct report that weren’t meeting expectations.
Within 3 weeks of implementing his new approach to the weekly design sessions, both Corey and his team started to feel more confidence in each other. Corey also felt more hopeful about the direct report who had been underperforming and so did the direct report.
Within 6 weeks, a teammate gave Corey credit for what he’s done and has gone through in the past 4 years. The teammate also told him how he wishes he could have supported Corey more in the past and how supported he now feels given the new style of leadership Corey’s implemented with the support of the community. Corey was surprised. He also felt validated and appreciated. Corey now thinks that leadership can be quite rewarding.
To learn the details of Corey’s journey:
Read Corey’s Journal

Navigate Risky Job Transitions

kelsey blakely

Sr. Director of Online Security
CoStar Group
Female
Age 43
I don’t think I would have had the courage to quit while pregnant without the guidance of this community.”
Prior to joining the community
Kelsey struggled to align her values with her company’s culture. She wasn’t sure the upward mobility, increased responsibility, and financial compensation were worth feeling like she cannot be her authentic self at work. But she was pregnant and there were many unknowns with having her first child. She felt as if she had to stay in the company to be a “good mom.”
How she leveraged the community
Within 6 weeks of receiving support from the community, Kelsey developed the courage required to quit her job and leave her company while pregnant. The support of the community had not only led her to make an unexpected connection which landed her a job offer she could not have felt more excited to accept, but also gave her a new way of deciding whether or not to take a job offer.
The support of the community also helped Kelsey feel less tied to her job as her identity and less anxious about having to make the most money possible to be a “good mom.” The community helped her feel so much more open to possibilities and less fearful of change for the future that she almost felt like she could do anything. It had been a long time since she’s felt her career options widening rather than narrowing. Above all, she felt like she could become a parent that modeled career as something that fuels her passion, not something that drains her and keeps her from being the person she strives to become.
To learn the details of Kelsey’s journey:
Read Kelsey’s Journal

Improve Clarity of Goals, Health, and Relationships

paul riley

Scientific Business Development Manager
Diagnostica Stago
Male
Age: 47
I’m becoming someone who has more clear goals, a healthier person overall with greater connection to others, which I need not only in my professional life, but also in my everyday family life.
Prior to joining the community
Paul struggled to show that he can focus on a task and push it through to completion. He wanted to  delve into some mental blocks holding back his progress and to develop the ability required to gain greater focus, which could impact his career and health in a positive way.
How he leveraged the community
With the support of the community, Paul realized that he had to learn when to ask for help. He started by bringing his wife and children along in his journey, developing their leadership, rather than doing things for them or never asking them for help, which is what he used to do. This then lessened the frustration he felt with his wife and family, which then helped him feel more calm, content, and productive at work.
Paul then started to focus more on how he can develop other people’s talents at work by not giving them all of the answers. This was in contrast to his usual pattern of getting more involved in other people’s problems. This change in approach helped him stay more focused on his goals.
Within 6 weeks of receiving support from the community, Paul was able to advance projects better with a higher level of trust between different team members. He was also able to form better connections with customers and communicate more clearly with them in order to resolve their issues in a better way.
As a result of all this, Paul has also been able to go to bed earlier, wake up earlier, monitor his blood pressure, take his allergy medicine, make his medical appointments for allergy shots consistently, and follow his doctors’ advice to gain a better state of health overall.
To learn the details of Paul’s journey:
Read Paul’s Journal

Integrate Work & Life

anonymous female

Director of Engineering
Series E Stage Tech Startup
Female
Age: 40s
I now see that [professional and personal life] are really one life. I don’t have to live two lives or be two people. Being one person, the same person, in both places takes a lot less energy AND I can be more impactful with one life to focus on!”
Prior to joining the community
She needed a change but feared there were too many options to explore. She could build her own business, work in a high-value role for someone else, or any number of alternatives to the corporate grind. She was worried about losing focus, being influenced too much by what other people wanted for her, and not being clear on what she wanted for herself.
How she leveraged the community
With the support of the community, she felt more connected to her values again. This meant that for the first time in a long time, she had clarity in her priorities so that she can be intentional with every decision. While actively connected to her values, she felt more able to execute on more complex and vaguely defined tasks such as maintaining a home or making a decision on where to move next. This then improved her ability to collaborate with her partner such that they can say ‘Here’s what I want. Here’s what you want. How about we do this thing that meets both our needs?’ instead of merely giving or taking orders from each other. 
Within 6 weeks of receiving support from the community, she decided not to take most of the jobs that are being presented and to seriously start planning to work for herself in collaboration with her partner.
To learn the details of her journey:
Read the Anonymous Female’s Journal

Reflect on What is Most Important

anonymous male

Sr. Director
Global Management Consulting Firm
Male
Age: 40s
I have been living with my back turned to my loved ones.
Prior to joining the community
He felt that something was lacking. With an intense consulting job, where learning curve is steep, hours are long, and work is always under pressure, he felt that while both the pay and his career progression was good, there was still something was lacking.
How he leveraged the community
During the very first session with the community, he became aware of the hurt and vengefulness that lived inside of him. He also realized that while the most important thing to him was his family, he had thus far prioritized work or personal interests over his family, especially his wife.
With the support of the community, he began spending more 1-on-1 time with his wife and children. He also began to slowly rebuild some of his other personal relationships that had been strained over the years.
Within 6 weeks of receiving support from the community, he shifted his focus to his family. He was spending more and more time sharing the burden associated with kids and household work with his wife. He felt excited and hopeful to keep up the momentum they have created with the new family dynamic.”
To learn the details of his journey:
Read the Anonymous Male’s Journal

Learn to Regulate Emotions

anonymous female

Product Owner
Construction Services Company
Female
Age: 30s
I’m surprised by how much I have matured [emotionally] since [joining] the community.”
Prior to joining the community
She felt stuck in her role at her company. It was repetitive and did not allow her to be creative. She had also been trying to act on an idea for an app she’s had for years. But she was hesitating, afraid of how others may think of her. She was ashamed and disappointed in herself for caring so much about the validations and opinions of strangers.
How she leveraged the community
Within 6 weeks of receiving support from the community, she began to care less about what other people thought of her. Why? Because the community helped her learn to listen to her emotions and listening to her emotions helped her understand that the reason she gets stuck caring so much is that staying stuck is easier than making progress on her ideas. Because if she makes progress, she’ll have to leave her job to pursue her ideas further, which can lead to failure. What lay at the root of her care was fear.
The community also helped her learn how to shift her focus to understanding her emotions and move forward vs dwell on her emotions for days blaming other people for her emotions, which is what she used to do. As a result, she’s become much more easygoing and calm. So much so that her friends have been asking her “where has the old you gone?”
To learn the details of her journey:
Read the Anonymous Female’s Journal

Community Impact on Member Well-Being

pilot cohort one

pilot cohort two

pilot cohort three