The Shift

Hey, was that loud enough for you? Welcome to the podcast. I'm Chris Plackey, CEO Sage, and I want to talk to you about shifting. S H I F T I N G. Shifting. Yeah, we're going to talk about shifting. So I said to I think it was my CFO today. I said, you know, I just keep talking to women who are experiencing the earth as they've known it to be shifting, in some cases disappearing, like the, the place that they've stood on for so long and felt stable and secure and safe and confident and competent. Shifting, and this is a big one for me because I woke up a couple days ago, and so my coach asked me a question that sort of started me down this sort of interesting trajectory. And I'm going to share a little bit about my story, and I I don't want to be overindulgent, but I hope I'm doing this. With an intention here to invite you to the same. But she asked me a question because we were talking about kind of what what's next, like what is what's on my horizon and all of the different decisions that my husband and I are making. We did put our house on the market. Who knows if it will sell? We're not moving into an old people village. I have decided. It was you know what there's so much about that that's so attractive, right? Like It's so resortish and it's just so lovely. And I'm like, oh, this is all part of the trap. Like, just go from the suburban house to the old people part. And listen, for the people who love that, I begrudge no one anything, but I know that's not for me. Not now anyway. So anyway, so I don't know what we're doing, but we're going to try and sell the house and sort of disconnect from the level of kind of commitment and responsibilities that we've had in so many ways. Like, we both have these beautiful businesses, and, well, my practice, his business, and the things that we do, and we want a lot more fluidity. So we've been— my coach and I just keep talking about different things. And so she asked me a really interesting question, because when I learned about coaching, when I first started studying and knowing that coaching was even a thing, was like 1994. It was a long time ago. Nobody was really doing it. Some guy named Thomas Leonard had written a book. There were a few, like Coaches Training Institute. There were some things that were out there. So I just would poke around, but it's just like I knew. I knew it was the right thing for me. I knew it's what I wanted to do. It was the first time in my life I had felt like, oh, I'm supposed to do this. I had never had a career goal. You know, anyway, so then once I realized that's what I really wanted to do, and I went through all of the process certifications and all the things, and I just knew that eventually I would have my own thing. I wanted to coach people on my own. I didn't wanna work in a company. I wanted to do it on my own. And I finally had the opportunity to do that. And my coach asked me, when you had that opportunity, which was back in 2012, she said, were you motivated to make money? Like, is that why you did it, was to make more money? And I was like, oh yeah, no, not at all. I wanted to just coach people. And she's like, oh, okay, well, that's really interesting. And how much money have you made as a coach? And so I went through this process of like, oh, I'm like, well, that's sort of interesting too. And when I did all the maths and looked at it all, I've probably made about $8 or $9 million. Wow. Having a coaching business, and the irony, of course, is that I notice how I feel embarrassed about that. Like it's not enough, right? Like I work with women who make a lot more money than that. I know a lot of women who make a lot more money than that, and I notice how I minimize that, which I know on this. I know that's ridiculous, and yet it's such an interesting. thing to think, right? So her whole point was that when we make these shifts, um, we have to really look at what is it that's inside of us that is driving us. And I've never been money motivated. I love earning money, and I think having money is delicious, but like a fig— a number in front of me is not an incentive for me. It's the work. It's being of service. And what I have recognized then through the The question that she asked me about why did I start my business made me realize as I went through sort of all of the significant shifts in my life, I created something that didn't exist that I needed. So when I was a new manager, I didn't have the kind of training and tools and support I needed, so I made it. And then it ended up being something that the whole company used, right? And then when I did the same, when I got into a senior leadership role, I made it. And then it became a thing that everybody else used. And then when I stepped into coaching and I built my own business, nobody was really leadership coaching. So I made it and then I was able to do it. And then I, when I first created a digital program in 2017 called The Manager Formula, my intention was to help managers. What happened is all these beautiful female founders found me. And I realized, oh, there's a whole group of people here that I think are delicious that I can just focus on. I can do that. I can do it with them. And I did. And then when they outgrew the work we were doing in that space, how to CEO, right? Lead. I created Sage. And it was Sage was an echo of my own need. Doing Hawaii retreats was an echo of my own desire. To have space to think. And so I sit here now shifting. The earth I knew underneath my feet is not the same as it was before. And I am encountering more and more and more of you who say the same. I had— I spoke to a woman at pickleball the other day. I've just met her. Hi. And she had just retired. She's 61. And she said, you know, it's such a trip because the first 4 or 5 months, she said, after she stopped working, she just was like lost. And she said, it's weird because we're at the top of our game. And so I'm talking to women who are in their mid-40s, their early 50s, their late 50s, or even into their early 60s who are here with this, like, I have built What I dreamed of. And some of my conversations are women whose— what they dreamed is starting to fail. It's starting to fall apart. It's not working like it used to. It's harder to run. It costs more to run. I'm talking to other women whose businesses are, are soaring and they don't wanna do it anymore. They don't wanna run it anymore. They don't wanna answer the same questions anymore. I'm talking to women who have sold the business, let it go, turned it over, and now they're asking very similar questions. Who am I if I don't do this? I talked to someone today. She's like, my business, it just, I had to tear it down and rebuild. Now I have to decide if I wanna rebuild it. I'm like, I think that's a really good question. Do you want it? Do you even want this business anymore? Based on what the business would need from you today, not what it used to need, not based on sunk costs. There's no such thing as a sunk, sunk cost when you've built a gorgeous business. Even if today it's not what you want anymore, there's no, that business. Helped you thrive for however many years. Yeah. But I stand by what I have said in previous podcasts and in my Beyond the CEO guide that I wrote. We really are a first generation of women who are confronting this experience en masse. Children leaving always has happened. Family members passing away and becoming ill, parents who need care, that has always happened. Colleagues and friends, best friends dying suddenly. That has always happened. But what we're experiencing collectively that hasn't always happened is being a woman who built her own version of an empire and arriving at a shift. The shift is either an external shift— the market, the industry, the product, the team— or it's an internal— it's internal, it's happening inside of you— or it's both. And while I don't really profess to have an answer. I do know it's, it's, it's a natural part of life to be in. But what I think makes it even more, let's say, equal parts invigorating and paralyzing is that now you know What you're capable— you know that you could choose to build a new dream, and you're not sure what it might be, or you're not really sure you want to effort into it like you have, or you're not really sure. If you're willing to take the risk, if you're willing to let go of the thing that you, that you trust and lean into something you can't see. The only thing you really have to focus on is what you know, which is how capable you are. As the woman at pickleball said, like, you are at your You are at the top of your game, your, your intelligence, if you will, the body of intelligence, your knowledge, your experience, your wisdom, your skill, your talent, your network, your resources. Like you are at the top of it. And so I've been thinking about like, what does this look like? How do we help each other? Because each woman I talk to about this feels alone. You know, I think I can— I think it's fair to say that the majority of business female business owners who are business owners, their their immediate circle of people they know majority of those women are not business owners. Now some people have built A beautiful network. But a lot of times it's that, it's a network. It's not friendship, it's not kinship, it's not support, it's not shared vulnerability. And I, I, you know, one of the reasons I so enjoy working with women who have been so successful is because You are not, you are not one who stays for long in self-victimhood, in helplessness, in blame. You are one who will resolve to move forward. What I think we should do though is allow space for confusion. And lack of clarity and idea generating and just sort of playing. I talked with a, a former client today about this and we, we called it sort of the bridge that her business is doing, is, is going well right now, but she sees what's coming. She sees what's already happened. She's already had to make choices and decisions within the team. And I'm like, so if we just choose to see this as a bridge, this next 11 months as a bridge, and we make some other decisions about what really you need for this part of what you're doing to thrive, does that buy you the, the time and the, and, and some capacity to invest in what could be? So my inclination as I record this is that I want to host just a conversation, a live conversation, and I think I'll probably call it The Shift, which is sort of cheesy, but I don't care. And this isn't, uh, a sales conversation. This is just a, like, inviting you to come, and we'll all just— I, I want to lead a conversation with other people who might be experiencing this. Not as a poor me venting session, but as this is my current experience. This is what I'm realizing. This is what I am genuinely confused about. Because if it's true that in my life I have built the thing I needed when I needed it, and I offered it To you, then that would be true again. There are a lot of us here, and we're not alone. But as I said to my former client I talked to today, I did say to her, "You know, tired of working and doing things alone. I don't. I don't want to do this alone anymore." I don't know what that means, but I'm so much better when I can tune into and receive, you know, the wisdom and the knowing and the support of others. And I know that's true for so many other people. So, um, this is kind of one of those— I don't really know, you know, a lot of my podcasts I feel like I have at least some semblance of a lesson. I think this podcast is for you if you are feeling this way. You know what I've been saying a little bit is I, I definitely feel more, more called to support women who are closer to finishing than starting, finishing what they have, launching something new. That's fun. I'm certainly doing something like that, but very differently. The version of me that did what she did before, she's she's not here anymore. And I love who is here. I love the version of me that is here. I love her knowing. Her honesty with herself. My I love my you know willingness to say no, no, no, no, no, no. I know you would love me to do that, but I don't want to do that. I don't do that. And I just would invite you if you're here to start there. You know the thing I said to my. Former client today is, how about we just dream a little? And it's funny cuz I asked her what, you know, what do you really want? Like, what if you could do anything? What do you want? She answered me in a heartbeat. It was right there. And I'm like, okay, so if we already know this, then the only thing right now is your ability to believe in it and to believe in yourself, right? It's like balancing. Yeah, I gotta pay the dentist, I gotta make the car payment, but I also have this, this dream still in my heart. And if it's still in your heart and that's not what you're currently doing, I think you owe it to yourself and to everyone else who will be affected and impacted positively by you choosing to move forward with it. I think you— I think it's your Your your message. So if you're not on my mailing list, you might want to get on it. Go to thevisionary. CEO forward slash letters because I'll start sending. If I'm going to do like an open call, I'm going to send some emails out about it. I'm not really on Instagram. I know you probably know that by now. So the best place to stay in tune with what I'm up to is to be on the mailing list. Visionary.ceo/letters. That's where you will get some good juicy things. All right, friend, thanks for tuning in today. Talk next time.