"We Are operating above the neck whenever we assume that what we think is more important than what we feel. We are operating above the neck when we emphasize data over personal experience. We are operating above the neck when we deify logic and denigrate intuition."
--Maggie Craddock, The Authentic Career
I was introduced to Maggie Craddock by a mutual friend. We hit it off immediately, and she send me her latest book, "Power Genes" which I ate like it was chocolate mousse. I saved little bites for plane rides and hotel stays and ended up reading tub-fuls in a sitting. When I finished I felt full, but realized that I'd eaten dessert before the meal. I'm finally getting around to the main course and reading her previous book, "The Authentic Career".
Maggie is that rare combination of experienced business leader and psychologist (she left a successful career as a financial industry superstar before receiving clinical training. I love her work, not only because it's a rare example of both real-world corporate experience and clinical expertise, but because it reflects what I see in the best of entrepreneurs--the ability to create a profession from strongly held belief in what is missing in the world. Before becoming an expert, Maggie searched for executive level coaching that could also address the underlying subconscious elements that contribute to professional shortcomings and burnout.
I'm a fan of both therapy and coaching, but never have I been able to "talk shop" with a therapist. Nor have I been able to get past more business oriented solutions when addressing career issues. And yet I've always held a strong belief that the professional IS inherently personal. We are supposed to keep our personal lives out of the workplace, and yet we barf our personal lives onto people unwittingly when we don't address stressors in our lives. Actions ranging from a cruelly castigating an employee to awkwardly fumbling your way through a harmless inquiry by your boss are results of deeper experiences. Perhaps you always struggled to be heard when you were a child in a house of more aggressive siblings. Perhaps you harbor deep-seated resentment of someone who is junior but whose ease with other people triggers you. All of these issues are game for discussion in Maggie's book. In fact, these issues are superficial compared to others that stem from unquestioned beliefs around money and love that we absorbed as children.
I'm just starting to journey in and am intrigued at what I am discovering.
