When people plunge into uncharted waters of change it can be the most stressful time of their lives. I know how that feels – I have either jumped into those waters willingly (sometimes blindly) or have been thrown into them, many times throughout my life. Having spent the last 15 years as a consultant to large-scale Agile transformations, and in the prior decade as a leader in telecom, I have experienced first-hand the complexities that challenge leaders to develop and execute relevant vision and strategy. My contribution to transformation is informed by my own personal transformation journey and my work with organizations for nearly 25 years – mentoring and coaching leaders, employees, teams, coaches, students, and my educational studies.
Early in my management career, launching new divisions and expanding into new markets, leading acquisitions and mergers and working with culture, I realized that the missing ingredient in people was not a lack of technical skills, it was the need for personal development of interpersonal, social and emotional capabilities. With a passion for people, relationships and growing emerging leaders, and as a leader to my organization, I decided to study executive coaching and critical professional and life competencies – and that was the beginning of my coaching career. I was inspired to work with youth as the leaders of our future, and developed youth programs in my local community. I also developed, manufactured, and launched my own children’s product in the mid 2000’s, another venture from a passion to develop leaders of the future. I began my executive coaching career with clients such as Women in the Press, Capital One, Morgan Stanley, and dozens of others. All of these adventures were then my ‘side gigs’. In 2005, I discovered Agile, (actually it discovered me) a unique fit for my skills and passions, and began working with my first large-scale Agile transformation. I continued my professional coaching journey, going where my passion and interests led me. With each “Agile Transformation” I coached or consulted, the desire in me to find a way to challenge the status-quo grew until I made a conscious decision to challenge ourselves as Agile Coaches and Consultancies, to see how we are contributing to the lack of success or real transformational change. It has been a game-changer. We are the key leverage, as instruments of change.
In summary, I have dedicated myself and my life to being an architect of change. I believe that the events and challenges throughout my life prepared me for this work; the ability to work deeply with others comes from my own challenges and self work, which more enabled my ability to more easily see through the eyes of another. My journey has been a journey of self-love, of holding boundaries with myself and others – while harnessing the power of empathy; of expressing my authentic voice and being true to myself – letting go of the belief that I needed to bring more of a masculine essence to my leadership, and embracing the power of my feminine essence. This is what freedom feels like!
My formal credentials include: Certified Professional Integral Coach (ICCP-2), Leadership Circle™ and Leadership System™ Certified Practitioner, ICAgile Authorized Instructor, ICAgile Certified Enterprise Coaching Expert (ICE-EC), Certified Advanced Conscious Change Consultant – 4Sight program, Certified Scrum Professional (CSP), SAFe Agilist (SA), ICAgile Professional, and founder of the Agile Richmond user group. I also studied in the Organizational Behavior program at Ashford University. I am currently the Founder and Managing Member of Trans4mation where my focus is conscious integral leadership development and organizational agility. I am excited to announce my recent book Agile Transformation: Using the Integral Agile Transformation Framework to Think and Lead Differently, co-authored with Michael Spayd.
- Trans4mation & Sobol Webinar - April 23, 2021
- Four Value Cultures - April 20, 2021
- The Future of Work with Donnie from Sobol - February 25, 2021
