YOU are the leader of your life!
I was first introduced to Abby Wambach as she was being interviewed on a podcast about her book, “Wolfpack”. Abby is a two time Olympic gold medalist in soccer. She holds the world record for international goals for both female and male soccer players. Her book is based on a graduation speech she delivered at Barnard College in 2018.
I love the story she relates that inspired the quote above.
It was towards the end of her career and the coaches and captains of the team {she being a co-captain} were deciding on the eleven starters for the final World cup games. Although she was used to playing nearly all 90 minutes of the game, it became apparent to her that she would no longer be a starter. She was 35 years old, had lost some speed and she had been benched.
The book goes into detail about how she felt and what she did to process all of the emotions that would of course follow such news, but what I loved most about this story is her deliberate shift in her mindset. For years she had shown her leadership while being a key player on the field and now she determined she was going to figure out how to best lead from the bench.
Life will present circumstances to us that feel like we have been benched.
We don’t get the part in the play.
We are betrayed by someone close to us.
Our child is born with physical or mental challenges.
Our family doesn’t look like what we had always imagined.
Someone close dies before their time {or our time for them}.
REGARDLESS of these or other circumstances, we have the opportunity to lead out in our lives. It may not be from center field as we had hoped, planned or dreamed but we always get to choose how we show up in our own lives. I have always believed this to be true.
The tools I have learned and mastered over the last several years in my life coaching have given me language to show myself {and my clients} how no matter our situation, we can choose to lead out in our lives as our most true and authentic selves.
In Abby’s situation she could have thought, “That’s it, my career is shifting. I am no longer a leader on this team.” This thought was one of her options. Had she gone there she probably would have felt defeated and would have disappeared into the background and not continued to be a force for the team thus living out the thought of not being a leader.
However, instead she chose to think, “I am going to figure out how to best lead from the bench.” This thought probably felt empowering and like a new challenge. She states in the book that she became the best sideline cheer leader, she was able to give instruction to younger players, really show empathy for players when things didn’t go as hoped for etc. In this case she was living proof of what a leader on the bench could look like.
If you are in a position where you feel like life is kicking your trash…
Or maybe you are somewhere you never thought you would be….
Maybe others around you are not playing fair….
I can help you get your power back. Help you sort through all the emotions that come when life is not what we expected and then help you make your best plan moving forward.
This is not about me being amazing but this is about me helping you find your amazing.
It is honestly my favorite work.
If you are interested in letting me show you what working with me could look like,
Click on the button below
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Can’t wait to get started!
xoKathleen
