It has been very busy the last few months, and  though activities kept me from writing, I discovered some valuable things about myself.   Some insights are new, and some have been strongly reinforced.  While this post is off the grain for what I intended this particular blog for, I am going to open up and share them with you.  This is a big window into who I am.

I love to help people

While I have known this from a very young age, I have finally come to accept that as okay.  There was a period in my life when I allowed myself to feel guilty about this; I was told my happiness shouldn’t rest on my ability to help others.  Okay, that makes sense.  It is still a huge feel-good rush when I’ve been able to help somebody in some way.  This is part of who I am.  I am unable to not help people.  This year in particular has been big in supporting and helping others for me.  Looking back, I’m astonished at what I took on.

I am passionate about facilitating learning in others

I do not believe that the educational system as a whole is helping people learn in the best way possible.  I enjoy creating experiences that people can learn in, and extract the learning that is most valuable to them from those experiences.  The next ‘aha!’ was that I am pretty good at it.  I have set up and facilitated a number of workshops this year in the testing, software, and people-skills domains.  I also allowed myself the opportunity to learn from the best in creating experiential workshops at a workshop in June with Jerry Weinberg and Esther Derby.  Now that was a learning experience!

I am a coach and a mentor

I realized that I have been for years! I thought for a while that I was simply working my way towards being those things, but upon reflection discovered that I already am.  One of my strengths is working with people to help enable their success.  I am filled with energy in doing this.  My best days at work are those in which I spend the majority of my time facilitating learning experiences, coaching, and mentoring.

I enjoy helping people, teams, and organizations be successful

Currently this is specific to software and software testing domains, as that is the field I work in.  I would enjoy doing this in most fields I believe though.  This year I have focused a lot of time and effort into helping an organization make the transition to Agile, and through the ongoing adoption.   It has been quite a learning experience, and a lot of fun.  I also engage in improving testers skills in testing software more effectively and comprehensively, organizational processes, and software engineering practices.

I am passionate about health & wellness

I have a wealth of information in this domain.  Due to my own health problems, I have researched in many domains, and tried a lot of things.  I have been coaching others in health & wellness, and am thrilled when that has helped others find better balance and health.  This year I have slowly started building a side-business in this field, so I can better share and support others in their journeys to better health.  Part of that involved becoming a certified personal trainer, and becoming better-educated in nutrition.

It’s all about balance, and experiences!

“Work hard, play hard” has been my motto for years.  This applies to work, projects, family, personal interests, hobbies, and more.  We are here to enjoy what life has to offer… for me that means doing the things I love as much as possible.  I spend time reading a variety of topics, with family, with friends, creating new recipes, attending conferences and workshops, learning, traveling, gardening, photography, educating, coaching, mentoring, supporting, exercising, volunteering, laughing, and living.

What’s next? Keep an eye out for new blog posts to come more frequently on some of the topics above.  For other topics, you’ll have to find your way to one of my other blogs sometime.

To life’s experiences!

Today I actually read the weekly LinkedIn update I receive, and noticed that one of my connections had added a book to their recommended reading list.  I had no idea LinkedIn had an application for that!  Very cool.  This will save me some time by not having to track all my books on this site, which I had intended to do (yes, that means you need check out my LinkedIn profile for books for the time being).   So, the first thing I did was throw up a number of books I’m reading right now – admittedly there are a few others I’m in the middle of as well, but those will wait for another time.

From there, I wondered if there was anything of interest in any of the groups I was a member of.  I noticed that I had a group for PSL (Problem Solving Leadership, a course I took with Jerry Weinberg, Johanna Rothman, and Esther Derby about 1.5 years ago).  I had completely forgotten there was a group for it, never mind that I had joined it!  I felt like I had found $20 I had hidden in a pocket months ago – what a great feeling!

Clicking on the link, I found a message on the PSL news list titled ‘A Profound Learning Experience in PSL’.   Given my experience with PSL, I had to agree that it was an incredibly profound experience.  I was curious to read about this person’s experience.  It turns out that the author, David Barnholdt, had recently taken the course, and had learned more in one week at PSL than he had in months.  His debrief of his experience at PSL is worth reading, so be sure to check it out.

At some point, I will summarize my experiences, insights, and outcomes of my own experience at PSL.  As soon as I’m ready to share the very personal nature of the week with the world wide web.  That is pretty scary to think about, but I think I’m nearly there.  :)

I have recently found myself in a bit of a slump.  There are a lot of things I want to do, but I’ve been having difficulty focusing in on one at a time – both at work and personally.  After some reflection, I have discovered that this stems in part from being frustrated in my seeming inability to empower and enhance the environment with colleagues at work recently.  To put it bluntly, some people are annoying the heck out of me, and I’m having trouble getting past that to be at my best.

David’s post was a really great grounding agent for me, reminding me of what I had personally experienced and learned while at PSL.  It also brought to light how effective I can really be in shaping a positive environment around me with only a slight change in how I approach each day and in interactions with other people.  I really needed this!  I am looking forward to seeing how I improve through the rest of the week with people around me.

My final thought for today:  The Problem Solving Leadership course is a wonderful, and life-altering experience.  It will challenge you in ways you could never expect, but also help you find parts of yourself you didn’t know you could ever find.  There is another offering being held in March of 2009.  Please do attend if you can find a way to make it happen.  I can guarantee that you won’t regret it!