Many people don’t enjoy meetings at the best of times. There are entire books written on how to run effective meetings, and lots of cartoons and jokes about ineffective meetings.  Meetings are an obvious pain point for many.

Pivoting to holding meetings virtually is handy in some ways, and can be incredibly frustrating in others. All the things you didn’t like about attending meetings in person, are amplified when the meetings are held online. Some of the things that appealed to those who like attending meetings in person, seem to be missing when the meetings are taking place virtually.

How can we possibly make virtual meetings work you ask?

This article shares 25 tactics and a couple of bonus tips that can vastly improve your virtual meeting experience. I’m sharing what I learned from when I first started holding hybrid meetings (live, by phone and by video connection) more than a decade ago while serving as a senior officer in the Canadian military, and what I’ve refined over the last 8 years as an entrepreneur who works with virtual teams.

5 Tactics for Meeting Preparation:

Preparation plays a big part in holding effective meetings.  Here are a few things you could add to your virtual meeting check list:

1. Share the meeting link in advance, and then share it again the day of the meeting.
2. Share the purpose of the meeting and a draft agenda in advance (preferably with the first meeting link). 
3. Share reading materials in advance when at all possible.
4. Log in a few minutes early to address any technical issues. 
5. Make sure everyone understands how to use the technology in advance.  For important meetings, hold a dress rehearsal with key participants.

BONUS TIP:  If the agenda is more than 90 minutes long, consider including a health break.

When participants know the purpose of the meeting, and have an opportunity to look at and contribute to the Draft Agenda, they know what to expect and are able to prepare in advance. Even really creative people, who always seem to be going in a million directions at once, enjoy having an idea of what to expect at a meeting.

10 Practical Tactics for Making your Virtual Meeting Work:

1. Start the agenda with brief introductions, this helps people understand who is in the meeting, and their purpose for being there.  
2. If you’re expecting a large group, set a time limit for introductions and have a time keeper (also sometimes known as a facilitator, or the meeting Chair) gently remind people to stick to the time limit.
3. After the introductions state the purpose of the meeting to focus people’s attention.
4. Go through each item on the agenda, under the assumption that people have read the materials in advance, so that the discussion can keep moving along.
5. If you’re holding a meeting that requires motions to be approved, where possible draft motions in advance, it helps save time and keep the meeting moving.
6. Make sure that participants share the air. If someone starts monopolizing the time, which risks taking the meeting off the agenda, firmly, politely, and kindly ask them to table their thoughts for a side bar meeting on that topic, or ask them to share their thoughts in an email or phone call after the meeting is over.
7. Always leave time near the end of the meeting for a round table discussion. This is an opportunity for participants to bring up things that they’d like covered, if not today, then at the next meeting. It’s also an opportunity for participants to confirm their understanding of what took place during the meeting. Some people wait until they are asked to share their ideas before revealing the gems of knowledge and ground-breaking ideas that they’ve thought of.  Not everyone is an extrovert ready and willing to share their ideas to anyone who will remain still long enough to listen.
8. It’s very effective for the meeting Chair to list tasks and ensure that people know what’s expected of them before the meeting closes.
9. The last item on the agenda is the date and time for the next meeting, if applicable.
10. Commit to ending the meeting on time. People are busy, they appreciate knowing that they can rely on the meeting Chair to respect their time by sticking to the agenda. If at all possible, end the meeting a few minutes early!  People will enjoy attending your meetings if you respect their time.

BONUS TIP: Thank people for participating in your meeting, even if it’s a part of their regular duties. Adding a few words about their specific contribution is a nice touch. It demonstrates that they were heard and are valued.

5 Tactics for Inclusive Virtual Meetings:

1. Make sure that everyone has the opportunity to participate, and that they can do so in a manner that is comfortable for them. Some people prefer to type in the chat, rather than speaking out loud. That’s OK!
2. Allow participants to turn off their cameras and mics. Part of the virtual meeting fatigue is feeling like you always have to be “ON” and camera ready.
3. Approximately 20% of the world’s population is disabled, sometimes with invisible disabilities. This may make virtual meetings more difficult for them. Provide live closed captioning and/or sign language interpreters whenever possible. Especially if you know your meeting is going to include people with disabilities. If you have a large company, your human resources team can find out how many people require this sort of accommodation. 
4. Whenever possible include at least closed captioning for every meeting, this normalizes the practice and relieves the people who normally wish for this sort of support from the burden of having to ask for it. Closed captioning helps the deaf and hard of hearing people, those who are attending a meeting in their second or third language, and those who have difficulty processing the spoken word.
5. If you’re working with a set team, get in the habit of calling on people by name to provide their feedback in a set order, so that they know that they can chime in with their thoughts, either verbally or in the chat, when it is their turn.  This is particularly important if you’re holding a brainstorming meeting using a round table method.  

5 Additional Tactics to Facilitate Hybrid Meetings:

1. Follow all of the tactics listed above, paying particular attention to calling on those who are attending virtually to share their thoughts on each agenda item.
2. Make a point of calling on the virtual attendees first when it comes time for a round table discussion. This allows them the opportunity to share their brilliant ideas, without feeling like they’re being included as an afterthought.
3. Allow people who are attending virtually to signal that they “pass” on commenting on some items. If you’re a sighted person you can see the people in your face-to-face meeting signalling that they want to pass. People participating by phone or by video should be asked. This may feel awkward at first. Don’t worry, with practice it gets easier.
4. If a virtual attendee makes a motion, or shares a key resource, ask them to include that text and/or link in the chat. This makes it easier for the person taking the minutes.
5. Make a point of thanking everyone, those who attended in person and those who attended virtually for making your meeting a success.

There you go - 25 Tactics for Making Virtual Meetings Work! Plus, a couple of Bonus Tips. May you enjoy all of your virtual and hybrid meetings moving forward.

If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy:

Investing in Accessible Online Learning
Growing your Network Online 
Leading Volunteers a Rewarding and Challenging Experience

To learn more about my new online courses click here.

To sign up for a pdf copy of a short eBook called "Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces" and my monthly newsletter click here.

On Monday June 21, 2021 I had the honour to be one of the AVA members to witness Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class (retired) Deborah Eisan being presented with her Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Honorary Captain (Navy) Scroll and Pins.

Debbie is an Ojibway Anishinabe kwe from Batchewana First Nation. She was formally appointed as an Honorary Captain (Navy) of the Royal Canadian Navy on the 19th October 2020. HCapt(N) Eisan is affiliated with the future Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Margaret Brooke scheduled to be delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy summer 2021.

I met Debbie over a decade ago, through the work she was doing with the Department of National Defence Aboriginal Advisory Group (DAAG). She was a vocal supporter of all Indigenous peoples interested in, serving with, and veterans of, the Canadian military. Debbie supported the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) programs to help Indigenous youth experience what Human Resources professionals call a Realistic Job Preview.

Debbie gently used her circles of influence to ensure that the Canadian Forces Aboriginal Entry Plan (CFAEP), the summer programs called Bold Eagle, Raven and Black Bear, and the Aboriginal Leadership Opportunity Year (ALOY) received support, helping participants learn new skills they could use in whatever future they chose.

Debbie continued to support the programs as a veteran, as she expanded her circles of influence to help even more Indigenous peoples thrive.  Debbie now plays an important role as the Community Events Planner at the Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre.

Lots of important people shared congratulatory messages during the ceremony.  I’m sure the Navy will share their names and ranks.

The parts I was most interested in were the support and words of encouragement from Raymond Sewell who started the ceremony by drumming and singing the Mi’kmaq Honour song for Debbie, the congratulations from Chief Dean Sayers, Chief of Batchewana First Nations, and Debbie’s speech.

I was also thrilled to see Petty Officer 1st Class (PO1) Katrina Stewart, a Boatswain in the RCN from the Nisga’a Nation of New Aiyansh, British Columbia, serving as the flag bearer. Katrina graduated from the CAF Indigenous Pre-Recruit Training program known as CFAEP and has served in the Navy for 19 years.

HCapt(N) Debbie Eisan spoke about the dream that led her to join the Canadian military. She also spoke about the dream she and PO2 Innis had of creating an Eagle Staff for Indigenous peoples serving in the CAF.

Debbie ended off her speech with words of wisdom, that I’ve tried to capture here “Dreams do come, not always in the way you expect, in ways only the creator can explain. If we open our eyes and watch for signals, we’ll achieve our dreams.”

As a woman veteran, what struck me as particularly appropriate is that Debbie is HCapt(N) for the HMCS Margaret Brooke an Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) who’s first Commanding Officer also happens to be a woman, Commander Nicole Robichaud.

Miigwetch, Marsee, Merci, Qujannamiik, All our relations Debbie!

If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy these military themed blog posts:

Women Veterans, Helping each other Thrive
Do we have Systemic Bias/Racism in Canada published in June 2020
"Mercenary" Partnerships and Trust

Do you feel frustrated with your career, like things aren’t going the way you expected or hoped?

Do you feel like you’re stuck and running out of options?

You’re not alone!

Many people go through this phase as they try to figure out how to get the jobs they really want.
So much so that I offer an 8 week Thought Partner program to help people learn strategies and tactics so they can learn how to design courses of action to achieve their definitions of success. You can learn more about the Navigating your Career Route Map program here.

Sometimes people just need a hint, or a short conversation to give them a boost of confidence to realize that it’s OK to ask for what they want.

I was brought up on the family legend of my mother asking for what she wanted, a posting to Europe, where she met and married my father. My parents repeatedly told us to ask for what we wanted, with the follow up that the worst that could happen would be that the answer is “no.”

On the other hand, the answer could be “Yes!”

Throughout my military career, I asked for what I wanted. This included courses, postings and even volunteer roles. I viewed meetings with the career manager as an opportunity to negotiate. When I was told as a newly commissioned officer, that my next posting would be to a job where the majority of my work would deal with things like requests for access to information, I cheekily asked if I could have a “real job.”

Luckily my career manager had a sense of humour and asked me to define what a “real job” was. I told him that I wanted a job where I had a staff and responsibilities, where I could use all the leadership training, I’d had during my military college experience. I also said I was willing to go anywhere for that kind of job.

That’s how I ended up at 403 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Gagetown, New Brunswick, where I was responsible for administrative, transportation, vehicle maintenance, supply and financial services support. I led a multi-faceted team, in a very male dominated environment. It was a fabulous opportunity and I thoroughly enjoyed my job.

Now, one of the things I do as a Thought Partner is help others identify the opportunities, they have to ask for what they want.

Last week, I had a lovely phone call with a woman I hadn’t spoken to in a few years. Kris Dawson saw my post about the Navigating Your Career Route Map program and asked if I had time for a call. Between getting ready for the program launching on June 25, and projects I’m working on for clients, my weekdays are pretty much booked solid, so I suggested a weekend phone call. Here’s what Kris wrote about me on LinkedIn:

“Even though part of my background was as a career coach, it's really hard to coach yourself into your next career. So I reached out to Chantal to get some clarity around my approach to a possible job opportunity. (She made herself available right away for me - on a Sunday morning!) She gave me some straight forward simple advice (and confidence) on what to do to ensure my needs were met. And, it worked! I landed exactly what I was after. Thanks Chantal for being my trusted coach and cheerleader all in one!

More on Chantal: I first met Chantal around 7 years ago through an HR Conference, hadn't spoken to her in awhile but always had her in the back of my mind. She carries with her great knowledge and experience and a very positive mindset and is available when you need her most! I have no doubt that she can help others gain a clearer path to their next career move.”

The advice that I gave Kris can be summed up as “ask for what you want, you might just get it!”

There’s more to it than that of course, which is why there’s always work for career coaches, mentors and Thought Partners.

Here’s my small ask, if my content resonates with you, please share it with your friends, family and colleagues, so that they can learn about the services I offer.

Here’s my big ask, consider investing your time, energy and hard-earned money in the Navigating your Career Route Map: Designing Courses of Action to Help You Achieve Your Definition of Success program.

If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy:

Job Search Tips #1 
Job Search Tips #2 Informational Interviews
Volunteering, Why Bother?

To learn more about my new online courses click here.

To sign up for my monthly newsletter and to receive advance notice of when courses are going live click here.

I’m thrilled to share that the introductory offering of the Navigating your Career Route Map: Designing Courses of Action to Help You Achieve Your Definition of Success program is now available online!

The Navigating your Career Route Map program is all about helping you discover and explore practical strategies and tips that may help you navigate how you can achieve your definition of success.

This program combines facilitated discussion with elements of coaching, mentoring and Mastermind processes. The program is presented in a small group, accessible, online setting, and includes individual Thought Partner sessions with me.

I’ll be sharing my insights into how you can navigate your work life, based on my successful military career, my transition to life as a veteran and entrepreneur, and the successes my coaching clients and mentees have experienced.

You’ll be participating in an interactive online group setting, which immediately expands your Friendly Forces network, and gives you an accountability partner group.

You may be wondering what Thought Partner means. Until I sat down to write this post, I thought it was a term I made up, to describe how I prefer to work with people.
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Then I googled “Thought Partner” and learned that the term has been around since at least June 2012, when Rania Anderson, a wildly successful Speaker, Author, and Executive Business Coach, wrote a guest post for Forbes which reads in part:

“A Thought Partner is someone who:

Challenges your thinking.

Causes you to modify or change your paradigms, assumptions or actions

Has information or a way of thinking that provokes you to innovate or otherwise leads to value creation in your business, career or life.

A Thought Partner is different from a Thought Leader. Thought Leaders are people who are clearly and widely recognized as leading experts and visionaries in their field.

Thought Partners may also be Thought Leaders, though generally, they are not. Thought Partners are usually people who possess information, knowledge, or a way of thinking that challenges and provokes divergent thinking and action for you. Your Thought Partners may arise from within any area of your life; you just have to engage with and listen to them. When you can attune yourselves, there is music to be made.”

These words resonated so powerfully that the first thing I did after reading them was to reach out through LinkedIn to invite Rania to join my network. (We're now connected!!!) Then I went back to writing.

Wondering if the Navigating your Career Route Map program might be for you?

If you:
-  want to make changes in your work life, develop your career, and/or explore other career options; and
-  are willing to do the hard work of figuring out why things aren’t going the way you expected, to face things you might rather ignore, and to communicate with radical candour;
-  then this program might be the one you’ve been searching for!

I look forward to meeting, learning about, and sharing thoughts with the 12 participants in the Navigating your Career Route Map: Designing Courses of Action to Help You Achieve Your Definition of Success program. I hope to connect with you soon!

If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy:

Digital Bread Crumbs
Invisible Disabilities & Accessibility

To learn more about my new online courses click here.

To sign up for my monthly newsletter and to receive advance notice of when courses are going live click here.

Seeking out new learning opportunities is a life long habit.  On Sunday June 6, I officially joined the A.T.H.E.N.A. program run by the Audrée Dufresne and David Morrow from HRD2KILL. This program was specifically created for Canadian women veterans.

During my intake interview, I learned that in addition to participating in a weekly exercise session with the rest of my sister veterans, I’ll also be receiving 3 tailored workout plans each week as “homework” that will help me reach my goal to “be healthier” while respecting the body I have and my current range of motion.

Aubree interviewed me to find out what kinds of exercise I enjoy doing, and what I won’t do: no more jogging or running for me! She also asked me to perform a few stretching exercises so she could assess my current range of motion.

My friends, family and long-time colleagues know that I’m not a natural athlete. I enjoy moving my body. However, like many people I find it much easier to stay on track of my fitness program if I’m exercising as part of a group.

The A.T.H.E.N.A. program is totally virtual, and the other participants are all people I can relate to. We share the common bond of having served in the military. We’re all used to teamwork and for this serial of A.T.H.E.N.A. at least, we’re all of a similar age.

One of the great things about a shared military background, is that there’s a high likelihood that we’ll celebrate each other’s successes, and be understanding when one of us makes a mistake, or misses a session.

In my experience with the military, most people embraced a lessons learned framework. That is, when someone made a mistake, or if a plan didn’t turn out as expected, we reflected on what went wrong, and tried to do things differently moving forward to achieve a more positive result.

This is something I’ve seen time and time again as I connect with military members, veterans and even those who are military affiliated (part of a military or veteran family, or working as a civilian within military units). Generally speaking, we’re quick to admit when we make a mistake, and look for ways to do better moving forward.

We admit we’re human, and we are willing to help others achieve their goals. This means that when we join the civilian workforce or become an entrepreneur, we sometimes experience culture shock, as many organizational cultures are very different from what we’re used to.

I know without even having met the other participants of the A.T.H.E.N.A. program yet, that they will become part of my Friendly Forces network. It’s what most veterans do, we help each other and try to help those still in uniform as mentors or friends.

As I worked on developing the first of my paid online programs, I invested time and effort into imagining my ideal clients. I wondered, who do I know best? Who can I help the most? How can I target a specific group of ideal clients?

At about the same time as I was trying to pin down my ideal clients, I learned that there are 85,000 women veterans in Canada alone. I also learned that many veterans, and most especially women and LGBTQ veterans, find the programs readily available for all veterans to be too male dominated. Many women and LGBTQ veterans would like to participate in programs that speak to their needs, that while similar to those of male veterans, are distinctly different.

There are things that come as a particular culture shock to us that a male veteran is unlikely to experience. For example, when I became a veteran, I was appalled to learn that women and LGBTQ people can generally expect to earn 20-30% less than their cis gender male counterparts, even if they have essentially the same job, education, and experience.

I knew that I wanted to run a multi-week program, where I could help people explore and discover new ways of thinking about their work life to help them achieve their definition of success. Like I did when I became a veteran and started my own business.

Then it hit me, my ideal audience, the people I knew the best were military veterans. As a woman, my insights are likely to help other veterans who are not men. If I assume that only one sixth of women veterans are interested in pursuing a second career or starting their own business (in effect creating their own second career), then the number is just over 14,000.

The maximum course load for the first serial of “Navigating your Career Route Map: Designing Courses of Action to help you Achieve your Definition of Success” is 12. That’s less than 0.1 % of my ideal audience. Now all I have to do is find a way to reach up to 12 participants interested in investing in the program.

My next blog will be about a scholarship contest for one of those 12 spots. The contest will be shared widely on social media, with advance notice going to those who are on my email marketing list.

NOTE: Being part of my “ideal” audience is NOT a prerequisite to participating in the “Navigating your Career Route Map: Designing Courses of Action to help you Achieve your Definition of Success” program. All are welcome, as long as you follow the Rules of Engagement.

If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy:

Micro-Blogging, Does it Work? - features a brief story about two women veterans who started their dream business The County Emporium
and
To Speak, or Not to Speak: Professionally 

To learn more about my new online courses click here.

To sign up for my monthly newsletter and to receive advance notice of when courses are going live click here.

Just as I believe that everyone has gifts to share with the world, things that they excel at doing, and can do better than most people, I know that there are things that I’m not good at doing. I’ve learned that the best way to compensate for that, is to partner with people who have the skill sets I lack.

What do I mean by that? Let me share an example. I do not think in pictures, while I can appreciate a beautiful scene, like the shining green leaves on the trees outside my office window, I have a great deal of difficulty visualizing the same scene.

What does that have to do with rebranding? I’ve known for years that images are really important to many other people. The old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” exists for a reason.
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One of my first afternoon’s as an entrepreneur was a photo shoot with a semi-professional photographer friend. She did the photo shoot as a favour, so that I could have a decent professional looking headshot and a few other images for my website and business cards. Up until this month, the fabulous image she took of a path in the woods near my home served as the banner image on my website, LinkedIn and Twitter profiles.
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I’ve updated my head shot a couple of times since then. Even though I attended many branding workshops I hadn’t really spent much time thinking about it.

​In 2018, I invested in getting a logo created for Empowered Path Inc., I love my tree themed logo!

In my company logo, the tree represents a good life. The trunk is a blank space which turns into two branches within the leaves. The blank spaces represent that there is more than one path to creating a good life.
 
Circles can mean a lot of things to different people. To me, a circle represents collaboration, respect and influence. When we treat each other with respect and collaborate, we can help each other learn how to thrive. Each person has a circle of Influence. When we collaborate, we increase our circle of Influence, affecting more people.
 
This year, as I prepared to launch online courses, I decided to invest in getting help from professionals whose strengths complement mine. I reached out to my network to reconnect with Jen Detlor Kerr, from DetDesigns, and asked her to create a logo to represent the paid course that I’ll be offering soon.
​
I think in words and connections. I provided Jen with a very long description of what the course would involve along with a few pictures of a Bear puzzle as inspiration for what kinds of image I was looking for. I really liked that the outside edges were a blurred version of elements from inside of the bear and that the elements in the bear could represent different ideas and concepts.

I asked Jen to come up with an image that incorporated the main themes of my course, with stand alone elements over a sort of treasure map, showing that there were many different paths to success, which are often unknown and can be discovered and explored. I asked her to find a way to represent treasures (opportunities), obstacles, and inclusiveness all in one image.

Remember, I can appreciate images, without being able to visualize them. Jen created a glorious image, that exceeded my expectations, and looked nothing like anything I could have possibly visualized on my own. She shared drafts with me, which I shared with a close group of Thought Partners for feedback.

At the end of the process, the course logo image is infinitely more effective and powerful than anything I could have come up with on my own. 

What does this image mean to me?

It represents a treasure map for living a good life. Many things are uncertain, there are no charted paths, opportunities are all around us, and there is more than one definition of success.

The jewels represent opportunities, which are sometimes hidden. The blocks represent obstacles. The network image represents an inclusive network of Friendly Forces, people who want to help us achieve our goals, our Thought Partners. The 3 concentric circles represent the circle of influence. The silver trophy and the silver medal with a purple ribbon represent different definitions of success. The compass represents each individual’s capacity to seize control of discovering, exploring and navigating a path to their unique definition of success.

I love this look and feel so much, that I’ve rebranded my entire website to match it. And over the last couple of weeks, as Jen provided slightly simpler less busy versions the images, I quietly and without fanfare updated all of my social media banners.

Rebranding has been an adventure!
​
If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy:
“Gratitude Plants the Seed for Abundance”
Do you Prefer Initiative of Caution?

To learn more about my new online courses click here.

To sign up for my monthly newsletter and to receive advance notice of when courses are going live click here.

“Recce” is a military term, short for reconnaissance, and basically means exploring the paths you might take without committing too much energy or investing a lot of money and other resources to help you make an educated guess on how you may choose to achieve your goals.

One of my dreams when starting my business was to deliver training to help people reach their goals. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to do this, so I spent a LOT of time in Recce mode. I grew my network, met and collaborated on a variety of projects, all the while building up my business savvy.

Last year, I decided to expand my business by offering online courses. To set the conditions for success to deliver content to a wider audience, I did an in depth Recce. I reached out to people in my network and asked for advice. I started with learning about how to make my content as accessible as possible, because Inclusion Diversity Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) are all very important to me. And quite frankly much of the online content readily available is NOT that accessible, which creates an opportunity for my business!

In 2020, I hired Two Canes Consulting. After doing a website audit, and making the Empowered Path website more accessible, Sarina Cormier and Natalie Minnema taught me how to create more accessible online content. Then, I asked them to research and complete user testing on potential platforms.

In early 2021, I participated in a WE CAN Project at Queens University six-week eCommerce coaching course delivered by Dionne Baker of Shop Boss Secrets. She helped me realize the most effective path to delivering online content was through a host site, also known as a marketplace.

I realized that to do this right, I needed to invest in getting help with the things that I’m neither good at, nor enjoy doing. I reached out to the Friendly Forces in my network again. “Friendly Forces” is a military term, that basically means, the people who are likely to be on your side, that you can count on to help you out in a tough spot.

Penny Olorenshaw, from Build Marketing helped me create an email marketing plan, made more improvements to my website, and helped build the Empowered Path courses site.

In 2020, I took Smartphone Video Formula courses in person and online with Aaron and Angela Bell. They helped me realize I could record lessons on my phone if I wanted to. I asked Aaron for a referral for video editors. Playing around trying to edit videos on my own was fun, but ultimately not my strength.

I love learning, when I invested in the Pro + Growth Thinkific package, I took the training offered to learn how to set up the paid course I’ll be launching this spring. One of the first pieces of advice they shared is to offer a free mini course to let people know who you are and what your training is like.

My immediate reaction was to feel sick to my stomach, because any time I record video with no live audience I do a terrible job! A few days later I woke up at 430 am and thought to myself, you have everything you need to upload a free mini course! A few minutes later I was at my desk outlining my first course.

For fun I’d set up my smartphone next to my laptop moments before I delivered the “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces” session on April 20, 2021 to a live audience of over 100 serving military members, their spouses and others who support people transitioning to life beyond the military.

I’ll admit that the top of my head is not always onscreen, and I rarely make eye contact with my phone. In spite of that, when I watched the edited videos, I thought to myself “Yes! That’s the energy I bring when speaking with a live audience, even when I can’t see them.”

I reached out to the Friendly Forces team I’ve been connecting with to help me put together the paid courses and said, let’s do a test run with this free mini-course. I’m grateful to Jackie Bell and Taylor Bell from Gorgeous Edits for the fabulous work they did creating the short videos for my first publicly available online course.

I invite you to do a Recce to learn more about the free “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces” course by clicking here.

If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy:

Growth is Uncomfortable!
Respecting "I Can't"
Fitting the Pieces Together

One of the biggest challenges when considering a career in an industry that is new to you, is finding out what it’s really like to work in that environment. This is just as true for veterans looking for a second career as it is for new grads looking for their first big job.
 
A great way to get a realistic job preview is to conduct what the human resources industry calls an informational interview. What’s an informational interview? In plain language, it’s what’s known as inviting someone for coffee. The thing is that most employers are too busy to go for coffee, and they’d rather not leave work to meet with people who are looking for jobs.
 
How do you get around that obstacle? Contact an employer that you’d like to work with and ask them if you could stop by with a cup of tea or coffee for a 15 to 20 minute conversation to talk to them about what it’s like to work in their industry.
 
There are a few ways you can figure out who would be open to this sort of conversation. You can ask people in your network if they know someone in the industry you’re interested in, or more specifically at the organization you think you might like to work at, and then ask your contact to introduce you, by email, phone, LinkedIn, it doesn’t have to be an in-person introduction.
 
Another way, is to research employers yourself (read Job Search Tips #1 blog) and then reach out with a targeted message, explaining why you’d like to chat, and offer to drop by with a caffeinated beverage of their choice in exchange for 15 to 20 minutes of their time.
 
Many people find the warm introduction more comfortable. The person you want to interview already has a trusting relationship with your mutual connection, and is likely to be open to talking with you.
 
The second type of connection can be just as effective, if you’re clear about why you want to meet. A great way to connect online is through the LinkedIn platform which over 19 million people in Canada use.
 
The rest of this post outlines how the conversation might go, and includes some prompts.
 
When we’re out of lock down the first contact by phone, email, LinkedIn message, would ask when would be a good time for you to drop by their work place with a caffeinated beverage of their choice for a 15 to 20 minute chat.
 
For now, let’s imaging that you reach out with a phone call. Start by asking if it's a good time for a short chat, 15 to 20 minutes. If they say no, ask when would be a good time to call back.
 
If they say yes, thank them and introduce yourself, how you got their number, you're about to become a veteran, a new grad, exploring potential careers, etc.
 
Phrases with the letters ROE before them are Rules of Engagement (ROE) for more you can download my short free e-book “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces.”
 
ROE - Get to know the person and what they’re interested in - you already know that the person you’re contacting is in the industry that you want to learn more about, you could start by asking how they decided to get into this business, and what they most enjoy about their current role.

ROE - Tell them a little about you - you started this during your opening comments, tell them why you're interested in learning more about their industry, what you already know that makes this industry appealing to you, what skill sets and knowledge you hope would make you a good fit.
 
You could use the following types of phrases:
“I’m getting ready to transition to a new career”
“I’m starting to explore my options …”
 
Be prepared with a list of 4-5 questions written down before you call or meet in person.
 
The person you’re interviewing may answer some of your questions when they tell you why they got into the industry.
 
The last question you ask should be "Do you know someone else I should/can talk to about being in this industry?”
 
ROE - Things to avoid bringing up, unless they ask you about it first
Don't ask for a job!  If they offer, feel free to explore that opportunity.
Don't tell them too much personal information, they don't need to know everything about you. You’re there to learn about their industry, not to share all of your hopes and fears.
 
Don't under any circumstances bring a resume with you.
 
If they OFFER you a job
And you feel comfortable with the idea of working with them (they seem like a good person, their values seem to match yours, they shared good info)
THEN say something like, "I wasn't expecting this, I'd love to explore that further, can we set up a meeting to discuss this?" and "What information would you like from me for that meeting?" 

Not everyone uses resumes to hire!
 
OR you don't feel comfortable at all, and don't like the values they share while answering your questions
THEN say something along the lines of "Thank you, that's a generous offer. I'm still exploring my options, and not quite ready to work for someone outside of the military yet.” Or for new grads “….I’m still considering where I’m going to live.”
And end with “Can I get back to you?”
 
The reason that I recommend NOT bringing a resume with you, is to avoid putting you into job search mode, which sends off unconscious body tells, that the person you’re interviewing may very well perceive as needy and off-putting. You give off a completely different vibe if you’re asking someone about their job, and how they got started in that industry, then if you’re asking questions as part of a job interview.
 
If you enjoyed reading this post you may also enjoy:
 
Job Search Tips #1
To Speak, or Not to Speak: Professionally
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To get a free copy of my eBook “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces” click here

Honesty is something we owe ourselves and the others in our lives. Honesty requires reflection, and facing uncomfortable truths. To me living honestly means that the person I show the world is the person I am. It’s about being genuine and authentic, being true to myself. 

I genuinely believe that we all have gifts to share, and I want everyone to thrive. That means, as I prepared to become a veteran, I reflected on what I enjoyed doing the most, speaking, training, and writing, and decided to use those three gifts to help people reach their full potential.

Over time, I realized that my special interests in leadership, inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility and mentoring also lent themselves to coaching. Now I speak, train, write, coach and mentor. The speaking gigs I accept, the words I write and the training, coaching and mentoring I provide all serve the same purpose: to help people learn how to help themselves, their communities and organizations thrive.

In 2019, I attended my first ever retreat, called a Transition Lifeshop, delivered by another veteran Sandra Perron. It was 2 days and 2 nights for military affiliated women, that is women who are veterans, serving in the military or the spouse of someone who was serving in the military or a veteran. At the end of the weekend, as we were sharing what we learned, one of the women turned to me and said something along the lines of:

"When I saw you here the first night, I thought, aha, now I’m going to learn if this person is really who she says she is. I’ve heard you speak several times at the Second Career Assistance Network events and at an International Women’s Day event, and I’ve seen what you post on social media. I couldn’t believe that someone could be that honest about who they were. Well, you got me, everything you’ve said and done this weekend proved that you are who you tell people you are."

Being honest about who you are, especially to yourself, is critically important. Once you’re honest with yourself, about what truly motivates you, what brings you joy, which people uplift you, what activities and learning energize you, then you can start making choices that will help you lead a balanced, happy and successful life.

Each person should create their own definitions for balance, happy and successful. These definitions are most likely going to change over time. For years, I felt I was living a balanced life, working full time, studying part time, raising three young children with the help of my spouse and some amazing childcare providers, and volunteering. I even made time to be physically fit, most of the time!

I loved that life and felt happy. As my children grew, and the positions I was offered became what I’d originally used as my definition for a successful military career, I realized that my definition of balance, happiness and success had changed. As Dr Stephen R. Covey describes it, I realized I was climbing the wrong ladder.

The last position that the military offered me would have meant radical change for my family. As I pondered whether to accept the appointment or not, I realized that I wanted to be more present in my children’s and spouse’s lives, I wanted to volunteer more in my community, I wanted to be the change I wanted to see in the world, to influence people more widely than I could as a senior officer. I also wanted to share my gifts of speaking, training and writing to help create a new more equitable world.
 
Becoming a veteran and launching my own business was a bit like jumping off a cliff and learning how to fly on the way down, as I had no prior business experience. My only paid work up until that time had been a handful of baby-sitting gigs as a teen, a summer job with the Air Cadets before my last year of high school, and my 28 years in the Canadian Armed Forces.
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Now looking back over the past 9 years, I realize that the skills I learned in my military career, the knowledge I gained through education and continue to gain as an entrepreneur, my willingness to continue learning new things, to explore the unknown and embrace new opportunities are what set me up for success as an entrepreneur.

Listening to Jamie Spencer-Blanchet, another military college graduate, in an episode of the Women’s Mentoring Network (WMN) Canada podcast, with Amanda Kalhous, inspired the metaphor that finding your path to success is more like exploring a jungle gym than climbing a ladder.

To stretch this metaphor even further, there is more than one path to success, sometimes you climb a ladder, only to realize that what you want to achieve is on the other side of the structure. This gives you choices, do you cross over, under or around what’s between you and your goal? Do you go down a slide and start again, climbing a new ladder that leads to your goal? Do you jump onto the monkey bars and cross an imaginary ocean full of sharks and monsters, while starting a new business?

When making career choices it’s important to be honest with yourself about what brings you joy, what kind of work environment you really want to be a part of, and which of your gifts you want to share with the world.

We all excel at different things. To me, the definition of a successful career, is finding or creating your own career, where you get to spend most of your time doing the things you love, and are good at, while being paid at least a living wage to do so.

Being honest with yourself about who you are and what is truly important to you can be world changing and terrifying at the same time. Particularly if you live and work in places that have narrow definitions of what is “acceptable” or that don’t care about what you want. It’s OK to keep some of your truth about what your career goals are to yourself until you find people, workplaces and communities that support you.

If you enjoyed reading this post you may also enjoy:

Treat Everyone with Respect
Our New Normal: Respecting Apprenticeships 

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Leadership and Inclusion are two of my special interests. I’ve been learning how to lead people for more than 40 years. Yes, I started learning about leadership while I was a young teenager, as an Air Cadet. I continued to learn more during my military career. Now I’m an entrepreneur and I call myself a Thought Partner.

One of the lessons that I’ve learned, and share, about being an effective leader, is that people pay more attention to what you do, than what you say. If a leader invests their time and money into creating an inclusive workplace, then their team will become more inclusive. This can be as simple as showing up for an event to promote equity and STAYING for the entire event. When a leader stays and interacts with people, rather than leaving to do “more important things” after saying a few welcoming remarks, the leader's choice demonstrates that they genuinely believe in creating an inclusive workplace. I will be forever grateful to Becky Groves for teaching me that lesson when I was a Major.

Over time, I’ve learned that Inclusion is much more complex than striving for gender equity and welcoming people from different backgrounds. I’ve learned that to be truly inclusive, I must also recognize that there are many different ways of learning and processing information. Being inclusive is a life long journey, one that I’ll always be able to improve upon.

This June, I’ll be launching an online course using Thinkific and Zoom. I'm trying to make the course as accessible as possible. Over the last few months, I’ve sought feedback from Canadian entrepreneurs including Sarina Cormier and Natalie Minnema from Two Canes Consulting, Brooke Woboditsch from CCS Inc., Leah Riddell from Signable Vi5ion and others.

This post shares what I plan to do with my course. I’m looking for your feedback to help me provide the most inclusive course that I can.

Here’s an outline of the structure for the course, focusing on accessibility features.
8 group sessions, with professional closed captioning, recordings and transcripts provided after
2 individual sessions, with closed captioning, ASL or LSQ interpreter (on request) through Zoom, may be recorded on request
Participants choice for cameras/audio being turned on/off, and may use chat to participate in all Zoom sessions
Handouts in different formats including two versions of slides available the day of group session, pdf and a plain text version including all words on the slides
Homework assignments, in pdf and plain text versions
Options on how homework is completed for example: journal style, vision board, audio or video format

I would love your feedback, so I can make adjustments as I build the course over the next few weeks.

If you enjoyed reading this post you may also enjoy:

Invisible Disabilities & Accessibility 
Amplifying Black Peoples Voices 

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