Sometimes, what really matters is who is at your back
Our lives are filled with transitions – going to school, getting a job, starting or ending major relationships, moving up or out to another position. In every case, there are factors to consider and decisions to be made. I’ve puzzled through each one of these transitions and more and can help you find the next piece to complete your own picture.
We live in a time of intense, complex change. Facing this alone is overwhelming. If you feel like things no longer fit – whether it’s about who you are, what you do, or what you need to do – I can help you sort through the pieces to discover the resilient leader inside you.
The key is understanding the forces at play and uncovering the strengths within you to navigate them.
Since I was five, I have loved doing big jigsaw puzzles. I’ve always found it fun to match shapes to spaces, find missing pieces, and ultimately to create a cohesive picture.
Transition is just another kind of puzzle, one I’ve been solving with individual clients and organizations of all sizes for 40 years. Many of my clients come to me when the situation seems impossible. Through our work together, they realize that it’s just a matter of finding the right pieces.
As a transition coach, I will help you identify the exact qualities you need to move forward. Together we can unlock the resilient leader inside you, the one ready to step forward and create the future you’ve imagined.
Let’s create the foundations for a new level of success
- Define your vision for the journey
- Identify the gaps in the way
- Work through issues impeding your growth and advancement
- Have a trusted mentor and partner by your side
- Create your action plan for success
Power Hour
$500
At a time & date of your choice
Focussed on your specific needs
3 Sessions
$1250
Over 6 – 12 weeks
Timed to support your transformation & integration
Custom
Designed
for your needs
“I’m grateful for you and your friendship this year and how you’ve had me think more deeply, more deliberately. I’m excited about your friendship and your mentorship for 2025. I think what I would like to say is how grateful I am for you and your wisdom and how grateful anyone should be to work with you.”
– Brian H. Murphy, CEO
“Madelyn, you keep giving of your energy. It’s the power of your focused thought to consider things that helps other people as you see opportunities to bring people together and move into ways that actually support people to be the best of themselves.”
– Mary Alice Arthur, story activist and author
“All you need to do is ask a question, and I discover a new piece and learn something! You’ve helped me discover the knowledge I already have and the potential for more. I can’t believe what I’ve learned.”
– Kevin rocke, software developer
Helping a First-time Manager
Vikas (not his real name) was about to step into a leadership position for the first time. His new position had inherited serious personnel issues with critical project deadlines. His manager asked me to support Vikas so that he could ask questions of me without appearing ignorant in front of management or peers. The agreement was that Vikas could call me anytime between certain hours of the day.
It was Vikas job to initiate the call. It was my job to respond to his questions and to assure that he was tackling the right management issues. About once a week, we talked for 30 minutes to an hour. Within a month, the calls became shorter. In three months, the calls were monthly.
By the end of six months, Vikas said, “You never gave me the answer, but you always asked the question that made me see the issue in a new way – a way that suggested the answer. Only when I saw it did you explain why that was the right choice. I learned more about management than I thought possible during this short time. The staff are productive, and we’ve met deadlines.”
A CEO Engages in a Dialogue of Discovery
When a seasoned executive wanted to reach for another level, I suggested that we talk about his desires in a particular format. We began by setting a specific question we would explore together. Instead of talking, we each wrote our response with a target of so many words, say, 400. After exchanging our pieces, we agreed to write again individually on the same question but in about half the number of words, sharing our pieces again only when they were finished.
We repeated this approach (called Essays in Two Words) until we were down to about 30 words each. The clarity of the issue posed by the original question was illuminating and continues to feed our conversations.
We’ll return to this approach when we meet the next question that needs careful exploration.
A Young Person Prepares for Her Next Step
Stephanie (not her real name) was 16 and knows that next year, she must make a decision about college. She is a serious athlete who is willing to work hard in many sports to help her gain access to the college of her choice. She was asking herself how to choose which colleges she should apply to and then decide among those where she was accepted.
I began working with Stephanie once a month. We spent about an hour together each session. Once I had a good sense of what she wanted to do even beyond college, I asked her to list the reasons why she would like to go to a college – everything from a strong track program (she is an avid athlete doing serious work in track along with several other sports) to meal programs. I was impressed with her incredible commitment to both her scholastics and sports.
By our second meeting, she had clearly identified 15 criteria. With guidance, she created over the next month, a decision matrix with those 15 criteria on the left and about 11 colleges across the top of her matrix. She was beginning to feel more in control of this decision.
Concerned with finances, she wanted to explore the military as an option. I arranged for her to talk with a young woman, maybe 10 years older than she, to talk about the young woman’s personal experience in the Army. The conversation led to a real expansion of the possibilities both pro and con.
We then focused on her intended desire to become a lawyer who worked with international clients. To help her understand more about the law, I arranged for a meeting between her and a prominent international lawyer. When they talked, the questions she asked were well prepared and some were surprising to the lawyer. The lawyer answered her questions authentically. Her confidence in asking someone much older than she, much more accomplished than she, shone as she asked her questions and reacted to his responses. There was not a doubt in her voice about why she was asking the questions and how she truly valued his responses. The hours of discussion of her dreams and criteria had truly prepared her.
Later in the year, Stephanie shared with me that all the recruiters who came to her school remarked on how she asked the ‘best questions’. I told her that when she does decide which college she will attend, she will know how to make the choice and exactly why.
Selecting a college is critical for a young person. Knowing that her decision is coming from her own criteria is empowering. According to her mother, “My daughter has grown so much from the work she has done with you.”
Walking into a Dark Room That Needs Light
Our agreement was that Chuck (not his real name) could give me a call when he needed to talk. He could simply text, ‘Can we talk now?’ When I said yes, the call might last two hours.
The problem was a working environment totally new to Chuck – new industry, new level of goals. It was the first time he had any direct managerial responsibility. As Chuck began to understand the situation, he seemed to know when to call me – those moments when he just didn’t understand what was being asked of him by a management that was informal yet demanding.
It was agreed that I would listen to his explanation of the situation and offer theory to explain the factors that were likely at play. He was to make his choice of action. Over the course of two years, his reaction to our periodic conversations was, “I always learn from you even when we are not talking about my issues. You are a great teacher.”
At the end of those two years, he had learned enough to know that he was ready for his own business. He left, knowing exactly why he was doing so and with no regrets. Chuck now successfully runs his own business.