With so much at risk, nothing felt risky.
With so much at risk, nothing felt risky to me.
After three decades leading sales and marketing teams for big-name media companies like Martha Stewart and Fast Company, today I’m a thought partner to high-achieving leaders.
I help them see what they can’t see and see what they can see more clearly to lead more powerfully with more impact.
This is my superpower.
Google defines a personal superpower as an individual’s unique and exceptional strength, talent, or ability. It sets them apart and makes them extraordinary in their own way.
I discovered my superpower during a personal crisis.
I held my first ‘Your Extraordinary Life’ workshop with eight women. I thought it was a one-off. But that morning, I felt a tidal shift inside me. A fire inside me was reignited. Like I’d come home to myself.
But at the same time, I didn’t feel well. I went for a blood test, and a day later, my doctor entered the ER with life-changing words.
“Christina, this is more serious than we originally thought.”
Getting diagnosed with AML Leukemia was one of the worst possible things I could have ever imagined. Would I lose my hair? Would my children be left without a Mom? Why me?
But a funny thing happened in that moment of crisis.
I had no choice but to slow down from the high-achieving and unhappy treadmill. Spending five weeks in the hospital and a year at home away from people carrying germs granted me a unique opportunity to stop complaining about my career, mistakes, and misfortunes.
While my life was at risk, outside of treatment, nothing felt risky to me.
What if I could go big with my life?
Why not?
If I survived, I could change my life, my career, my impact.
Could I launch my coaching and consulting business from the hospital?
Could I write a book?
Could I create a website?
Could I enroll in coaching certification?
Could I launch a 30-day coaching challenge?
I got to work exploring, discovering, learning, embracing, and letting go of expectations.
I turned the what-ifs into possibilities and did all of those things.
On one of those first coaching phone calls from the hospital, a new client asked about the beeping sounds. The intermitted beeps were coming from my IV. I had not shared that I was in the hospital. It was a crazy time filled with so much hope and fight.
In those initial moments of diagnosis, I felt robbed that I had finally discovered my superpower, and now I couldn't use it.
With possibility thinking, the violation of cancer was not going to hold me back.
I recently led a workshop for a global food brand that wanted to reignite the leadership team of a critical employee resource group.
We opened with each person sharing their superpower.
I asked them to go bold. Not to be humble. It was a no-judgment zone.
As we listed their superpowers on a flip chart, they began to see the team through a new lens of potential. There was a swell of confidence that came with those superpowers, and they could feel new possibilities. Their collective superpowers were the ingredients to their success.
They now had a roster they could turn to when they needed a planner, a risk-taker, or a process expert.
Superpowers come naturally to some. It took me a long time to see and believe in my superpower.
My story is not exceptional. I am an example of what is possible. And I am no different than you.
Don’t wait for a health crisis or burnout or quiet quitting at work to discover yours. Don't let living on default keep you from living a life driven by your superpower.
Superpowers can be honed and developed over time. To give you fuel in the moments of crisis or challenge. To help you create your most extraordinary life.
You are the C.E.O. of You.
You are extraordinary.
You are the biggest influencer in your life.
With that and your superpower, as Dr. Seuss' book says, Oh, The Places You Will Go!
How will you use your superpower this week to make a difference for yourself and the lives of others?
P.S. My book, For Success Sake! Simple Steps for Extraordinary Possibility in Leadership and Life is the outcome of my work to discover my superpower. If you are looking for inspiration along with step-by-step exercises, this easy read might just change your life. It also makes a great holiday gift for your team. It's available on Amazon.
If you are considering working with a High-Performance Success Coach or want to know more about the components of a coaching engagement, let’s get on a coaching call. As a business coach for women entrepreneurs, Executives, and Teams, my proven engagement method is highly results driven.
The question I get most frequently is, ‘What results can I achieve?’ Here’s what one client shared:
“Coaching is by far the most ROI-positive investment you can make in yourself. Do it! Even if you go in with a specific issue or question, you will be amazed by how the process can change your thinking about who you are, your skills, and where you want to go.”
You can wait for life to no longer be hard. If you are a dreamer and a doer, let’s have a conversation.
High-performance success coaching and business coaching, and life coaching combined for massive value and impact on your life and business.
