We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jennifer McClain. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jennifer below.
Jennifer, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I love this question, because I found my purpose in a place that was completely different from where I once thought I’d end up–and I’m a firm believer that even once we find it, our purpose isn’t necessarily static, but rather a living, breathing thing that can evolve and change over time.
Despite childhood dreams of becoming an attorney, I discovered a love for math and science and ended up majoring in computer science in college…and then “falling” into nonprofit work when I graduated into a tough market at the time for tech-related jobs. My supervisor at that nonprofit, who was the organization’s COO, challenged me to see “growth” not just as a higher paycheck–but asked me to figure out what I truly felt called to do. He advised me that if I had that answer, the other pieces (money, career path, etc.) would fall into place. I felt fulfilled working to help communities and the residents who live there to access support and resources and decided to continue that professional development path in the nonprofit industry by pursuing MBA and MPA (Master of Public Administration) graduate degrees and steadily growing my leadership in community development to a senior role at my current organization where I’ve worked for over 15 years.
My vision of my purpose changed again midway through my career when I participated in my first leadership development program in The Allstate Foundation Nonprofit Leadership Center’s Executive Leadership Program in partnership with Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management’s Center for Nonprofit Management here in the Chicago area. Through working with one of the Program’s Professors and my assigned Executive Coach, Dr. Nicholas Pearce, and reading his book, “The Purpose Path: A guide to pursuing your authentic life’s work,” I gained the confidence and renewed sense of purpose that I needed to plan for and launch my own business (which felt daunting while balancing a full-time job and a family, but I knew it was something that I was called to do!)
All of my experiences in life so far have also taught me that “purpose” isn’t something you find like a place on a map, and then once you get there you stay there. It’s a journey to even get there, to that place of finding your purpose, and finding it is only the first part! Once you find your purpose, you have to truly walk in your purpose, and that’s something I’ve been blessed to do–especially over these last few years since launching my business–and that I’ll continue to learn and grow in doing as I move through my life and career.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m a senior director at a national nonprofit community and economic development organization as well as the CEO & Founder of Mission ENSPIRE, a business that supports women, nonprofit professionals, and faith-based and nonprofit organizations define their purpose and operate at their fullest potential, through coaching, consulting, training and facilitation. I achieved a lifelong entrepreneurship dream when I launched Mission ENSPIRE several years ago, and it’s truly been my purpose and my passion to grow my business and build a community of women and organizations who Envision New Solutions and Possibilities that Inspire Results and Empowerment (the “ENSPIRE” part of my business’ name).
One recent milestone that I’m excited to celebrate is the one-year anniversary of launching my blog on the Mission ENSPIRE website. My blog is called Flourishing Fiercely, and it’s where I share some of the lessons I’ve learned and inspire my readers on each of their own unique paths to flourish fiercely. This was an important part of the vision I had for my business, since I wanted to be intentional about sharing resources, building community, and giving my audience a place to learn more about some of the practices, tips, and strategies that I’ve found helpful and even transformative in my own life and professional path. I hope the blog inspires my readers to reflect on their own journey and goals, and also gives an idea of some of the things my clients often dig deeper on with me in 1:1 coaching.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
As I reflect on my professional and personal journey, three of the most important qualities that have helped me get to where I am–and that I still reaffirm every day–are a commitment to lifelong learning, a curiosity for feedback, and self-reflection. In both my full-time job and my business, I’ve taken advantage of learning and development opportunities, formal and informal, from trainings and certification programs, to leadership development cohorts, to entrepreneur retreats.
My advice for folks early in their journey is to find professional development that meets you where you are, and then over time look for ways to grow and build on that development. In my case, at the start of my journey as a coach, I took several multi-day coaching and financial coaching trainings that were offered through my full-time job. I knew there were longer-term and more intensive coach credentialing programs out there, but I didn’t yet feel I had the experience to pursue those paths–nor the resources, since many of those types of programs can be quite costly. After I got some practice as a coach, I took a “train the trainer” training and gained more experience as a coach as well as a trainer training others in my community to be coaches. I continued to grow my own coaching practice, and then a few years ago, it finally felt like the right time to pursue my goal of certification from the International Coaching Federation, the “gold standard” of credentialing in the coaching industry. My years of experience gave me the confidence and laid the foundation for me to be selected for a fellowship with an organization called Coaching for Everyone that supports BIPOC professionals interested in becoming ICF credentialed coaches.
Finding mentors throughout my journey has also been so important to helping me learn and grow, and I try to pay it forward by serving as a mentor myself to colleagues who are starting out on their paths or looking to grow professionally. I’ve benefited so much from the guidance and advice of my mentors, and I find it equally gratifying to watch those individuals who I’ve mentored grow their leadership and achieve promotions and other professional milestones.
Finally, regular self-reflection has been–and continues to be–so impactful for me. Each year, I take some time to intentionally set goals for myself, and schedule regular points to “check in” on lessons I’ve learned, progress I’ve made toward those goals, or changes I might want to make as the year goes on. Just like many employees have a performance evaluation/review process at their jobs, it’s important to me to do this for and with myself. Self-reflection helps motivate me if I’ve gotten behind on a goal, and just as importantly, it helps remind me what I’ve accomplished and the importance of celebrating those smaller accomplishments on the way to achieving our bigger goals.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
First and foremost, as a coach, I strongly believe in taking a “strengths-based” approach. This means that I work with my clients to help them recognize their strengths (and in some cases, uncover strengths they might not realize they have or might not have thought of as strengths) and build on them. It can be overwhelming, discouraging, or demoralizing if we lose sight of what we’re good at and get bogged down in all the areas where we fear we’re falling short. Focusing on strengths helps keep the coaching dynamic in a supportive and action-oriented place. Having said that, it’s also important to recognize areas where perhaps you aren’t as strong, and think of ways to improve in those areas if it’s something that serves you and your purpose. In other words, I believe in supporting my clients to improve in a particular area if it’s important to them–not just because they think they should or they feel guilt or shame that it’s not already a strength. I like to connect back to the ideas of purpose and self-reflection when I think about that balance of focusing on strengths vs. improving in growth areas.
My facilitation journey is a good example of finding this balance in my own life. I’ve typically been more of an introverted person; putting myself out there or being the center of attention always feels a little out of my comfort zone, and even more so earlier in my career. You might not think that the role of a facilitator would be the natural fit for someone more introverted, given that this role often involves speaking in front of groups and sometimes having all eyes in the audience on you. When I first started facilitating meetings and trainings, it definitely took me out of my comfort zone! But I realized that I enjoyed being that person who could help drive a meeting agenda and help guide a group of colleagues or community members to have a productive discussion that feels like time well spent by the end of the meeting. I felt called to be that conduit who helps make sure that participants engage in the discussion and everyone feels that they have the opportunity to be heard as well as to listen.
I definitely felt nervous and self-conscious when I first started facilitating, but I took a formal facilitation training back in 2010, another in 2012, and several more throughout the years that each taught me different elements and components of effective facilitation and gave me more “tools” for my facilitator toolbox. I continue to take advantage of trainings and grow in my facilitation skills, but I’m proud of how far I’ve come in my skills and confidence since those early days (and that growth wouldn’t have happened if I stuck to focusing only on the things I thought I was good at all those years ago). I might not have identified public speaking and facilitating as a “strength” back then, but now facilitating interactive virtual and in-person meetings that inspire meaningful and inclusive dialog for my nonprofit clients is one of the core services that my business, Mission ENSPIRE, offers.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.missionenspire.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.mcclain.524
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferdmcclain1998/
- Other: https://missionenspire.com/blog/
