We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Laurie Hall. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Laurie below.
Laurie, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome is an interesting term that gained significant traction with most of us in the last 20 years. It was first used in the late 70s and considered a phenomenon vs. a syndrome. How many feel a relationship with imposter syndrome (or imposter phenomenon)? Probably ALL OF US! Isn’t that the point? If we all feel like imposters sometimes then no one is really an imposter. We’re all just doing the best we can.
Dr. Brene Brown helped us realize courage and vulnerability are two sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other. But being vulnerable is so scary. It’s nothing short of a faith journey to step into the unknown and trust you’ll be okay even if you wildly fail. That’s what overcoming imposter syndrome is all about.
In 2008, I had the opportunity to travel internationally for my job with NASA to the International Space Studies Program in Barcelona, Spain. It was life-changing. I was so jazzed to be around almost 250 other amazing people from all around the globe sharing my interest in life on our planet and beyond.
Many said, “Laurie, you’re already at NASA. You achieved what most of us are trying to get already.” I hadn’t thought of it like that at the time. I was a life-long learner and this felt like the next logical step. Looking back on it now, I realize their feedback created a juxtaposition that catalyzed significant awareness of what I really, really wanted when I returned to Houston, Texas at the end of the summer.
I was working on NASAs next crewed vehicle, Orion. However, the program was at the stage where long meetings, pontification about possible risks vs. rewards, and lack of clear decisions were causing a lot of frustration. Especially for me! I couldn’t help but think, “If this is what everyone else wants so badly, I should be grateful I have this job.”
I started going to the NASA Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to figure out why I didn’t love what everyone else thought I “should” anymore. What was wrong with me? That was the beginning of what turned into a massive career change and significant life shift, and a big dose of awareness on imposter syndrome
I had defined my worth by my job, by what I was doing, what I accomplished, and what other people thought of it all. I never would have told you I was defined my worthiness in that way until I confronted the possibility that what I was doing might not be what I wanted to KEEP doing.
It turns out, we are worthy of love and belonging. Period. When this reality became present for me, it released an enormous amount of “should, supposed to, ought to” in my life. It helped me realize I didn’t need to do anything that didn’t align with my values. AND, I was 100% responsible for myself and the impact of my actions. This created a ripple effect in my relationships and behaviors as I started setting significantly healthier boundaries.
I’m no longer trying to please anyone, prove anything, or do things that don’t align with my current values. I am working to let my unique light shine as brightly as possible, as much as possible. After leaving NASA and starting New Horizon Strategies, I am honored to work with others on this same journey of releasing their “should” and determining their unique paths. I’ve never felt more alive.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
New Horizon Strategies was born of the desire to see the impact we had on people’s lives more directly. In 2011, Laurie, founder and CEO, started this company to help the professional world COME ALIVE. Howard Thurman’s quote is specifically motivating here, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do it. Because what the world really needs are people who have come alive.”
We are a team of experienced facilitators, coaches, consultants, and speakers who help leaders get bigger breakthroughs faster. If you’ve experienced great coaching or facilitation, you know what this is already. Transformation is what happens when we gain awareness on our deeper belief systems and whether or not they’re still working for us.
Here is an example. Leaders often bring up this question in coaching sessions. “I want to do the best job I can, and I’m bending, flexing, and supporting my team, but it doesn’t seem like it’s working and I’m EXHAUSTED.”
After understanding ourselves and our hopes, dreams, experiences, values, and belief systems, we often unearth they why behind what we’re. Perhaps a leader has a hidden belief “if I’m not working so hard I’m exhausted then I’m not doing enough.” Perhaps a leader has a belief that “I’m supposed to provide everything my team needs.” Perhaps another leader has a belief that “I’m a servant leader, and that means I support them no matter what.” But, if there’s a fire alarm going off, I don’t want a servant leader, I need a militant leader telling me where to go! Being aware of our beliefs help them work with us vs. against us as we shift and flex our styles to support each unique situation and person we’re trying to have an impact with.
Organizationally, working with more than one person at a time is when facilitation or group/team coaching comes up. Awareness is still a huge part of the transformational shift. What typically happens after a group gains awareness together is ALIGNMENT. This is where change efforts sustainably start (vs. just putting the plan in place). Making sure people are aligned (and included) is fundamental in successful change management initiatives.
These are just two examples of where we support our clients in those “Ah Ha” moments. Please visit www.NewHorizonStrategies.com for additional information.
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 Jim Loehr says in, “The Power of Story” our lives don’t always make sense when we’re driving into the unknown. Why did things happen this way? But, when we look in the rear-view mirror, we can often see how things relate to each other to connect and create learning, opportunities, and awareness.
Looking back, it’s more obvious now why I was so disgruntled and starting to feel like I wasn’t making a difference. I have a tremendous value regarding having a positive, sustainable impact in people’s lives. I don’t know WHY that’s such a huge value; it just is. And it’s critical I’m aware of it.
It makes me feel ALIVE when I see someone’s light. And it’s SOUL payment to help them pull back the layers and dust off the layers preventing our light from shining like the sun. It’s contagious to see others’ light. We want to shine ours, too.
I also have a mischievous spirit. My parents had quite a challenge to keep me in line (thanks Mom and Dad!). If someone told me it had to be a certain way, it was almost an invitation to see if there really was only ONE way to do it. What really is RIGHT, anyway? As a recovering engineer, there are two areas that are 100% right or wrong all the time: math and death. Other than that, we’re all just doing the best we can with the information we have at the time. And it might be “right”, and it might not. But, we never learn if we don’t try, and trust ourselves to be okay with the consequences.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.NewHorizonStrategies.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/new-horizon-strategies-llc/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NHS_coach
