Helen Hanison

Introduce yourself to our audience. Tell us who you are and what you are currently focused on.

Helen Hanison

Tell us about your favorite Ellevate Network memory or success story. Why are you a member?

Actually, I ran a webinar all about career redesign and met some amazing Ellevate members - some of whom have gone on to be friends and clients. Honestly, I've been in squads and spoken at a really nourishing event in London - I have too many memories to pick just one! What runs through my history as a member though, is the support and camaraderie that is on offer in this community which is really rather unique I think!

How would you define your professional mission?

To help people who feel stuck in a cycle of solving their career problem on their own, make a fresh plan realigning work they love with what matters to them most.

What qualities does it take for someone to be successful in your line of work?

I would say qualities like communication skills are key - but that this is not so much the technical skillset of writing (although, personally I do love writing and am launching my first book today!), I mean more the intuition involved in really strong rapport skills. Powerful coaching is so much about cutting through someone's self-presentation and truly seeing (then illuminating for them to see) what is most important and what seems to be holding them stuck.

What is one of your most memorable career accomplishments?

Ah - definitely in focus today is the undertaking of writing a first book. It is called Unstuck: A Smart Guide to Purposeful Career Redesign and is the culmination of nearly a decade of leadership coaching showing me no matter what version of Stuckness someone brings to our coaching conversations (and there are as many as there are people I collaborate with) there are also commonalities in what it takes to get unstuck. The book is designed to lead readers through the formula and my strong intention is that it will not just be a stimulating read, but that readers will put the book down and act on the ideas in their real worlds so they can also get unstuck. Actually as much as it's going to be memorable for me to launch the book later today, it's that result for them that feels my more important, hoped-for accomplishment!

What are some career challenges on your radar?

Interesting question as I feel very challenged launching getting this book "out there". When we do the work and publish. Or speak, push record and network. When we pitch for new business or a promotion we’re ready for and really want. When we work hard and show up every day (well, most days). But feel in-between the land of good intentions and being recognised for what we do, it's challenging and uncomfortable. I think anyone who shares their ideas, books, and bodies of work probably understands. I also think that if whatever you do for work feels important to you, these same feelings will show up at those times you’re future-focused and actively trying to secure something that matters. When our confidence takes a hit in the slump of insufficient appreciation or progress, I think we all get transported to an uncomfortable in-between. I also think the last thing we should do then, is less. It’s tempting to get a bit smaller and quieter and retreat when we feel exposed, but I think the very fact our confidence is wavering also shows we’re on the cusp of something that matters to us. And one thing I know for certain, is that keeping secrets about work that matters is not actually going to help. As I prepare to put my debut book out there later today, I’m excited but also wondering and wavering. Will it make a difference to those who read it and need to get unstuck, will it add value to my coaching practice, will it ever be a bestseller!? I can’t know and the not-knowing needs to be ok. So I’m reminding myself that the most important thing for me was to capture the formula for purposeful career redesign that I’ve become so clear, helps people and package it up in a book. Which I’ve done, so - launching the book is a marker of success, as defined by me. It's also important for me to remember this work I love is a marathon not a sprint. Actually I believe that if what we do for work has us feeling alive and aligned, we won’t ever want to stop doing it and finding ways of working that reflect as ideas evolve is an important part of that aliveness. Not always comfortable or convenient, but another crucial marker of success.

What project have you worked on that you’re most proud of? Why?

I'm proud of a few things - I won't bring the book into this one although it's top of mind as I write. My mother died when I was a teenager and working with a bereavement charity was something I feel proud of. I think, whether it's helping others redesign their careers or recalibrate after adversity of another sort, the meaning-making comes from making sense of our own lived experience and offering support to help others feel their way forward, with the benefit of the kind of guidance, support and compassion you can only bring to things with the benefit of hindsight having gone through something similar yourself.

We’d love to hear more about your career path. What led you to where you are today?

Well, my career is a story of two chapters - first came a 20 year "tour of duty" in the worlds' largest PR firms, then a period I now think of as my Lost Years which were busy moving from the UK to the US and back again, and becoming a family. So fun, fulfilling and not always easy. Because there was an undercurrent of not knowing how to shape my next career chapter within all that. It eventually led to going all the way back to University to do a Psychology degree. I will always be proud of achieving a First Class Honours result but the more meaningful outcome for me was the jumping off point to my own purposeful career redesign! I have never stopped learning and training since - from leadership coaching training, positive psychology certifications and I'm a Narrative Therapist too! I feel like I utilise the same strengths, but get to point them to what feels meaningful these days and that matters to me.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

This is easy! It's undeniably helping people get unstuck. Often those I work with tip into a coaching relationship with me because they have been working to solve their career problem on their own, but recognise they got stuck in a cycle of never quite getting that right. Our work together is about understanding what any new career redesign plan needs to align with for them to feel purposeful doing it and really interrogating what the right problem to solve actually is. I feel as nourished as they tell me they feel support on the way through but the most rewarding part of my job is seeing their clarity kick in and confidence recalibrate to pursue what they want for themselves in their real world.

What legacy do you hope to leave through your work?

I'm never sure about legacy. If I think of legacy as something that endures and falls from my career story, that's ok - it's about making available the formula for purposeful career redesign. I shudder slightly if legacy is tied to ambitions to be important to a giant, global audience. For me, if xx individuals feel their coaching relationship, or engaging with my course or reading the book has made a meaningful difference to their getting unstuck, those individual touch-downs are the legacy I give value to.

What is it about your job that makes you feel it’s the right fit for you?

My role today feels more like a calling than a career. It feels right fit for me because it uses what I'm best at and enjoy most, but that also feels meaningful to me and helps others get unstuck.

Who are your role models?

I (not so) secretly envy someone called Miriam Aktar. She is a positive psychologist who I met on a positive psychology training years ago now. She's written a number of books and ever so well-respected in the space. What makes her a role model on top of those achievements is her career agility. She had a broadcasting career before she did her Masters in Positive Psychology and curated her next career chapter, having done that. At this point she's evolving again - realigning what she is best and enjoys most to run trainings and retreats in positive aging. It's her encore career and it's impressive to watch. I want to be like Miriam when I grow up!

What is your morning ritual?

Lemony water, green tea and reading until I feel awake for what's coming up in the day!

What is your favorite social media site? Why?

LinkedIn for me. I guess I've been on it for a long time and people are happy making strong connections there.

What would you say your personal superpower is?

Intuition. I've been told I read people spookily well. I think leadership coaching and narrative therapy have only helped accentuate this natural skill and I think illuminating the things that matter so someone can see it for themselves is something like a superpower!

What does success look like to you?

Making a difference to helping others get unstuck.

Is work-life balance a problem for you? What is one no-fail tactic you use to create balance?

I think work-life balance perhaps used to be a problem. At this point I've curated a way of doing work I love that fits with the life I want to lead an that has made a big difference obviously. I think the no-fail tactic to create - and protect - career-life balance is only about drawing - and honouring - strong boundaries, unless it is also about career congruence. There needs to be synergy between those things that matter to you and what you do for work. Then it's more about synergy and integration than it is about juggling time when the less important priority threatens your time for what matters more.

What advice would you offer future leading ladies wishing to break into your industry?

Do the very best, most rigorous coach training you can find. I trained with CTI and, being an unregulated market, I can tell the difference between that kind of training, developed by psychologists and demanding to do, compared to the short, online qualifers to calling oneself a coach.

What is the best career advice you ever received?

Think of your career as if it is a series of chapters and projects. It helps you give yourself permission to make small career shifts or make transformation happen if you build in a habit of reviewing what's lighting you up or depleting you about what you do, and design the next career chapter accordingly.

What is one piece of advice you’d offer working moms?

It's hard juggling career and mothering, as I know. It also changes over time - the children grow obviously, but what also evolves is what you give value to. I know it's a relentlessly busy chapter of life but I'd urge career mums to keep checking in with yourself about whether what you're doing lines up with what matters most. If not, that's good incoming information so long as you start exploring what it would take to realign work you love with the life you wish you were living.