Chief Change Officer Podcast Summary: Episode #226 – Sara Lobkovich: Why Playing Life on Hard Mode Might Be Your Best Advantage – Part One
Podcast Information:
- Title: Chief Change Officer
- Host: Vince Chan
- Episode: #226 Sara Lobkovich: Why Playing Life on Hard Mode Might Be Your Best Advantage – Part One
- Release Date: March 13, 2025
- Description: Sara Lobkovich explores the benefits of embracing challenges and playing life on hard mode to achieve personal and professional growth. This episode delves into her journey, the formation of her purpose, and the tools she developed to help others outgrow themselves.
Introduction
Vince Chan opens the episode by introducing Sara Lobkovich, highlighting her as a strategic coach and "goal nerd." He emphasizes that Sara is part of various groups, including introverts, ADHD individuals, those on the autism spectrum, and trauma survivors. Vince sets the stage for a two-part discussion, focusing first on Sara's personal story and the experiences that have shaped her current purpose.
Sara's Background and Early Influences
Sara Lobkovich (06:54): Sara hails from Port Townsend, a small, arts-centric town on the Olympic Peninsula in Western Washington. Her upbringing in a creative environment, nurtured by public employee parents, fostered her early passion for activism and creativity.
Notable Quote:
"I successfully petitioned our cafeteria ladies for milk equality... It gave me a way to feel like I was driving in my career instead of just trying to mind read and understand what everyone else was expecting of me." (12:46)
Career Beginnings:
- Early Technology Exposure: Co-founded an Internet content company in the mid-90s during high school, gaining early experience in online communities and content creation.
- Law Practice: Transitioned to practicing law for nearly five years, seeking a way to help people directly.
- Shift to Strategy: Due to life circumstances, Sara moved from self-employment as a lawyer to roles in outreach and marketing, eventually focusing on strategy.
Transformation and Finding Purpose
Sara's Career Transitions: Sara describes her career as nonlinear, often shifting roles based on her interests and the opportunities available. Early frustrations included roles that required minimal input compared to her enthusiasm and capabilities, leading to what she refers to as "job hopping." With guidance from a career coach, she rebranded this as being a "scanner"—someone with varied interests and a passion for exploration.
Burnout and the Birth of Goal Setting (06:27): Sara experienced significant burnout while leading strategy teams, predominantly due to relentless travel and lack of personal goals. This period led her to develop a passion for goal setting in 2016, which became a pivotal point in her career. She emphasizes the importance of self-set, measurable goals to drive personal and professional satisfaction.
Notable Quote:
"Curiosity is an antidote to anxiety. It's an antidote to stuckness." (23:19)
Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Curiosity
Managing Stuckness: Sara explains how her intense curiosity helped her navigate periods of feeling stuck. Instead of succumbing to frustration, she reframed challenges as learning opportunities, akin to earning a "mini MBA." This mindset shifted her perception from suffering to growth, allowing her to continuously evolve.
Examples of Resilience:
- Dream Job Misalignment: Despite landing what she believed was her dream job, it turned out to be misaligned with her expectations. Sara leveraged this experience as a learning opportunity to understand enterprise environments better.
- Building Relationships: Even in less-than-ideal roles, Sara valued the relationships and lessons learned, demonstrating her ability to find positives in challenging situations.
Insights on Strategy Consulting
Misconceptions About Strategy Consultants (30:30): Sara addresses common myths surrounding strategy consultants, particularly those associated with prestigious firms like McKinsey or BCG. She differentiates between the stereotypical image of a strategist and the reality of her experience in smaller agencies.
Key Points:
- Strategy vs. Intelligence: Being a strategist is not synonymous with being the smartest person in the room. It's about curiosity, asking the right questions, and developing insights.
- Democratizing Strategy: Sara aims to make strategy accessible, emphasizing human-centric insights over rigid frameworks and expensive presentations.
- Collaborative Approach: She envisions strategy as a collective, creative process rather than a top-down, hierarchical practice.
Notable Quote:
"Strategy is your questions. Strategy is the curiosity to ask questions that yield facts and observations and possibility that wasn't there before the questions were asked." (30:30)
Upcoming Book and Future Discussions
Sara's Book: "You Are Astrologist. Use No BS Objectives and Key Results to Get Big Things Done": Sara is set to publish her book, which encapsulates her philosophy on goal setting and strategic planning. The book aims to provide practical tools and insights without the fluff, aligning with her no-nonsense approach to personal and professional growth.
Future Episode Tease (37:27): Vince hints at continuing Sara’s story in the next episode, where they will delve deeper into her book, her audience, objectives, and vision.
Conclusion
Vince Chan wraps up the episode by thanking Sara for her insights and encouraging listeners to subscribe, leave reviews, and follow the podcast on various platforms. He reinforces the podcast’s mission to help listeners outgrow themselves and achieve extraordinary outcomes.
Key Takeaways
- Embrace Nonlinearity: Sara’s career path illustrates that embracing varied interests and nonlinear transitions can lead to profound personal growth and fulfillment.
- Power of Curiosity: Maintaining an intensely curious mindset can serve as a powerful tool to overcome feelings of being stuck and drive continuous learning.
- Redefining Strategy: Strategy should be viewed as a collaborative, inquisitive process focused on human-centric solutions rather than merely a display of intelligence or adherence to rigid frameworks.
- Goal Setting as a Superpower: Self-set, measurable goals can transform professional burnout into a pathway for purposeful action and satisfaction.
Notable Quotes with Timestamps
-
Sara Lobkovich (12:46):
"I successfully petitioned our cafeteria ladies for milk equality... It gave me a way to feel like I was driving in my career instead of just trying to mind read and understand what everyone else was expecting of me."
-
Sara Lobkovich (23:19):
"Curiosity is an antidote to anxiety. It's an antidote to stuckness."
-
Sara Lobkovich (30:30):
"Strategy is your questions. Strategy is the curiosity to ask questions that yield facts and observations and possibility that wasn't there before the questions were asked."
Final Thoughts
Sara Lobkovich's journey, as shared in this episode, underscores the importance of aligning one's career with personal passions and intrinsic motivations. Her emphasis on curiosity, strategic thinking, and self-defined goals provides a roadmap for listeners striving to outgrow themselves and navigate their professional landscapes with purpose and resilience.
For those eager to explore Sara’s methodologies further, stay tuned for Part Two of this episode, where she delves into her book's core concepts, audience, and vision.
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