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Chief Change Officer™
#402 Helen Hanison: Success Isn’t Always Success — Part Two
00:28:29
From boardroom glam to internal jam—Helen Hanison looked like she had it all, until she couldn’t ignore the quiet misery that came with it. In part one, she breaks down how a supposedly perfect career became unbearable, why she walked away from the PR life, and what it takes to find real meaning on the other side.
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- [00:14]
Vince Chen
Hi everyone. Welcome to our show. Chief Change Officer, I'm Vince Chen, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist community for change. Progressives in organizational and human transformation from around the world. What happens when your shiny successful career starts to feel like a trap? Helen Henderson has the answer. She went from board level PR executive to career coach after realizing that the ladder she was climbing was leaning on the wrong wall. In this two part series, Helen shares how she hit pause, got unstuck and built a career that actually fits. We'll talk about career detour, tough choices, and why midlife isn't a crisis is a chance to redesign. If your job looks great on paper but feels like sandpaper, this one is for you. Let's get into it. Let's dig into the boat. Now you structure it into three X, Act 1, Alignment, Act 2, Career Redesign, and Act 3, Transformation. First, why did you choose these three as the core structure? Why start with alignment? Why follow that with career redesign and then end with transformation? And second, for each of these acts, what are the key takeaways or core messages you would want readers to walk away with?
- [02:48]
Helen Henderson
Let's start with Act 1, the act of Alignment. To me, the act of alignment is an important foundational step for everyone in career redesign. And I'm pretty insistent actually that we give this proper time and attention at the beginning of working with somebody. Because otherwise if we don't hesitate there on purpose and take inventory, what happens is I'm helping somebody kick the can down the road of what they think or assume the right problem to solve. Is now maybe I'm supporting them, but I'm just supporting their own thought process that they would have had without me. What I'm trying to do very deliberately here is, is say, let's go back to basics. We build a career compass. A very personal, highly bespoke, and it's made up of three components. One is strengths. And I find the professionals I work with tend to be pretty fluent at talking to their own strengths. They build careers on them, they've heard them in appraisals, they're aware of what other people give value to about them and their work. However, if you're feeling very disconnected from what you do, you might not be owning them as much as you used to, or you might feel very disconnected from them. You might be discounting them altogether, assuming everybody has them. So there's something there. And that's important because for any career redesigned to be robust, it needs to be strengths based or else we're in fantasy land. What we can do so it's important, but it isn't as important as values. So we very quickly move on to the value of values. Because behead directional we need to utilize our strengths in order to express our values. So values are less easy for people to access, they operate under the consciousness. But put very simply for time now it's what do you want to stand for? What are the most important drivers for you in life? Because that's what we need to your career to have synergy with. We need to have some kind of logic link between what you do and what you feel is most meaningful. And then we wrap it all up with a sense of purpose. So we start to get a bit more action oriented about living into those values if you like. What is going to feel purposeful now? It's a verb. What are you doing to achieve that feeling, that alive and aligned feeling now Act 2 is really like the meat in the sandwich is career redesign. And it's a completely different gear again. It's all about action. How do we convert that radical self awareness, that incredible career clarity we've got in Act 1 into our real world now? And we translate that into a series of pilot tests. We start thinking about a number of different career designs that have merit, that feel resonant for you. So that starts to dispel the myth that there's one true pathway you should be on or used to be on or wish you were on. It's there's a number of ideas and once you can start to see that, you can start collecting experiences or collecting conversations or both and just testing the. I suppose it's like, can't say that today, stress testing your own ideation because there's no risk that way. You, you've already put yourself in the environments in some way or given yourself exposure to different ideas to before you make any dramatic moves or big leaps. And so it's an agile career design is very agile. You keep attracting incoming information, you keep testing, you keep tweaking and so you're always iterating, always moving though. And that's the fastest route to transformation, which is the third act. The act of transformation is really because even the best of career designs aren't enough all on their own. We need the mindset mastery to strive long enough to actually succeed, to understand how to encounter the inevitable obstacles and barriers and not get thrown off track. And that takes a certain amount of learning to interrupt our inner critics and anticipating practical barriers and obstacles and having the resilience and the tools to keep moving forwards anyway. And yeah, that's all three.
- [07:16]
Vince Chen
Yes, for this podcast, I always say it's about walk the walk, talk to talk leadership. I like to talk to guests who have gone through real change themselves. Not just sharing advice, but lived experience. That's the kind of value I want to bring here. Now, when I skim through your book, one word really stood out, which is hope Map. What is it? Can you walk us through the idea?
- [07:55]
Helen Henderson
Yeah, sure. Hope mapping is in the act of transformation and it's an important part of protecting your plans. Because if we can anticipate obstacles and do the cognitive heavy lifting to decide how we would navigate them if they show up, it's not as hard when they do. Hope mapping is actually a psychology tool. I wish I could claim it as my own, but it's actually from a psychologist called William Schneider. And there's seven steps to it and this is explained in depth. And in fact, I think the QR code in that chapter leads through to your own. You really get the chance to use all the tools that my one to one clients get to use in coaching. Having had the explainer in in the book, what it does is really help you think about worst case scenarios and then what would you do if and make implementation plans. So the happens is you've got away literally on the map. It's a map of grids, if you like, when, yes, I wish I could have I had one quick enough to hold up. But you'll see it. It's a map of grids. It's a bit like one of those complete your own stories where if something happens, you go to that box on the right and if the other thing happens, you go to the box on the left. What you don't do is stop. You don't need to get stuck. You have the answers already down. And I think that is really such an important part of getting into that final stage of action with career redesign, because it is challenging, it is disruptive, inevitably any changes. And if you get wobbled off as you go through, what you find is you'll lose track of where you are, you'll lose hope, you'll have doubts that settle in and start getting louder. And that might seem like a reasonable, valid signpost to a bought mission and it's the thing you can do. I think what I always say to people who are feeling at that point, the problems are coming at them, they're that close. But now there's this obstacle that threatens the entire thing. You are that close and the growth you actually want for yourself and the hope that you've held close for yourself is just the other side of navigating this. So don't stop now. The only short way to fail is to give up trying. So that's why the hope map is so important. It's actually a very practical tool and psychology backed. Now you asked about protecting hope and I think that to me is actually all about the resilience involved. And that's a bit more self talk. It's understanding how to nurture yourself through what might become hard. And that can be about interrupting inner critics whose voice is almost indiscernible from your own thoughts about this plan isn't good enough. This is too risky. It's not responsible to keep trying whatever it is that comes up for you, it's important to acknowledge it. A lot of people want to avoid those thoughts and squash them, or they feel like they're actionable instructions to stop trying. And that is somehow valid. But what's important to know is those somewhat negative sort of dialogues that pop up for us probably stem from something that was valid in the past. We don't need to carry them, they're outdated stories for today. So it's about looking at them and thinking. So hang on, what's the anxiety here? If that's the message from my inner critic, fear of failure or fear of success sometimes, what can I do about that? How would I dilute that? So we're not ignoring or avoiding the message, we're actually embracing it and using it to spark some kind of action. So it's a bit like the hope map, although that tends to be practical. But it's the same idea again. Let's embrace the things that threaten to hold us stuck again, albeit down the line, and do something actionable to make sure that doesn't happen and then call time. That's enough from the inner critics and that's enough doubt. So you back yourself. You've done the thinking by this point, really quite in depth thinking, and you deserve to carry that through to its eventuality.
- [12:44]
Vince Chen
Yeah. As you were explaining, it reminded me of something a career coach asked me years ago. He said, vince, what would you do if you couldn't fail? I remember being younger and not really knowing how to answer that question, but it stuck with me. Change is always hard. It comes with risk, uncertainty, setbacks. And like you said, once you've made the decision, don't stop. Think ahead, map out the possible risks, anticipate the bombs. I study finance, so I tend to look at everything through that lens. In finance, we Calculate risks, reprice them. We build models to manage them. But in life, most risks cannot be measured on a spreadsheet. So, yeah, sometimes you have to take a step forward, even when you are unsure. And if one path doesn't work out, it's not the end. You still got options. Hitting a wall doesn't mean full stop. That's one of the biggest takeaways I've gotten from our conversation today.
- [14:16]
Helen Henderson
Yeah, no, I love that. Actually, it's not a full stop. It's a comma. I often say hitting. Sometimes we need to hit the wall. If you think of a wall in terms of a swimming pool, your swim lengths, you do hit the wall, but it also gives you the impetus and the momentum you need to push up again in a different direction. And I do think career redesign, it is not linear. I don't think anybody's career, or life for that matter, is linear. It's more like zigzags. And so long as we understand we keep. We're motivated to keep on point because we know our why. We uncovered that in the value of values and unpacked our purpose. And I think if you have that motivation behind you, you never want to stop figuring it out. And maybe career redesign is the problem you never stop solving and never want to is an agile. I think we're talking about career agility. And it's that agile mindset of thinking about your career as if it's a series of projects rather than one ladder or one linear journey that really helps people keep going.
- [15:15]
Vince Chen
I really like the swimming pool analogy because I enjoy swimming myself. I get it. Sometimes you just need to pause, catch your breath. You're tired and you need a break. But after the rest, you get your energy back. You keep moving, you keep breathing. Even when your head underwater, there's a rhythm to it. We've overran a bit, but I have one or two more quick questions because they tied right into this idea of. Of transformation. You mentioned earlier something that stuck with me, which is don't get stuck in the past or the present. Could you say more about what you mean by that?
- [16:12]
Helen Henderson
So I think we've talked a little bit about inner critics. Getting stuck in the past really, to me means what stories are you telling yourself? What stories have you carried with you from your past? And it might not be your past career chapters, it might be way further back. But they are beliefs. They will appear as if they're beliefs you feel are as solid as truth. However, if you are stuck in work that's wrong and struggling or overwhelmed and disconnected, then it's worth tracking what stories are holding you there. Is there a story? Or I can only do what I've always done. Is there a story of. It would be such a waste to just look away from everything I've achieved. Is there a story of Is too long way down at this point of being successful to try something new? It's too late for me. What are the stories? Where have they come from? Are they social prescriptions? Are they things that your family brought you up on or maybe didn't mean to, but inadvertently, that's what you saw Model, what are they? Because if you can make their origins, the origin story, visible, then you start to give yourself permission to unpack them and really question is that serving me to make my choices through the lens of these stories? So that's the past. The present is again, this idea of persevering. And if you think I'm feeling like I want to hold the book up again, but if you're that person in the circle, and you know you're probably excellent at persevering in your profession, because we have been absolutely weaned on this idea that perseverance is a virtue, but it isn't if it's holding you stuck, violating your values and has you loathing what you do, even if it used to make sense. So it, it's again, just giving yourself permission to meet yourself where you are today, not where your past self put you, and just question what serves, what is actually going to get you closer to the hopes and vision that you hold for yourself? Because that isn't often the same as staying where you feel stuck. It's time. It's a call to action, isn't it? It's time to. To at least open up about what career redesign might mean for your next chapter.
- [18:45]
Vince Chen
I really like the circle metaphor. I think that captures the main idea of your book as well. So this is really my last question for our interview. Your book is called Unstuck A Smart Guide to a Purposeful Career. What are some of the unsmart things people tend to do when they feel stuck?
- [19:18]
Helen Henderson
Yeah, easily. I think if I go through the apps, if I do it in order, then what I would say is the first thing that would not be smart would be not to take the time to get all that career clarity. Because really, I think for anyone, unless you can understand what you are strongest at, but also enjoy most, that lights you up and feels purposeful to you, then there is no career design that you know will be aligned with that you haven't taken the time to understand what it needs to align with if you're going to feel fulfilled. So that would be the first big red flag for me. The second one would be to have an idea that you're very married to. People who have a singular idea that they're very married to often find it very hard. In psychology they call it anchoring. And you've probably heard of this throughout the financial sort of side of life. But it's the same in this lane. Whatever idea you come up with first, you're not ever so prepared or flexible about moving too far from. So that is why in career redesign we start ideating and we come up with a minimum of three career life designs that you find attractive and appealing. You don't have to do them all. We've only one person, but we do have to come up with them and think about them and move into them in quite a bit of depth. So that would be the other unsmart thing to be married to one hope or idea. There's a sort of part two with that one of not trying, not pilot testing the idea, not stress testing it, not understanding how you respond when you expose yourself to this idea that you've had for yourself. Because how can any of us know if we really going to love that environment or this nature of work or be able to access it? It's very risky, I think, to give anything up without having first diluted the risk and tested it robustly. And then I think the final thing would be to think that you've done everything it needs, having gone through the thought process of aligning but also redesigning. Because the truth is transformation takes more than that. It takes this resilience and knowing how you top yours up when it feels like the levels are getting dangerously low. And that I think that would be unsmart not to take account of and I will admit bias, but I also think it would be unsmart not to put support in place, whether that is a coach or important others. Mentors, people who you really trust, have your best interests at heart, but know you and understand what you hope for yourself. Not to abdicate responsibility for your ideas, but to have input and an influx of other ideas and fresh thinking on them that just provoke thought. Yeah, that's probably quite a lot, but that's four, I think.
- [22:14]
Vince Chen
One last thing I want to say about community and support, whether it's a coach, a group of like minded people, or even just one person who gets matters so much, actually you probably don't Know this. None of my guests do. Each of you is part of my support system. Every time I talk to a guest from somewhere in the world, it reminds me that I'm doing the right thing with the podcast. There are moments, many moments, when I doubt myself. Of course, we all do. But these conversations with real people who care about change, they ground me. They remind me this is real, this work matters. So, yes, support systems are vital. That might mean hiring a coach, just like hiring a trainer when you go to the gym, or leaning on your family or siblings or friends, assuming they're all trustworthy and available, or simply having conversations with people who share your vision and feelings. That's how we stay afloat. That's how we keep going when things get messy or uncertain. And like you said, failure isn't part of the manual because if we keep moving, learning, adapting, we don't feel, we figure it out. That, to me, is the key.
- [23:55]
Helen Henderson
Exactly. I couldn't have said it much better yourself. And it's a privilege actually to hear you saying that these conversations help you something. And that's very flattering. So thank you for saying that.
- [24:10]
Vince Chen
No, I'm serious. Every single one of you, I mean it. Each week I get emails from different people saying, hey, I love to be on your show. Hey, I love to be on your show. And I talk to every one of them. For me, even it turns out they are not the right fit for the podcast. I still make a new connection, and most of the time they've already checked out my work before reaching out. So we are already aligned on some level and that's how we keep the engine moving. Failure, not an option. Stopping, also not an option.
- [24:57]
Helen Henderson
Nice. And that resilience will keep you in momentum, won't it? I think a lot of this is all. Is there a momentum game? Actually.
- [25:09]
Vince Chen
Before we conclude, is there anything I haven't asked that you would like to share? Something on your mind or something you feel is important for our audience to listen?
- [25:25]
Helen Henderson
I don't think I've got. We covered a lot and that's been. I agree it's been severally enjoyable, but really energizing. I don't think there's anything. I feel like that. That's a shame. I haven't been able to say that. I suppose it's the thing of where do people find me? So maybe the website is the obvious one. Helen Hannison.com But LinkedIn. I think I feel much the same as you. Meaningful connections will always be important to me. And that's the space I collect people so that that would be great and I think to get the book I would say let's pop a link in for that because I've just done or upgraded my sort of the page about the book. There's a bunch of offers and opportunities in only in there. So it is the right way for people to have a glimpse in and see if it's for them and get it if they want. I suppose the only other thing that we haven't talked about, but I don't know if you think it's an A value add would be there's a quiz that people might like to do to discover their ACT type. So if you're feeling a bit stuck in hesitation about where to start and you're not sure what version of stuckness you're struggling with, you just have this sort of quite ambiguous feeling. The ACT quiz is literally one minute. It's quite light, but it really does a good job of signposting whether you're stuck with the career clarity bit or you're stuck. You know exactly what you need to align with but you don't know the idea or how to move from A to B. Or it's this mindset mastery that is about transformation. So the quiz would be a fun, quick way to have an entry point into never getting stuck again.
- [27:16]
Vince Chen
And that ends our two part series with Helen Henderson. From breaking down limiting beliefs to mapping out purposeful action, Helen's approach flips the usual career advice on his head. Redesigning your work life isn't about powering through. It's about pausing, rethinking and making moves that actually match who you are. Now, hopefully you're walking away with fresh clarity and maybe even your own hope map. Thank you so much for joining us today. If you like what you heard, don't forget, subscribe to our show, Leave us top rated previews, check out our website and follow me on social media. I'm this Chen, your ambitious human host. Until next time, take care.