How to Grow Professionally featuring Jennifer Fonseca

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:00:00

Having professional vision empowers you to take control of your own future, that you have control over your future and you can have influence over it. Like, you may not have influence or control over getting that promotion, but you can have influence over it by demonstrating that you're an excellent employee, taking initiative on projects that are related to your own strengths.

Kate Volman [: 00:00:22

This is Lead With Culture. I'm Kate Volman and on this episode we are talking about professional mastery and I am joined by Jennifer Fonseca, who is one of our certified dream managers. Jen, thanks so much for joining me today.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:00:39

Great to meet with you, Kate.

Kate Volman [: 00:00:41

This is going to be such a fun conversation because professional mastery is one of the sections in the Dream manager program. It's actually the last section before the final and it's really interesting to me how I feel like Matthew really was so intentional about where he placed all the different areas that we talk about, because the Dream Manager program is about your personal growth. So we talk so much about time and energy and spirituality and the genius of your personality and all these different areas of life, and then we get to professional mastery. So, Jen, why is professional mastery so important? Why is it one of the areas that we need to focus on in order to become the best version of ourselves?

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:01:27

Yes. Well, there's a great quote that I love. I can't remember the TEDx speaker, and I feel like I've said it so many times that it's become mine, but it's that job satisfaction does not come from what you do, but who you get to be when you're doing it. And when you think of it in that context, especially within, like, the dream manager program of becoming, you know, as Matthew Kelly says, the best version of yourself. Who's the best version of yourself? When you show up to work, when you show up to your career, when you show up professionally, it's not necessarily about the title or the pay bump or the things that you've achieved as much as, like, who do you get to be using your gifts, your talents, your strengths, all of those things. And I think thinking about having a professional vision of who you get to be, what that looks like, how you show up to the professional world and your career is really important. So it's not focused on just the doing. It's the human being part of who we are.

Kate Volman [: 00:02:29

Yeah, it's. It's. It's so interesting because we. And maybe it's become a little bit less over the years, but for so long it's been professional and then personal. Like, we try to split the two. And over the years, it's been a little different, just because of so many people working from home. And there's just been a lot of shifts in the workforce, obviously, but we are just one person at work and at home. And so to be able to focus on all of those different areas.

Kate Volman [: 00:03:02

And I love that idea of who you get to be. Who you get to be in all of those areas of fully integrated. Yeah, fully fully integrated.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:03:13

And just to throw in a little generational thing, I mean, Jen Zers especially, like, they want to go to work with a sense of purpose. It's not necessarily about the big seller, the title. It's like, does this resonate with who I am and my values and my contribution to the world? Like, those things are important to them, which is why they want to be coached and not managed.

Kate Volman [: 00:03:35

It is really interesting generationally, because I remember I would have conversations with my dad, and he was. And I'd be talking about, but you need to do what you love, and you need to be passionate and engaged at work. He's like, no, you need to just go to work and suck it up. So, very different conversations. Yeah, right before we jumped on, we were talking about the difference between mission and vision. And I think this is such an interesting conversation, especially around our professional dreams, because so often people talk about purpose. They talk about, hey, I want to have purpose in the work that I'm doing, but what does that actually mean? And so, same thing with mission and vision. I have a friend of mine who, he has a very clear, years ago, he created a very clear mission and vision of who he is, where he's going.

Kate Volman [: 00:04:26

And I don't meet many people that actually take the time to do that. So talk to us a little bit about mission versus vision.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:04:33

Sure. So mission is really about what you do. Right. So, for example, at Floyd, we grow people. That's our mission. Now, that mission can be lived out a bunch of different ways for us, that's through coaching other people. But you could take that mission statement and apply it somewhere else. And what they do is they have a learning center, an academy of some sort or training or certification.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:04:52

It could be a nonprofit that develops people somehow. So that's a mission, what you do. But a vision is very broad, future oriented, aspirational. It's like having a vision board, right, of, this is what I aspire to achieve or have or be, and I'm working towards that step by step by step.

Kate Volman [: 00:05:13

So how can someone create their mission and vision in the most simple way? Because most people over complicate, and they just put a lot. Like they want to get it perfect. I want to get it right. It needs to be this beautiful, glamorous type wording. So if someone is like, yeah, I want to. I want to create my mission and my professional mission and vision. What would you recommend that they do to get it on paper today? At least to get something down today?

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:05:42

Sure. Well, in terms of a professional vision, I like to take people through a visualization exercise where they literally close their eyes and visualize yourself, you know, whether it's five years, ten years, 20 years into the future. And what are you wearing? What's on the wall, what's the space look like? For some, it's like they're totally outdoors. For someone, it's an office. So then visualize what's on the office walls. Like, is it a diploma that you received a certification? Is it an award that you won for giving a TEDx talk or whatever? Begin to visualize with as much clarity as you can your future self, or it could even be at your retirement party. What are people saying about you? What was the impact and contribution that you want to have had? And just begin again with as much clarity as you can at whatever point in your professional journey you're at a. Whether it's at the start, in the middle, what do you want that to look like? And begin to write those things down.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:06:41

Now, in the dream manager program, we actually have some prompts that help people, to help them evaluate what's important to you. Is it recognition? Is it contribution to your field, being an expert in your field? Is it the salary? Is it the title? Is it your contribution to the community? So there's a series of prompts that kind of helps people to go along and figure out, like, well, what really is important to me, at least at this point in my life.

Kate Volman [: 00:07:10

So once they write all of that down, and that can be a lot, right? That's, like, a lot. That's a.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:07:16

It is.

Kate Volman [: 00:07:17

It's dreaming about that future self and who you are and what you look like, what are you doing and the skills that you've developed. Then how do they take that and really hone it into a simple one sentence or a couple sentences that really help give them that inspiration that they might need on a daily basis to become that person?

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:07:38

Yep. So it could be just what resonates with you most. Like, out of all the words, like, what keeps coming up, I look for the patterns and what someone is reflecting back and saying, and do a litmus test of seeing, like, does that word or phrase keep coming up? Because then that's something that they'll latch onto and remember, even if it's not a phrase, if it's just the visualization of this is what I picture, they just need to hold on to that vision, that vision of what it looks like, that's what's going to help them.

Kate Volman [: 00:08:10

You do a lot of dream manager coaching, and when you're going through this section with clients, what are some of the biggest takeaways that they've shared with you?

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:08:24

I think people do struggle a little bit with having a vision in the sense of some people think of it in terms of, like, climbing this corporate ladder. Like, this is the next natural progression in my career, but that may not align with their actual vision of what they see. And so having that vision to really, the big aha tends to be, you know, it's not about, like, okay, well, this is the next natural progression in my career. It's maybe this isn't what I really want. And really that self examination of what is it that I really want? And do I get to be my best self in that? And so there starts to be a clarity around making very intentional, strategic decisions with what the next step is or the thing that they need to learn in order to achieve that vision. So there's usually a pretty decent aha with some of the clients around. Oh, maybe this position isn't what I actually wanted. It's this other thing over here.

Kate Volman [: 00:09:27

Ooh, that's so interesting. That may, that really makes you become more intentional about where you are and being really honest with yourselves, especially because there are so many people that stay in a role and they continue to get promoted, or they're just been in a role for such a long time that they don't even recognize that there might be another opportunity, which, for leaders, it's a real opportunity for them to recognize what your people are really good at, like, what their superpowers are. I have a friend of mine who leads an organization, and it's remarkable because he has this person in a sales role, and he's fine, but it's, it's clearly, I was on a sales call with him, and I kind of, I called my friend after and I said, that was really interesting. And so we had this conversation, and he said, I know, and the guy's amazing. He's an, he's an awesome team member. He said, it's not his superpower. He loves the behind the scenes. He loves putting the client strategies together.

Kate Volman [: 00:10:34

He loves this. He loves this work. And so my friend is now strategically moving him from the role that he's in into a different role. And that person didn't even realize that was an option. He just thought, this is my job. This is what I'm doing. And so that's important for anyone to realize, oh, if you have a professional dream, it's okay to kind of go outside of where you think it fits. Like go outside the box and really dream the role that you're in.

Kate Volman [: 00:11:05

And then if you are in a situation now where you're in a role and you would want to go into something else in that organization, to have that conversation with your leader, to let.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:11:15

Him know, to acknowledge, okay, this isn't a superpower, but he has one. And instead of, like, forcing him to move out of the organization to find where would he fit best within the organization, I mean, that takes a great leader.

Kate Volman [: 00:11:30

Yes.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:11:31

It's like the good to great book. It's not just about getting on the right bus. You want to be in the right seat on the right bus.

Kate Volman [: 00:11:38

Yeah.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:11:39

And so sometimes it's not about getting on a different bus or getting on a different company. It's finding the role and a leader who can recognize, okay, he may not be great here, but over here, you would really shine.

Kate Volman [: 00:11:50

Yeah. Because that's the one thing that's challenging. You can't really teach people to care. You can't teach commitment to the mission. You can't. There's so many things that you can't teach, but there's so many things that you can. And so if you have someone in an organization and they are dedicated, committed, on board with the. The mission, all of those pieces, it's like, wait, do everything you can to find another role for them, because that is really challenging, to find someone who's hard working and is a lifelong learner.

Kate Volman [: 00:12:17

And we, at Floyd, we always say we look for three characteristics in a person, and it's committed, coachable, and aware. And if people are committed, coachable, and aware, keep those people figure out where to put them in the organization so that they shine, and then you shine and grow together. Um, all right, so you have, uh, you've created this three e's, and for professional development, let's hear what these three.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:12:40

So, these are the three e's of why someone or an organization would want their employees to have a professional vision. So the first is, it's empowering. Well, I'll tell you the three. Empowerment, engagement, and enlightenment. So, empowerment, instead of me sitting back as an employee or your employee sitting back and just like, I'm just going to do my job. I'm going to fulfill my job position. Having professional vision empowers you to take control of your own future, that you have control over your future, and you can have influence over it. Like, you may not have influence or control over getting that promotion, but you can have influence over it by demonstrating that you're an excellent employee, taking initiative on projects that are related to your own strengths.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:13:28

And I can give some examples for empowerment. There's a nonprofit that I work with and I coach a number of people and there's an entry level role, and a lot of them get in and they love the culture of the organization, but they feel like this isn't exactly where I see myself long term. But what I've noticed is the ones that take initiative. So I have one that every Friday he says a super fun email to everyone in the organization. And as a result of taking this initiative, being empowered to say, I don't see myself here long term, but I'm going to send out a fun Friday email that gets everyone engaged. He got an email from their content team saying, hey, we have a position open. Would you want to consider it? And that's in alignment with kind of where he sees himself in the future.

Kate Volman [: 00:14:13

Oh, I love that. It's showcasing your superpower within the role that you're in.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:14:20

Yes.

Kate Volman [: 00:14:21

Going above and beyond. I love that. And had he not started doing that, the content team wouldn't even have eyes on him.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:14:30

And then I worked with another client and we were actually doing professional mastery. We went through the exercise of him visualizing, you know, where he wanted to be, what he wanted to achieve. And for him, he felt stuck because what he wanted was to be part of the C suite team. And he's like, I've had conversations with my supervisor time and time again. He's on board with it, but he's not moving. He's not doing anything. So I went through an exercise with him where I made two co centric circles and, okay, what's not within your control? What is not in your control? And he's like, it's not my control to make me part of the C suite team. It is not my control to make this guy make a decision.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:15:14

It is not in my control for him to write up the job description that we've been talking about over and over and over again. Great, okay, what is within your control? Well, I can keep doing these three things that demonstrate what being a C suite leader would look like. Awesome. What about what's within your area of influence? So in between what's out of my control? What's within my control? And in the questioning back and forth, he realized that one of the things that was holding him up is he was waiting on his supervisor to write up a role description. Well, he could write the role description. He could save his supervisor the time and let his supervisor edit it and get it to her. You know, we don't know why his supervisor was stalling out on it. It may just be that he didn't have the time to do the thing, and my client had the time, the drive and desire.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:16:05

So that was his challenge. It was within his area of influence. And something he control is to write his own job description for a C suite role. And he just felt so empowered to move forward and stop feeling stuck around it.

Kate Volman [: 00:16:21

Okay. That is such a good takeaway for anyone listening. Don't let what you can't do stop you from doing what you can. That is such a great example because it's so true. There's so much that we do. Yes, there's a lot out of our control, but there is so much in our control. And so when you focus on that, that alone is empowering. When we're only focused on the things that we don't have control over and we can't do or we can't influence, then sure, that does not make us feel great.

Kate Volman [: 00:16:52

But, ooh, when you. When you're like, I'm going to make things happen, that is empowering.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:16:57

Yes. And that empowerment fuels the second e, which is engagement. So when he started empowering himself to have influence over his own future, he got more engaged in his role. He got unstuck. Right. And that's a competitive advantage for companies. When their employees feel empowered to visualize their future, take initiative, they become more engaged in their role. That means your people are more productive.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:17:24

That means you are probably earning higher profits because people are doing things. And it just allows the employee to be more strategic around their time, their energy, their resources. And who doesn't feel good about that engagement? It benefits the employee and it benefits the company, and it allows the person to just be way more proactive about their life. So I have an example for this one, too. There's a guy that I'm coaching, and he's very introspective and analytical, and he's in a role where he's working towards being the chief information officer. But right now, because of where the organization is at, he's like, I'm the fix it guy, they call me for tech problems. I don't want to just fix, you know, like, your computer is having an issue. I don't want to be known as just that guy.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:18:15

He's like, I want to solve the bigger problems that are solutions for the future. Awesome. Okay, so what can you do? Because he's feeling a little burnt out with just being kind of the tech guy. Great. So what can you do? So he's going to take a post it note and every day is going to write down one thing that he can achieve, the small step that he can achieve towards that CIO sort of vision, professional vision that he has for himself of being more of the solutionary than just the fix it guy.

Kate Volman [: 00:18:47

I love that reframe. It's so small but so powerful. Going back to that, just moving from empowerment to engagement is. It really does help with this entitlement challenge that so many another e talk about. Right? It's like, oh, people feel so entitled. Well, okay, we have to look at ourselves. What are we doing to foster this entitlement instead of fostering engagement, which is everything that you're talking about. And when we give people those opportunities to excel, like I told, I totally believe that people want to do their best work when we have the right people on our team, because it all starts with that.

Kate Volman [: 00:19:36

When you have the right people, we want to do good work. If we're going to be spending this many hours a day working, sure, we want to do our best work, but people have to feel like they actually have some influence on the work that they're doing. So I love it. So empowerment. I almost said number one entitlement. No, it is number one empowerment then leads to engagement, then leads to enlightenment.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:20:01

And so when somebody has this professional vision that is the guide along one's professional journey, you begin to make decisions and choices that are in alignment with your vision. You know, I have a post it note that is kind of funny that sometimes I hold up to my clients, like, sometimes they feel like they're in this valley right here. But if you look at the line, they're actually at a higher place than down here. And so if a promotion is offered and somebody doesn't take it, it's not a bad thing. It may not be in alignment with the actual vision that they have. So they're still going up, even though it's not up the traditional corporate ladder. They're making a decision that's actually in alignment with the vision that they have. So it may be taking, you see more people, it's almost like latticework, taking a sidestep to get to where they want to be.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:20:55

And so it could be saying no to a promotion or job title. Well, those things are nice. If they're not in alignment with your professional vision, you know, you're going off course. You don't want to be misaligned to the projects that you're taking on. So having that professional vision helps you to evaluate more critically, strategically, and intentionally. Is this helping me? Is this helping the organization? Which is amazing. So at the end of coaching this session, we have clients. Pick two professional dreams, target dreams that they want to work towards.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:21:30

And for one of my clients, he went to a conference, and he even had a vision for the conference. And his vision was to meet as many people and make as many connections and network as he can. And this was an introvert, not an extrovert. So that took a lot of work. And what was so interesting is at the conference, it was gamified. So with certain things you had to do at the conference, you got points. And there was a leaderboard that said everything. And this client works for a faith based organization.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:21:58

And because of, like, the responses that he did on his phone and the engagement of, like, I don't remember the specifics of at the conference, but the way that it was gamified, he was number one on the leaderboard, and he walked away with all these networking opportunities to help him learn about this. It's like a process, a software system. And so when he came back, his professional vision, well, his, one of his professional target dreams was, I want to present at this conference or another equally big conference as an expert in this particular area. So he's like one of his small steps towards this target dream, this professional target dream of presenting at a conference is he reaches out to the people that he networked with at that conference, whether in person or over Zoom X number of week, he reaches out to, has a conversation with them. He's learning more in this area that he wants to deep dive, become an expert in the, so that he can.

Kate Volman [: 00:22:56

Then be the one who presents love, that intentionality.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:23:01

And it's going to put that nonprofit organization, it's going to highlight them. So the organization benefits as a result of his own professional vision and his professional target drain, which is amazing, especially if people look at nonprofits, or even a faith based nonprofit or faith based anything, as, like, less than excellent, he's actually highlighting them and saying, look, I was number one on the leaderboard. Not in a boastful way, but in a way. Like, this is something where for him, it brings glory to his God.

Kate Volman [: 00:23:34

Oh, that's so awesome. See, there's so much power in envisioning what that looks like and writing things down and kind of putting them out into the world. That's so great. I love that. When you're very clear on the mission and vision, it almost makes decision making easier.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:23:57

Yes.

Kate Volman [: 00:23:58

Because you're kind of anchored to that. You're anchored to the mission, just like within an organization. Right? We all, we. In Matthew's book, the Culture Solution, principle number two, mission is king. It's about the mission. It's always about the mission. And so when you have that very clear mission, you can decide, does it make sense for me to apply for this role or does it make sense for me to leave the position that I'm in or do something else? Like, it just makes it so much easier to make those kinds of decisions, which I think can be really challenging and they can also be very ego driven. Are you making decisions because of the mission or are you making it because of ego or the wrong, really the wrong set of criteria?

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:24:39

Sure. I can say even in my own career, I took a massive pay cut and it was a lower level position at one point in my career, and people questioned it, but it got me closer to where I wanted to be. Like, I didn't want to be managing programs and all these people. It was, I didn't, I was in residence life at a university, and it was more about getting beds set up and, you know, maintenance issues and all of those. That wasn't, that didn't spark joy for me. It wasn't my superpower. And so I took a position as an academic advisor. But what ended up happening is, so I went from a director level down to this other level, but then I got promoted because I was acting within my superpower.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:25:24

It just. So careers don't necessarily look like this, but the decision that other people questioned was based on the vision that I had. And ultimately it led me here. Right.

Kate Volman [: 00:25:37

I was going to say, lucky for.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:25:39

Us, your career path begins with having that vision so that you can make those decisions that guide you, not the ones where, you know, the voices, you know, out here are chattering like, this is the way that it ought to be.

Kate Volman [: 00:25:54

No, there's no way it ought to be. There's no ought to be. And one of my favorite quotes is that Steve Jobs quote, we, you can't connect the dots moving forward. You can only connect them backwards. And it totally makes sense. And so much of the work that we do is really helping people get through the messy middle. Right, the transitions of life. That's what so much we've experienced.

Kate Volman [: 00:26:18

We all experienced that throughout our career. And so when you did take that drop, that bump, of course, I'm sure there were some challenges mentally and just kind of figuring out new roles and figuring out what that was going to look like, but just to have the faith in, I know this is the right move. I don't know how long it's going to take. I don't know where I'm going to go next, but I do feel, I know that this is the right move. And to be able to move in the direction, even if it is like a step down or whatever it is, or sideways, to know that you have faith that it's going to work out in the end, it does take a lot of faith, but as long as you're anchored to what it is that you know you're the ultimate vision is, then you can have a lot more confidence in that.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:27:04

And it takes a courageous leader to ask their employees, what is your professional vision? So that we can connect it with projects or tasks that are in alignment, especially if they're a good fit. Keep them on the bus by keeping them in the right seat. A courageous leader will ask those questions, because even if the person's vision leads them outside of the organization, who hasn't gone on glassdoor when they're being interviewed to find out what are the reviews on this company or organization? And you think about the people that leave because they've been given permission to pursue their professional dreams, they're going to leave that good review. They're going to say good things about your organization. So it takes a courageous leader to ask those kinds of questions. And the more that you empower your employees, you're going to get that engagement back.

Kate Volman [: 00:27:53

Yeah. And those people are out in the world and they're talking about what an amazing organization you are, it is to work for, because it was about you as a person, as an individual, as like truly helping you become the best version of yourself, which is what dream manager is all about, which is why we do this work. And we're so lucky to have you on the team. So I'm very grateful for the journey that you went on that led you to hear. And these are, these are great pieces to consider, empowerment, engagement and enlightenment. And for those leaders out there, be courageous. I feel like Jen just threw down a challenge. The challenge for you leaders is to ask your team members, what is your professional vision? And mission and for you to support them in that and do what you can to help them in the organization and to help them grow.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:28:47

And I'd give three questions, like to any employee that might be listening, and the first is, where are you at right now? On a scale of one to ten, where are you at with your current role? One, I'm totally suffering. I'm not using my gifts and talents. And ten, I am using my strengths. I'm thriving and flourishing. That's question number one. Question number two, I would say is, who do you get to be? If job satisfaction does not come from what you do, but who you get to be when you're doing it, who do you want to be? Who do you get to be this future self of yours? And then the third question is then based on that, what's my professional vision? So one to ten, where you at right now? Number two, who do you get to be when you're at your professional best? And three, what's that professional vision look like? And even for a leader to ask if they're willing to be courageous and ask their employees, one to ten, where you're at right now, who do you want to be professionally in your career and what's your vision?

Kate Volman [: 00:29:47

Good conversations are about to be had all over. I love it. And if you are listening and you are curious about what it would be like to have a dream manager or to have a business coach to really support you in your professional dreams and all of your dreams, that's a big part, obviously, around coaching. What we do is we're focused. We help people get focused on what are the top three personal and professional dreams that you want to achieve over the next twelve months. And then with our dream manager program, we actually guide you through twelve sessions. And session number eleven is that professional mastery. So if you're interested in coaching, what that would look like to have a third party person that's going to ask you some of these tough questions, that's going to challenge you to become the best version of yourself, to stretch you, to push you a little bit, then we would love to have that conversation with you.

Kate Volman [: 00:30:40

We also certify dream managers. So go to floydcoaching.com, fill out that form and we'll have someone on our team contact you and we can figure out the right place for you to help you grow personally and professionally. Jen, thank you so much for joining. This was wonderful and I'm sure people got lots out of this episode.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:31:01

It's been great. Thanks, Kate. You know, I'm deeply passionate about this.

Kate Volman [: 00:31:04

So, yes, you are deeply passionate about all of the. Everything that we do, all the sessions. It's funny when we talk about which sections we're gonna focus on on the podcast. The first time I asked Jen, I'm like, what's your favorite session? And she's like, oh, I don't have a favorite.

Jennifer Fonseca [: 00:31:23

That's like asking, which is your favorite child.

Kate Volman [: 00:31:27

I know. They're all so good. So good. All right. You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for listening. We appreciate you. And until next time, Lead With Culture.