As you’ll hear from today’s guest, there are billions of dollars on the table for companies that tap the talents of their women and emerging leaders in a better way.
In this episode of #ThoughtLeaderConversations, V2's Head of Strategy Roger Courville, CSP connects with Debbie Peterson, CSP, author of CLARITY: How Smart Professionals Create Career Success as she shares hard-won wisdom that draws on her own corporate career experience, her certifications in both NLP and as Master Practitioner in integrative psychology, and stories from the trenches.
Along the way you will
Understand the importance of making authentic connections and the impact it has
Discover how clarity can unlock your potential and drive career success.
Learn about a powerful framework that helps define your next career move.
Understand why feeling stuck may be a sign of something bigger.
Find out how stress and disconnection can physically impact your life.
Explore the role of mindset shifts in achieving personal and professional growth.
Gain insights into why personal authenticity is crucial in leadership.
Hear a compelling story of transformation and the unexpected journey to success.
And more!
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Series: #ThoughtLeaderConversations
Sponsor: V2, LLC, expert virtual and hybrid event production, www.VirtualVenues.com
Host: Roger Courville, CSP, https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerc/
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UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] Roger Courville, CSP: As you'll hear from today's guest, there are billions of dollars on the table for companies that tap the talents of their women and emerging leaders in a better way. Hello and welcome. My name is Roger Courville. And, uh, today we're going to talk about how smart marketers create career success. And welcome to another episode of Thought Leader Conversations sponsored by the crew here at Virtual Venues, where you can instantly scale your virtual and hybrid event production team.
with a crew that will help you focus on something other than tech and logistics. But we're not here to talk about us. And I'm excited to welcome somebody that I'm just getting to know right along with you, Debbie Peterson, CSP, keynote speaker and impact strategist and author of the book that we're going to use at least as a jumping off point for today, Clarity, how smart professionals create career success on their terms.
Now, Debbie knows what you, what you've been through, spent 25 plus years in the corporate world, hit a wall, feel stuck, frustrated, miserable. Uh, Debbie's got a, is a certified trainer in. NLP, Neuro Linguistic Programming. I'm curious about that master practitioner through the Association of Integrative Psychology has presented to organizations as diverse as Ingram Micro, Society of Sensory Professionals, and Raymond James, and notably accomplished as a speaker, boasting the highest earned award from National Speakers Association, the CSP, Certified Speaking Professional.
I know that's a lot of work. Welcome. Glad you're here. Tell us a little more about who you are and what you do.
[00:01:32] Debbie Peterson, CSP: Oh my goodness. Well, I'm glad here. I'm here too. And thank you for having me. And, uh, yeah, a little bit about what I do is, uh, I really help people to tap into who they are so they can go all in on what they do and make a bigger impact.
And, uh, the interesting thing about that is it happens with clarity. A lot of it is, uh, choices. You know, I remember, uh, When my grandson was little and he was a toddler and my daughter in law would say, make good choices. And that's really what it, what it comes down to. So, you know, I help people create the vision of where they want to go next aligned with who they are, and then, uh, give them the tools and the structure to get into action.
So it's marrying those two components to help people really achieve their next level. And it's a lot of fun.
[00:02:23] Roger Courville, CSP: Well, I know you work with women and leaders in a broader set of roles than just marketing, but we'll just keep that in mind since that's our general market here. But I'm confident that your story will inspire and instruct those that listen, and I'm, I'm just curious, if you were consulting with a group of marketing executives, where do you even begin the dialogue on career success?
[00:02:43] Debbie Peterson, CSP: You know it, it is. About connection and that first element of connection if you consider connection concentric rings has to start with you and what happens is and what I find with my audiences is that many people are in a place where they don't want to be. Um, they are stuck, they are frustrated, um, but they don't know where they do want to be.
They just know that this isn't it, uh, and so, uh, it is helping them to shift that mindset to get to a different place. And essentially, that was me. So, you know, in my, again, 25 plus years in, uh, corporate, and I was pretty much the, the woman behind the man, that was my comfort zone, you know, that's where I felt safe and I really felt I could contribute until, uh, one day I start getting this whisper and it says, you're capable of more.
And at first I disregarded it, I didn't know what it meant, but it was just one of those things that wouldn't leave me alone. The problem is, it didn't say what capable of more meant, and it didn't tell me how to get there. And I think With a lot of high performing professionals and especially creative professionals that Perfectionism can fall into place, you know, always refining always trying to up level and achieve more And and that's essentially what I fell into it was kind of like, okay if I'm not living or working my potential, then something must be wrong with me.
And, uh, so my answer was just to get better in every single area of my life. I mean, it was trying to be the perfect size and trying to be the perfect mom, you know, with schools and grades and friends and all the things, uh, you know, just. trying to have the perfect home and just all of those things. And then at work, it was just worse because I felt so disconnected.
And that cycle really took its toll on me physically. And, you know, that was kind of my wake up call that, okay, Something's got to give, there's got to be something more than this.
[00:05:12] Roger Courville, CSP: You know, let's, let's, let's dive into that wake up call because I know you've worked with a lot of people, right? And even, you know, I'm thinking about my own story right in the middle of you talking about that.
For me, it would begin about 25 years ago when I, I was, I had just got done training about 200 salespeople at a, when I was at Microsoft. And, uh, somebody came up afterwards and said, wow, have you ever thought about being a motivational speaker? And I'm like, no, but it was, it was that little wake up call.
It was like, oh, maybe there is something more. And I'm just curious when you work with someone. And I want to kind of marry this with, have you, have you def, have, I want to love you to define career success. How do you define career success and in terms of where to go, but what's that wake up call? What's that little nudge that people.
[00:06:07] Debbie Peterson, CSP: Well, it wasn't a nudge. It was more like a cosmic two by four, to be honest. Uh, it, you know, it was the, the wake up call was, I was so disconnected from myself that all the things that brought me joy no longer did. I wasn't happy. I was miserable. I felt stuck. I felt frustrated. Um, I was having heart palpitations.
Uh, I was having numbness in my left hand, which really wigged me out. I, you know, I wasn't sleeping through the night. I mean, Roger, I couldn't even get a full breath. I couldn't. Breathe in a full breath because my chest was just that constricted. And the funny thing is that, well, it wasn't funny at the time, it is kind of now, but I have heart disease on both sides of my family and the control freak that I am, I'm like, Oh, this is what it's gotta be.
And my next thought was, well, I don't have time for this. You know, do, do we do that to ourselves? Oh, I don't, you know, I'm, I'm a, uh, a strong person. I'm a strong woman. I just suck it up, buttercup, you know, power through it or whatever it is that we tell ourselves. And for me, that wasn't necessarily the best advice because when I went in to get the results of all the tests, you know, they run, it wasn't my heart.
Thank goodness. It was stress and it was affecting my body physically and it was just eating away at who I was to the point where I didn't recognize myself anymore and that scared the daylights out of me. I thought, this can't be all it's ever going to be, you know? And so by the age of 40, I'm on. uh, migraine medicine.
I'm on high blood pressure medicine, anti anxiety medicine. You know, I joke, I was mad, miserable, and medicated. That is where I needed to be in order to feel it and then know there was something more. And, you know, in the hero's journey that we all talk about, NLP was the hero for me because one of my favorite, um, sayings is when the student is ready, The teacher will appear and that's what happened.
I got sent to a corporate training and it was NLP. And I remember going in with a real arms cross sort of attitude, like, okay, what am I going to learn here? And in a matter of hours, my perspective had changed. And unbeknownst to me, my life had started to change too because NLP. My definition, you know, neuro is the mind, linguistic is language, and programming is habits.
Our habits and the strategies that we run automatically without even understanding that we're doing that. And so NLP is about the language of the mind that governs your outcomes. You make different choices, you can have different outcomes. Right. And that was freeing for me. And everything started to change.
from that realization. And eventually it was all the symptoms went away. All the medicines went away. And then the new whisper dropped in your mate, you're meant to pay this forward. And it's like, okay, how do I do that? So, um, you know, that started the journey of when my husband retired, I thought, okay, I'm going to hop out of corporate and figure it out.
And, When you are open to experiences, things will come and show you a way. There'll be, you know, threads to pull or breadcrumbs to follow whatever metaphor you want to use. And that's what happened with me. So accidentally I got on stage one day. It was just a fluke. It wasn't planned. It wasn't supposed to be.
I wanted to throw up or pass out at the thought of doing it. I'm an introvert. And when I got off that stage, it was a different world. And I thought, okay, I need to pursue this. And that was kind of the start of it all. But, you know, I don't get the whisper. I get the two by four and then I'm ready to make a change.
So I know there are people out there who hear that and are like, Oh yeah, unfortunately that's me. It's really easier if you get the lesson early on.
[00:10:21] Roger Courville, CSP: Back on the NLP thing, just out of curiosity, was that with Michael Grinder?
[00:10:26] Debbie Peterson, CSP: No, um, it was with, uh, Dr. Matthew B. James at the Empowerment Partnership. And I've done all of my trainings, so I did, I was like a little guppy, uh, you know, with fish food.
Uh, after I started my first training, I did practitioner, master practitioner trainers training. Went back and did them all online, went back and assisted. It was just so empowering for me. and important for me to give back as well.
[00:10:56] Roger Courville, CSP: So back to how do you define career success, whether you're, you've now stepped on the stage or you're just.
talking to somebody in the airplane seat next to you and they say, Oh, I'm the VP of marketing at blah, blah, blah. Where do you, how do you put the flag out there in terms of giving them a vision for what success really looks like?
[00:11:18] Debbie Peterson, CSP: You know, the thing is, so the, the framework that I've created, because once I got to the other side and my life had changed and medicines were gone and, and, and my life was definitively different.
I thought, okay, if I'm going to pay this forward, then I've got to have some way to take what I've experienced. and be able to replicate it. So what I've discovered is my mind works in systems and frameworks. So I created a framework to help people get clarity on what career success means to them.
Because it doesn't matter what I say career success is even, you know, the, the two of us, we do speaking, you know, this as well as I do. There are a zillion ways to build a speaking business. There are just a zillion models. Well, it's the same thing with career success. It can only be defined by the individual.
And how they do that is they get clarity. And what they really, um, what I encourage them to start with is an overall goal of, of what is it that you're trying to do? Is it that you're, you're working to, um, define more of your leadership presence? Are you looking to get your department, your team to the next level?
Are you looking for career satisfaction? And, and because that's where you start, what is the overarching goal? And once you know what that overarching goal is, then you can move forward from there. So the system, the framework that I have created works no matter what you point it at, but you have to be clear on kind of the direction you want to go.
Even if you're in a place of, Oh my gosh, I am so fricking miserable. I don't know if I can do this another day. All right, that's a starting place and, and we can go from there by asking questions and making choices that will put you on that path to clarity. And that's what, you know, the company is getting to clarity because it's a process.
It is not a one and done. It evolves and you know, just you get a promotion and then at some point you're a little more comfortable in your role and you're looking to up level and get clarity on what that next level would be. So it's. Life is always changing. And so are we, so it's staying in touch with who we are, what is most important to us and, um, the direction that we want to go.
[00:13:45] Roger Courville, CSP: What mind, uh, mindset shift accompanies that? Do you, have you seen something in particular, like a pattern of what's going on in somebody's life, or maybe it was what we already talked about, but what is the mindset shift that goes with, all right, I'm miserable. Maybe I don't know where I want to go. I just know I don't want to be here.
But now, because some people want change, but they're not ready to change themselves.
[00:14:14] Debbie Peterson, CSP: Because change can be messy and uncomfortable. And actually the mess and the discomfort is a gift. So it, that is part of the mindset. And so, you know, that the principles and the presuppositions of NLP have really guided me.
Um, and. In that particular, my very first training, it was like a switch flipped for me. And at a simplistic level, what I will say, I went from a fixed to a growth mindset in my life overall. And that's not something that's a one and done. You kind of go in and out of that depending on where you, where you are.
You know, if you step into a new, um, leadership role, then you may have a little more of a fixed mindset. Um, As opposed to if you've been in a role for a long time, you're a little more comfortable, you know, new client, right? Take on a new big client. And it's kind of like, okay, this is the biggest client I've ever had.
And that like that self doubt crops in a little bit and that's, you're more fixed, but then the more comfortable you get, it, it kind of eases over into that growth. And for me, I was in a mindset when I hit the wall of, um, This is all there is. This is all my life is ever going to be and I was almost incredulous.
I was like, you've got to be kidding me. It's just not what I signed up for. Um, but NLP, when I went through that, it was, it showed me how to open my thinking because when we're in a place where we feel stuck, we're very narrowly focused on the problems. And we kind of just tend to stick to the you know, operate in this small area of our problems and frustration.
When we shift our mindset and things open up, then you can see possibility, you can see choice. And that is just something that is so liberating. But the lessons that come with it, again, can be uncomfortable, but it's designed to happen for you, not to you.
[00:16:19] Roger Courville, CSP: Yeah, I find that often we We don't grow because we avoid suffering, we, we grow through suffering in one way, shape or form.
Just out of curiosity, does your work touch down with personal branding or the way one presents themselves in, in the context of, of that, of figuring out and pursuing that goal?
[00:16:45] Debbie Peterson, CSP: It could, um, it, it is not in my wheelhouse, but I can help someone get clarity on what that is because you take the framework.
And you pointed at that, and then the questions in the framework will guide you towards your answers, because that's the whole thing. People think when they want to change, when they want to up level, um, when they're having a hard time getting to that next level, it's like, okay, what more do I need to do?
Who do I need to become to do this? And it's that thinking that I need to be more. And actually, it's not about adding to who you are. It's about discovering what is covering you up.
[00:17:28] Roger Courville, CSP: So not about,
[00:17:30] Debbie Peterson, CSP: yes, you know, anytime big change, it is not about adding to who you are. It is about discovering what is covering you up because your answers are inside, but what is keeping you from accessing them?
What is influencing you in a way that isn't really aligned with who you are. And I mean, think about it and, and marketing professionals, right? That's the whole world is, is influence. But when you consider, you know, social media and TV and movies and magazines, all right, but then you get into coworkers or bosses or family, you know, my mom, she never would have told me to go do this.
She's proud as peaches with, with what I do now, but she would have been too scared for me if I would have said, you know what, mom, I'm going to leave my corporate job and I'm going to go become a professional speaker. She just would have wigged out. Um, so sometimes our family. doesn't support us the way that we need it, but they're doing it the best way they know how.
It's just not what we need. So, you know, in the framework, part of it is people. Who are the people that can help you? Who are the people that can help guide you? You can learn from who are the people that doing what you want to do. Maybe they're just a little further down the path or they've already achieved it.
So it, you know, I mean, think of NSA and the CSP masterminds. I mean, those are all prime examples of how people can help you get where you want to go. But here's something that I discovered when I was going through my own is that when you feel that you're messed up and you, your life is just a insert show.
Um, you tend to hold it to yourself. You know, nobody can know, nobody can know. I don't know what's going on or I don't have it all figured out or that my night, my life is this messed up. Right. Actually that is, that is double stress. Right. One, you got the stress of going through it. But then two, you've got the stress of hiding it from everyone else.
And I was the queen of that. So people can show up and support you if you will let them. And in many different capacities, personally, professionally. But again, it's your choice as to who you let in, because not everyone who is with you is for you. So
[00:19:55] Roger Courville, CSP: tell me a little more about your work and the various ways that touches down.
So you obviously stand stages. Do you also lead mastermind groups or do consulting that kind of thing with? other modalities through which you connect with and help.
[00:20:08] Debbie Peterson, CSP: Yeah. So, I mean, primarily the primary pillar of my, um, business is keynote speaking. And so I traveled the country, um, hopefully one day internationally.
I would love to do that. Uh, little shameless plug there. And, uh, The, what I've learned getting clarity as a process, right? What I've learned since starting my business is where I can have an impact. And, uh, for me, the biggest impact that I can have is with women in leadership and emerging leaders. And the reason why is because oftentimes they have the question marks.
about, okay, here's where I'm at, but how do I get to where I want to go? Um, you know, it could be because they're early in their career, or it just could be that they're juggling a lot. We are busy and we take on a lot. We've got a lot going on. And so, um, they tend to be the groups that I can help the most, but you know, for anyone looking to achieve a next level or get clarity on what that next is.
the framework applies. So, you know, I started in financial services. I've done a lot in credit unions and banks and things like that. Um, but now I'm expanding into other industries because it's a fit. So, you know, nursing and automotive and staffing and, you know, wealth management. So it's real estate. It's been a lot of fun to kind of take this on the road to other industries and just see.
What they get out of it because that, you know, they will tell me after, after a keynote. Oh my goodness. This is what I'm going to do. And, and it was like, it had been on their mind. They hadn't let it through. And then after we broke everything down so they could get into action. They're like, Oh, I'm going to do it.
Uh, at one of my last keynotes, it wasn't anything. Professionally she wanted to do, but she wanted to write a children's book and like she sees the way forward. She got clarity on her way forward because it's not what I say, but it's the guidance that I give. It's the questions that I ask that everybody in the audience gets their own personal clarity about their way forward.
And that's the fun part.
[00:22:24] Roger Courville, CSP: You talk about getting clarity, being a process. Does your book speak to, is the point to get to that point of clarity so you, you now are clear on that, on that objective or where you want to go? Or are there some additional steps that go beyond that to tell them how to put that into action?
[00:22:42] Debbie Peterson, CSP: Uh, so the book is like a do it yourself, um, and it has the framework, uh, to be able to go through and when you answer these questions, you will have direction. You may not know, okay, it's this job with this title in this city. um, Or that it's, you know, making a move, and, uh, serving this agency, and this city, and this capacity, But it'll give you direction that, and it'll lead you to your breadcrumbs.
That they'll start showing up. And then you're like, ah, okay, I say yes to this. Because that's, What Clarity does, it allows you to really step up all in on who you are and make that bigger impact because you know that direction that you want to go because you've got that clarity, you know what you should say yes to when it shows up because it's a fit, you've done the work, you know what to say no to, because you can do it doesn't mean you should, and there are some things that we should say no to, um, but we don't.
because we think we, you know, this is what you're supposed to do, right? So, um, clarity is personal and it, it's up to you to get clarity on the direction through the framework and then see what shows up. But it's the guidance, you know, like one of the things that I had said is aligned with who you are. So consider the workday, consider.
Um, the boundaries around clients, um, consider, um, maybe the company or the agency that you work for. And if what is most important to you isn't aligned with what's most important to them, then it's going to be sucking the life out of you, you know? Um, for me, one of my things that's tremendously important in my business is flexibility.
And so next Wednesday I am taking the day and I already facetimed my grandson and said, Hey, Didi found a new park and we're going to go. And, and so, you know, because I want to be able to, he's four and I want to be there with him. I want to have that time with him and I want to have my time, you know, on stage and helping people make a bigger impact.
And I can have both. It doesn't have to be Either or it can be and
[00:25:08] Roger Courville, CSP: I'm taking off next Wednesday to my wife and I are going to go hiking up Mount Rainier. So Doing the same thing. So if somebody calls you and they're attempting to Discern whether or not you're the right speaker for them. What questions are you hoping that they ask you?
[00:25:30] Debbie Peterson, CSP: What questions am I hoping that they ask me? Um, well, besides fee range, right? You know, that's a lot of times that's where they start. I hope that's not the first question. Uh, but it is to, um, understand the framework and really for me, when a client calls, it's about me asking the questions to really understand.
where they are, where their audience is, what they're trying to achieve, because they know their industry much better than I do. I'll know something about it. I'll do research going in, but as they talk, uh, as we have this conversation, my brain is popcorn. corning with, okay, this is a fit. This is a fit. This is where, this is how I can support them.
So it's really having that conversation and they start the conversation. Um, so that I can say, you know, yeah, and this is how we can do it. And I can lay it out that it fits their audience. Um, and then after the conversation, it is, about really understanding the industry more. So for instance, uh, one of the recent keynotes that I had a chance to do was for a nursing group and it was the Wounds, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society of America.
I'm a lightweight when it comes to blood and all of those things. So I thought, okay, I'm not a nurse. I never played one on TV. I need to understand the industry a little bit more. So after we had the conversation and understood what they wanted for the nurses that were in the audience, then I go and I interview.
So, you know, I've got a, a set of questions that I will ask to really get my hands around the industry. And then I use it on stage. So it is incorporated into, I'm talking their languages to the best of my ability and, uh, bringing them on stage so that they can share. Uh, and help all of their colleagues in the room with that next level.
So it's just so much fun to do.
[00:27:40] Roger Courville, CSP: Yeah. I do the same thing. I ask if they're, they will give, can connect me with, you know, three to five people that will be, you know, okay, so I'm going to be at the Montana society of CPAs. What next? But then I'll, I'll do that. I'll ask them. Hey, imagine you're in the room with all your peers.
What do they need to hear? What are they going through? So I don't even say, what are you going through? I say, what are they going through? And, and, um, and I love that for callbacks to ask permission, of course, but Hey, I was talking with Jake the other day and you all know Jake,
[00:28:13] Debbie Peterson, CSP: right? And it helps you to build rapport with the audience.
[00:28:16] Roger Courville, CSP: Yeah.
[00:28:17] Debbie Peterson, CSP: Yeah.
[00:28:19] Roger Courville, CSP: And I mean, and it's, it's genuine. We're there to serve. Right. Jake. I mean, that's. I don't know about you, so obviously in a way just met you, but. I mean we got a heart to serve. I mean the day to me, the days of show up, throw up and go home is, is, is that's old school, right? I mean, I, I want to get there and be there in advance and walk around the room and hang out afterwards and, and hear people's stories and importantly, figure out what it was that I said that landed or didn't land.
You know, I mean, I'm, I'm training and consulting as opposed to keynoting, but, but in a similar
[00:28:58] Debbie Peterson, CSP: way, yeah. I mean, it's imparting information. You're looking to support your audience, you know, and, and same thing goes. I heard Sage from the stage and, you know, kind of when I came into NSA, Um, a number of years ago, like that was already on the way out and, uh, it took the pressure off that you can just show up and have a conversation and be there and ask questions and support them.
You know, stay a play is one of the things I do. I love to come in early. I'll go to the reception the night before I'm at the door welcoming people in, uh, as they come into the, you know, into the conference room or the ballroom. Uh, you know, and I know somebody, everybody's got their style, but you know, that's just my style and I am calling, you know, meeting professionals and it's like, okay, well, I'm going to be there.
How can I help? Do you want me to facilitate a panel? Do you want me to do some interviews? It's like, as long as I want to. I want to be a partner with them and, and do as much as I can to support them. And that for me is just fun.
[00:30:05] Roger Courville, CSP: So just out of curiosity, I'm guessing you've got something up your sleeve, like a success story or two where someone took.
What you brought to the table in a speech, they bought your book, something like that, and they took it and ran with it. Do you have any stories, you have a success story or two to share?
[00:30:23] Debbie Peterson, CSP: You know, a lot of times, um, I don't hear after the fact, but there have been a couple, um, that one gal in one of my presentations, it's about the roadmap to your next level.
She has the roadmap hanging in her office. because, and that is just how she benchmarks. And, you know, I've just, it's usually immediate. People will come up to me right after the keynote and say, Oh my goodness, I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to go back and I'm going to get my master's degree. I've heard that a number of times.
Um, you know, I am going to, uh, get clarity on my way forward. So one of the pieces of the system is What do you want? And let's make it fun. Let's just brainstorm about it. If you, if you know, it was the Walgreens world, right? If, um, the universe was perfect and you could have anything you wanted, what would be some of the things that you would want?
What are you curious about? What lights you up? What, what might you want to do? You know, instead of, you know, having to zero in on just one thing. It's like, let's brainstorm and then let's debrief in the room. Because some people, when it comes to whatever's next, they know they've been thinking about it.
Their pen is flying fast and furious. And other people are like, Oh crap, I've never thought about it. So, you know, it's the, the rising tide and the, you know, lifts all boats in the room. And, uh, people will tell me that, you I got a way forward to figure out my next, you know, I'm going to find a mentor. I just, I hear it all in the, you know, I use talkadot, the testimonials, um, from there, I get people that come up to me app and it's just that immediate clarity that they have an action step.
And that's part of the system as well. What are you going to do now? And within 48 hours, share and declare pinky swear. You know, what, what are you going to do? instead of going back to real life. And, um, yeah, so
[00:32:12] Roger Courville, CSP: I can just imagine, I mean, how liberating has to be for, for that room full of people. I mean, I can tell you, I mean, I, I spent a lot of years in the, in the, in the, Tech slash software industry and there were some years where where it was like, okay There's a reorg the boss puts you over here because your expertise or whatever and I'm making really good money and I'm having an impact And I'm miserable Because I'm making more money than I've ever made and I don't care about making more money than I've ever made a miserable You know, I hate showing up to work and I'm like this something's wrong here
[00:32:51] Debbie Peterson, CSP: And I've been there I mean, I had the same thing job with pay and benefits beyond anything I ever could have imagined.
And it made me physically sick. Uh, it, it just really took its toll on me. It was a toxic environment and it was just, I had to get out. But I, you know, I, at first I'm telling myself, Oh my God, people would be just, uh, envious of the job that I have. Cause I got to travel and sometimes travel private and the whole thing.
But at some point it was just like, it's not worth it.
[00:33:23] Roger Courville, CSP: I was walking through the Melbourne, Australia airport once, and I heard my name. Somebody said, Hey Roger, I'm a long ways from home and they're like, Oh, I'm like, do I know you? And they're like, no, just noticed you go by and I, and I've read your books and I follow your work.
Thank you. And I'm like, that was worth more money than anything. Yeah. I mean, so, well. Debbie really appreciate you spend a little time just sharing your heart. What if we think about one final question or two? How can people?
what's, what's a good next step for someone? Is it, is it the clarity piece? I mean, it's get the framework. You know, it would,
[00:34:15] Debbie Peterson, CSP: it would be the overall direction. If where you're at isn't where you want to be, what do you want instead? So just that shifting that focus from where you're at to where you want to be, it opens a door.
It, um, opens your thinking. It becomes more about possibility. options, choices. So, um, you know, that's really what you have to have first. And then it is going through the framework to make decisions about what's most important to you personally and professionally and how you're going to get there.
Because, you know, the days of leaving your home, at home and not bringing it to work and vice versa. That's been blown out of the water. I mean, that's just, um, not this past influence, the influence before. Sint Marshall, she was there. And she, I believe she's still CEO of the Dallas Mavericks. Um, but she was, she came in the, uh, Mark Cuban hired her to do a turnaround.
And she has a book. I'm trying to see if I've got her book here. I think it's You've Been Chosen is her book, but she talks about radical authenticity and that that's what needs to come to work. And so one of the programs, you know, I also have is about leading yourself first and really getting clarity on, What is most important to you personally and professionally?
Because you have to take into consideration both. If you're not, then you are sacrificing what's most important to you to build something else. And it can't happen to be sustainable.
[00:36:01] Roger Courville, CSP: I'm still an NSA member and, you know, maintain my CSP, but I haven't been influenced for a few years while I've been working and working on my doctorate.
So.
[00:36:08] Debbie Peterson, CSP: Oh yeah.
[00:36:09] Roger Courville, CSP: We'll get back there.
[00:36:10] Debbie Peterson, CSP: Well, that's a choice and that's a prime example of, okay, while I'm doing this, I know that this is my focus. So there are some other things they're going to have to go on the back burner. And that's the metaphor that I use. I hate the term work life balance because balance is a bad word.
Um, it's about choices, but it's about making educated choices, educated decisions about what you're going to do and why.
[00:36:36] Roger Courville, CSP: When it comes to career and success, where does your Master Practitioner through the Association of Integrative Psychology touch down?
[00:36:47] Debbie Peterson, CSP: So that is, um, it's, it's NLP. And, uh, even though I don't teach NLP, um, it is the foundation of everything that I do.
That and, and huna. So huna, not hula, one letter, big difference, uh, is a form of Hawaiian spiritualism that is something else that guides how I live my life and guides how I serve my clients.
[00:37:19] Roger Courville, CSP: Final question for you. Are there any questions I should have asked you that I haven't?
[00:37:23] Debbie Peterson, CSP: Oh, uh, not that I can think of.
I just, I so enjoy doing these and especially when it's an open sort of forum because it's fun to see where the conversation goes because it goes where it needs to. and there's going to be somebody out there who's going to pick up on something that they needed to hear. And, and then it's like, that makes my little joke.
[00:37:47] Roger Courville, CSP: Sorry, I cut you off there. I said, sometimes it's really hard to predict exactly what that will be, right? Like that time you just got done speaking to a room full of people and somebody comes up and says, well, that one thing you said, and like, that was a throwaway line. That wasn't, that wasn't even one of the main points, but those are valuable.
[00:38:05] Debbie Peterson, CSP: But they hear you, you know, that's why, um, Where you're at in any given moment when something comes through and it resonates with you pay attention to it because it's it's you're picking up on it for a reason and you know, I could deliver the same exact keynote gesture for gesture word for word. I don't run that way, but if I did and you can be in the audience on consecutive days and you will hear things that you swore that you never heard before you will hear things I didn't say.
I get that sometimes too. Oh, I love the part where you said, and it's like, Oh great. I'm glad you got that. And I'm thinking to myself, but I didn't say that, but something I said, got them to that point. And that's what they needed. So that's why clarity is a inside job because it is inside of us. You know, that's how we tap into what is most important, what we need to hear, who we find, who shows up.
[00:39:00] Roger Courville, CSP: Debbie, again, thank you so much. Besides Debbie Peterson Speaks, and just in case you're just listening and not watching, Debbie Peterson Peterson with an O N on the end, debbiepetersonspeaks. com. Any other way that you prefer to be connected with people?
[00:39:15] Debbie Peterson, CSP: Well, I am on, um, most of the social medias. So, uh, LinkedIn is a, a big forum.
I enjoy putting content out to help support, uh, the people who are following along. So every week, you know, there's a live and an article and the newsletter on LinkedIn, um, and also YouTube creating reels and other content, you know, the podcast, people like to pick it up and. consume it in different ways.
And so I try to accommodate, but if there are things that, you know, topics that people want to dive into, if there's something they're struggling with, then, you know, Debbie at DebbiePetersonSpeaks. com. Let's have a conversation. Call me up. I'll help give you as much clarity as I can.
[00:39:59] Roger Courville, CSP: What's the name of your podcast?
[00:40:02] Debbie Peterson, CSP: The Getting to Clarity Podcast.
[00:40:03] Roger Courville, CSP: The Getting to Clarity Podcast. Awesome. Well, when this goes live, we'll put it on YouTube, but we then embed it into a blog post and we'll link to all of various things in the blog post. So if you're listening to this and, uh, happen to be at the V2 website, uh, you'll find all of the links around the video.
Cool. So you can connect with Debbie in whatever way they prefer to. And, uh, with that, I want to thank Debbie again for spending a little time with us. And we want to just thank our sponsor today, Virtual Venues, where you can scale your virtual and hybrid event production team for making these things possible.
We'll see you on the next episode of Thought Leader Conversations.
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