Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/1283597
26 WAC Magazine | wac.net club life Professional leadership JOIN THE NEXT CEO FORUM WAC members and their guests are invited to our next From the CEO's Perspective forum on Thursday, November 5. This forum will take place virtually. Executive Leadership Coach Teri Citterman will lead an intimate discussion with three of the Seattle area's top CEOs. Check wac.net/ceo-forum for specifics on the slated CEOs, panel topic, and pricing. This event is hosted by the WAC and Talonn. Thursday, November 5; 7:30 am virtual networking, 8 am panel discussion. By Teri Citterman, Executive Coach In fih grade I had a hamster named Ginger- bread. She had a big red wheel in the middle of her cage that she ran on day and night. By every indication, she loved that wheel. Given our current situation with COVID-19, I'm rethinking my percep- tion of her relationship with that wheel. Since March, we've all been on a perpetual hamster wheel. It feels like we're running fast and going nowhere. We do the same thing, and see the same few people, day aer day aer day. Work has become like water. If there is a free space on your calendar, work fills it. e assumption is you're available because, really, you have nowhere else to be. As we enter fall, I feel like our wheel has evolved into more of a "corona- coaster," a term being used to describe the ongoing difficulties of this pandemic. One day, you love your bubble of social distancing, working from home, and liing weights in your living room (and, hopefully, at the WAC). e next moment "you're crying, drinking gin for breakfast, and missing people you don't even like," a popular corona-coaster definition circulating on the internet. How best to manage? Pull in some optimism. Choose something new and different by taking time to reflect, have a personal day of reckoning, and add a new aspect to your routine. Reflection: What's going well? What's not going well? What do you want to change? Reckoning: What I mean is, make a list of the things you want to learn, reconcile, improve. Maybe you want to Manage the corona-coaster with reflection, reckoning and routine learn a new language, get involved with a new nonprofit, or become a better cook. Whatever it is, write it down. Routine: Changing our routines can be difficult, but if there's something that is important to you, I bet you have an hour a day to dedicate to it. Put it on your calendar. Commit to doing it for six weeks and see how it goes. Making changes, changes perspective. Aer you go through this process you may feel a little smarter, a little kinder, more optimistic, and more positive. And you might find that the corona- coaster feels a little less crazy—at least for a little while. —Learn more about executive coaching at the WAC with Teri Citterman at wac.net/leadership-coaching.