Empowering Yourself: Becoming Your Own Authority by Sharon Teitelbaum

Empowering Yourself: Becoming Your Own Authority by Sharon Teitelbaum


A delightful scientist client described her transition from being a full time PhD student to being a fully employed professional scientist. She said she was moving from being a consumer to being a producer.

Her transition took place in two stages. In the first stage, she stopped paying out tuition and started being paid for her work. This shift took place rather abruptly and obviously: she finished her degree and started a full time job.

However, the second stage, which took place at the self-concept level, was much more gradual. While a student, she had thought of herself as "getting ready" to contribute in her field. Her field, of course, was vast and growing in quantum leaps. How could she possibly ever know "enough?" A lifelong learner by nature and a conscientious professional, she would always be in learning mode. The new piece for her to integrate was that she now knew ENOUGH to make a contribition to the field. Yes, there was a lot to learn at the job, but that would always be the case. It didn't mean she wasn't ready to be a full contributor. For the rest of her tenure in this field, she would always be learning AND producing results. Her old M/O was, "Once I know X (the thing I'm learning right now), then I'll be able to deliver value." Her new M/O needed to be. "I am delivering value now. And I am learning Z which will allow me to deliver more value."

I see variations of this transition frequently among the high level "producers" I work with.

It sometimes takes the form of a mid-career professional with a solid track record still looking outside herself for authority on where she should direct her career, when in fact she knows where she wants to go and has all the experience, skill, drive, and support to go there. But the old pattern of looking outside herself for authority prevails. Through the coaching process, she has the opportunity to examine her underlying belief that other people know what's best for her. Perhaps during her years of training her teachers and mentors DID know what was best for her. But at this point in her journey, she realizes that she has become the authority, both in her content area and in navigating her life. She writes, “Talking with you has given me the courage to do things I wouldn’t have done otherwise. This [coaching] has been extremely useful.”

For yet another client, the shift comes in her realizing that she has completed the career transition she has been working toward. She is now an effective coach with a bustling coaching business. She is no longer "in training to become a coach" but rather is in the stage of doing "continuing education" as a member of the profession. This shift is allowing her to stop spending all her earnings on training and begin enjoying a more profitable business.

Is there some area of your life where you are still placing authority outside of yourself when it rightfully belongs in you? If so, be gentle with yourself, and allow your sense of yourself to catch up with this insight.

Copyright 2006 Sharon Teitelbaum. All rights reserved.


About the Author
Sharon Teitelbaum, Master Certified Coach and author of "Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued: Restoring Work-Life Balance,” helps busy professionals re-claim their work-life balance. Her coaching, writing, and speaking provide practical, tactical solutions for balance and career challenges. Visit Sharon's website at http://www.stcoach.com and subscribe to her e-course "The 5 Keys to Reclaiming Your Work-Life Balance."