Career Articles

An Unwelcome Visitor Brings a Gift

By Linda Schnabel, PCC, CRS, CIS, JCTC

 

Four months ago to the day, my husband Armin and I were experiencing the charm of Italy. We’d rented part of a fourteenth century castle in the heart of Tuscany – a history-filled fortress from where we set out each morning to explore Etruscan tombs and Roman ruins. We ate pasta in charming local ristorantes and savoured famous red wines from Montalcino and Montelpulciano. We relished the sights and sounds of the Piazza del Signoria, the well-renowned square in Michelangelo’s city, Florence and climbed cobblestones leading to ancient castle towns like Voltarra and Cortona. At the end of each day, we found our way back to Castellucia to create simple evening meals and ignite roaring infernos in the bedroom fireplace that chased away the chill from of the castle’s thick stone walls.

Today, one-hundred and twenty days later, we sit in a cancer clinic in Burlington, Ontario and I watch as Armin receives his first round of chemotherapy. Within the space of a few short weeks we have come face-to-face with a terror that has slammed our lives into a new and horrifying reality.

As a career management professional who has led hundreds of people through transition related to employment, I attempt to make sense of this unsolicited life transition. In so doing, I find myself asking many questions about the way in which most us relate to our careers and how this impacts other areas of our lives along with the people who are most important to us.

Armin, for one, has always had an enriched work ethic and remarkable penchant for professional growth. His curious mind and capacity for intellectual stimulation have driven him to seek increased challenge and fulfillment in his role. He has identified himself over the years by what he accomplishes as a Plant Manager who oversees the design and manufacturing of complex instrumentation equipment. His current experience with cancer opens doors for him to re-examine his relationship with his career since he is unable to fulfill his nine-to-five responsibilities during the gruelling period of treatment.

I, too, have a clear invitation to work through similar issues. Who am I outside of my career? What roles, aside from the one that is attached to me professionally, do I assume? What new roles have been presented to me as a result of our current journey? How can I demonstrate leadership as the primary caregiver of my spouse?

When Armin was advised by his oncologist, Dr. Knight, that continued work was impossible, at least for the short-term during treatment, he experienced temporary disorientation and profound sadness. Who was this man without his daily routine and leadership status? Always the reliable breadwinner, who’d missed only one day of work in thirty years, he could not fathom this new role of patient that had been thrust unexpectedly upon him, a role that required him to receive the ministrations of caregivers and medical professionals. He felt vulnerability borne of a helpless sense of losing control and could no longer “touch” his identity. For a while, he remains “lost to himself” while he grapples with this new crisis with his career.

A poignant coaching tool, the credit for which I extend to The Coaches Training Institute, is a useful reminder to all of us to frequently take the pulse of our career relationship relative to the rest of our lives. Allow me to share it with you:

The eight sections of the wheel represent balance. Seeing the center of the wheel as 0 and the outer edge as 10, rank your level of satisfaction with each life area by drawing a straight or curved line to create a new outer edge. The new perimeter of the circle represents your current wheel of life. How bumpy would the ride be if this were a real wheel?

Perhaps you have devoted much time, energy, and resources to the development of your career, in which case, congratulations! Armin and I can identify with the satisfaction of professional growth upon which we both reflect proudly. Yet, what we are also coming to appreciate is the importance of paying equal attention to the other relevant areas of life so as to achieve healthy equilibrium that, in fact, supports career choices. We have been reminded of how very easy it is to become “sucked” into a vortex of career busyness to the exclusion of other life elements.

As we move forward with the cancer treatments prescribed, we are optimistic – buoyed with the knowledge that along with powerfully advanced medical care, we are determined to fight ruthlessly in defiance of this dreadful disease.

We are also profoundly aware that if cancer brings a special gift to families upon whom it pays an unwelcome visit, it’s an opportunity to re-examine and re-design, if necessary, priorities of life, of which career is only one-eighth of the picture.

Armin and I plan to visit Tuscany again. We already dream of sunflower fields and Cyprus-lined lanes. This time, however, when we sip our Italian wine or stroll along a piazza in Florence, we will be forever reminded of how cancer caused us to re-direct our lives, bridge broken relationships, clean up unfinished business, and focus on all aspects of our wheel of life, including our careers.

Linda Schnabel is a Professional Certified Coach and Certification Advisor for Career Professionals of Canada. She has forged a unique partnership with The Hillcrest Victorian Inn – a Valenova Spa in Port Hope, Ontario. In this setting, Linda’s clients combine career and professional development activities with a luxurious spa getaway. For more information, visit www.careerworks.biz or www.thehillcrest.ca.