paula okonneh

“Working with a coach is lovely. In that space a coach can really push and prod and poke, just like the journalist would, but in a much more supportive way. You can't think your way into a career change, because at some point you get stuck. So much is shifting. This isn't a kind of one and you're done. It's not like you decide and you're stuck forever”, says Rachel Schofield.

Rachel Schofield worked for the BBC for 20 years as a journalist and news presenter before training as career and . She has turned her journalist’s passion for asking awkward questions onto the world of work, helping individuals think creatively, embrace the discomfort of change, and figure out what fulfilling and impactful careers look like in our rapidly changing world.

Life changing is achieved by a map to happiness. Jane Gunn points to a compass of North, East South and East and West with a link to personal and professional values.

N in North, what we're trying to do is to say, what's going on Now? What is the immediate challenge? Essential, even if you're starting up a collaboration.

E in East stands for "Explore". Where am I with this? What am I thinking? What am I feeling? What are my own hopes and dreams? You know, we need to really understand ourselves better, and then understand each other better.

S in South, stands for "Solutions". Decide on what criteria do we make that decision? What criteria could we apply to this? Also, what values do we have? What personal values do we have? What group values do we have? How do we apply those to this thinking process? We think deeply, we question everything, we question ourselves as to see what the right way through challenging times is.

W in West stands for "Walking Forward". It's a commitment, it's an ability to leave any bad feelings from the past behind, so to draw a line in the sand. It also stands for wisdom. It's reaching that higher level of wisdom and possibly learning from yourself and from the past. What have I learned? What do I take forward with me?

Dreams can become a reality. The dream you hold is what bears fruit. Tenacity and patience can make a difference to stay with our intention. Shortlisted three times for the Championship Award , for Tesse Akpeki, it is third time lucky. She has been crowned Champion for Governance 2023 by the Chartered Governance Institute for United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

“I would like to thank everyone who nominated me over the three opportunities to become a champion. I am so glad I can serve people and bring a measure of joy as well as competence to what matters to them” says Tesse Akpeki FCG

Adversity can lead to triumphing in the face of challenges and suffering. Deshauna Barber is doing good in the world from a place of knowing what it's like to serve. She is doing her story, being her story, telling her story. Pretty Ugly Lessons: empowering strategies to transform adversity into triumph by a former Miss USA and Army veteran is a treasure trove. Highlighted is the importance of getting balance in life through strategies for investing our energies and overcoming our fears.

Stephen Sidebottom brings a refreshing take on transformations.

“ People are actually extraordinarily adaptable. The idea that people don't like change is, I think fundamentally false. What I think is true is that organizations don't like change. The construct people are asked to operate is rigid and fixed, and the mechanism for adapting and changing those constructs, whether they're social constructs or organizational constructs, are much slower than the mechanisms by which people themselves change.”

“ I'm not a big hints and tips person. My approach is often through studying how people work in an organizational context and what needs to be true to succeed.” Stephen’s experience of managing enabling functions including people, finance, legal, operations, risk and technology comes in handy. TesseTalks curiously explore various angles of Stephen’s thinking.

How can elements make a difference? Erin Randall explains how. “Magnesium" is work each person is going to be doing towards crafting better things. Each voice is a voice of a system. What does this system need now? Ad Meliora means to better things. The catalytic question is “what do I want to create? “.

The Quest

1.What is the purpose of a system? Is it to protect or is it to create? “If we want empathy in systems, if we want that connection in people, we need to be able to stand in those and shift and to be able to listen to what the system is asking us to find.” Says Erin. 

2.What is the inner work required to do the outer work? How they want to be seen? What do you want others to notice in you? How confident are you to do the work the world requires from you? The litmus test is what are you seeing that I don't? What do you want me to hear? The answer to these questions gives us more range and more aptitude

“Life cannot exist without death. New life springs up, depending on the time of year. If we all talked about death as much as we talked about birth, the world would be a very different place" says Jane Duncan Rogers, a TEDx speaker , an author and end of life expert. "Life happens and we have a choice to go with it and make the best of it or not".

“I was highly paid, but I was miserable and my health was suffering. And as I have gotten older, happiness and health and wellness are so much more important to me. I was just miserable” says Lisa Hammett. “Life had no colour. I like to equate it as being devoid of colour. It's just gray. If you don't have your health, you don't have a whole lot. Happiness helps you to just get up in the morning, and live your life to the best of your ability. When you get near or at burnout, you lose the capacity to dream. “

And hear more TesseTalks

Podcasters united cross three countries, United Kingdom, United States and Nigeria. Paula Okonneh, Tesse Akpeki and Sade Marriot joined podcast guest Max Ekesi, President / CEO of the Agile Ausitn Organisation and IT Senior Manager at Paypal. Max has been leading Agile Transformations since 2007 in large enterprises specifically leveraging Agile & Kaizen principles.

Max’s 47th Birthday visiting Disneyland California was special. He spent quality time with his family. Turning to work, Max shares how the agile mindset that focuses on value, being fluid, adaptable, purposeful, nimble and committed to making a difference has given so much value to his life. “You are either adapting or being disrupted as you are choosing to be proactive or reactive. Creating high performing teams in Bangalore, Singapore and Lagos and doing these together meet the hopes and dream of people in developing countries. “ “Clarity of expectations and a focus on potential underpins agility.

ChatGPT which is the human interaction with AI is an exciting development towards adaptability and growth. What is essential is learning and growing together.”

TesseLeads website

Sara Ramsey defines co-leadership as” leaders coming together to make joint decision making and taking shared responsibilities”.

Co-leaders may be co-founders, co-CEOs or leaders who jointly support self-managing and self-organizing organizations. “ I get to work with all sorts of inspiring people, you know, wanting to do positive things in the world. They want to try and do things differently as well”, says Sara.