"What The Heck Was That?"
A spring day on campus, 'warm-fuzzy moments,' and my current journey.
By Shanti Gold
It was a beautiful spring day, and I was walking down the center of campus, enjoying the sun and watching an occasional frisbee whiz by. I was already feeling happy, and then suddenly – out of nowhere – what I can only describe as a “warm, fuzzy” feeling overtook me. It was visceral, almost like the warm burn you might experience after taking a swig of bourbon. I slowed my pace….what the heck was that?
As I continued walking, the source of my unexpected joy presented itself: an Indigo Girls song was blasting from one of the campus buildings.
So that’s where the “warm, fuzziness” came from! The harmonies of my favorite folk rock duo had reached me before my ears or brain ever knew what hit them, their notes bypassing my consciousness and settling happily on my heart.
I had always loved music. I realized it could affect people’s moods or transport them back, time-machine style, to a place in the past. But at that moment, for the first time, I understood the power music has to affect us physically.
Standing there in the center of campus at that moment – much like the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes the day he realized the true meaning of Christmas – my love of and respect for the power of music moved to a new level.
And – cheesy as it may be – an idea about using music to bring about a positive change in people’s lives formed in my head. But what would the idea look like, and what role might I play in making it happen…?
I wrote the excerpt above a number of years ago as part of a Women In Leadership public speaking course. People enjoyed it (with room for improvement on the actual delivery [you know, the public speaking part]), and I recently dug it back out.
So what, if anything, in my actual professional experience has brought me bourbon-swigging-heart-expanding moments? And the answer is simple: coaching.
As I look at it now with a fresh perspective, I am still awed by the power of music. I have since learned to play the guitar. I am an avid music listener. Music and my career have not crossed paths, but music has a very active and fulfilling place in my life.
So what, if anything, in my actual professional experience has brought me bourbon-swigging-heart-expanding moments? And the answer is simple: coaching. Coaching businesses and sales executives – and watching them work toward and achieve their goals – is THE most fulfilling role I’ve had the privilege to perform.
It’s the simple moments: I walk into a business that I’ve partnered with on an advertising strategy, and – unprompted – they say “thank you”…an account executive closes a sale they’ve worked hard on, and we high-five…or a sales leader guides their underdog team to crush their quotas, and we share a “wow, look at that” exchange.
So, I made a conscious decision that coaching would be the focus of my next career adventure. And almost as soon as I declared that to myself, my professional coaching path unfolded. I’ve started my own business, Grow With A Pro. Is this anything I ever planned or expected? Absolutely not. Does it feel right? Yes, it does.
So here I find myself. Although the sky has not parted to reveal how I might personally tap into the power of music to transform the world around me, it did present me with an alternate path that strikes the same chords.
The ride has been a blast. Coaching and my new business await. I’m super excited. I’m learning a lot.
I realize there’s no way to know precisely how things will unfold. But I also know I have the “warm fuzziness.” So, as I did on that spring day on campus, I’ll gratefully follow where it leads.