Breaking Free from What's Been Holding You Back

Written By Allison Pollard

Photo by felip1

“I don’t feel like an impostor anymore because of you!”

That was part of the greeting I received from someone very excited to see me at Agile Midwest last week—all because of a coaching conversation we’d had two years ago. It was incredible to see how happy she is now.

In March, I’d shared a story at Scrum Gathering Canada about how I initially felt like an impostor as an agile coach. I didn’t feel like I compared to other agile coaches I knew. It took me a while to realize that every coach is different. Sharing that story and how each day I told myself, “I am an agile coach” until I believed it felt freeing. And it got tweeted:

Impostor syndrome is normal, and yet it can be so isolating to experience. It can hold us back. I started reading How Women Rise recently, and it includes 12 self-limiting habits common to women—habits that we can change if we can notice them. The message has been resonating for me, and as I’ve brought it up in conversations, it seems to resonate with others too.

How have you shifted away from thoughts and behaviors that may be getting in your way?

Allison Pollard

Allison Pollard is a coach, consultant, and trainer who brings the power of relationship systems intelligence to go beyond tasks, roles, and frameworks to create energy for change. She engages with people and teams in a down-to-earth way to build trust and listen for signals to help them learn more and improve. Allison focuses on creating alignment and connection for people to solve business problems together. Her experience includes working with teams and leaders in energy, retail, financial, real estate, and transportation industries to help improve their project/product delivery and culture. Allison currently volunteers as program director for Women in Agile’s mentorship program. Her agile community focus is championing new voices and amplifying women as mentors and sponsors for the next generation of leaders. Allison earned her bachelor’s degrees in computer science, mathematics, and English from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. She is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), a foodie, and proud glasses wearer. Allison is a prolific speaker at professional groups and international conferences, including Scrum Gatherings and the Agile Alliance Agile20xx conferences. Allison is co-owner of Helping Improve LLC.

http://www.allisonpollard.com
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