Nada Buhendi

A few years ago, I was an agile coach reporting into the product owner who happened to be a director on my contract. It was a command and control environment, my team felt helpless, and so did I. The stuff I learned during my CSM and ICP-ACC just wasn’t enough.

I relentlessly looked for someone I could talk to. I wasn’t part of an Agile COE so I had 0 support. I was out there on my own trying to change an entire business unit’s way of working. Then I met Joanne Stone. I was struck by her kindness and willingness to make time for a perfect stranger. We geeked out on books and I remember her introducing me to Esther Derby’s work.

I learned about Joanne’s vision of following Lyssa Adkins footsteps of giving back to the community by building a mentorship group that gives people the confidence of practicing their agile skills.

I know that I’ve personally grown as a coach by being part of Joanne’s group. This isn’t just for beginners to agile. This is for anyone who wants to sharpen their coaching skills…

Ever wondered why I’m so good at coming up with content for master classes and able to hold a virtual room of 100+ attendees? That’s because it all started at Joanne Stone Agile Mentorship group. I’m proud to be one of the mentors. I focus on the career aspect.

So I encourage you, whether you are a beginner coach or an experienced coach to join this group. It is open to ANYONE in the WORLD. 

Link to fall registration: https://lnkd.in/g56ahc5s

When you’ve realized you’ve discovered your why. My client Jeremy W. Hancock, CSM brought tears to my eyes. Sometimes you don’t need to move out of a company. I’ve helped many clients do just that by articulating their value to their current employers. Jeremy landed his first scrum master role and I couldn’t be more proud.

And I love his quote because it’s one of the values behind the community I built, a self-organizing kind and giving community that has gone through the same hardships of imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and the anxiety of job search. You don’t just get me as you navigate your job search but an entire army of people who vouch for you: either have gone through the process and landed a job or going through it with you. I love my Unleashing Your Awesome clients, aka my family. Our Sunday sessions are such a blast.

Thank you Tanya Nascimento for allowing me to speak at your Scrum Alliance and Leslie J. Morse for the opportunity because that’s how Jeremy and I met. More of his story to come 💜

https://lnkd.in/gm2VNsra

Jeremy W. Hancock, CSM

This post is for anyone that had a hope of making a change in 2021. I want to remind you it’s never to late to start making that change.

The good news, I have recently been moved into a Scrum Master role within General Motors. I couldn’t be more excited. I am still in the process of transitioning out of what I was working on, and into my new role. I should be done with this transition period this week and giving 100% of my attention to the team rather quickly.

For anyone that truly knows me, may be surprised to hear this news. Trust me, I am just as surprised as you are. My time and experience at GM hadn’t been the greatest. I was really unhappy, my views of myself had been warped. I was in a position that wasn’t a fit for me, think “square peg, round hole.” No matter what I was doing to fit, it just wasn’t working. It left me feeling extremely defeated.

I had a sit down with myself over Thanksgiving vacation in 2020. I was completely honest with myself. I literally broke down. I came out of that weekend with a plan. I took action. I was able to schedule a class to become a Certified Scrum Master that following week. Directly following the class I took the exam. Within a week, I was leaps and bounds ahead of where I was just the week prior. I started attending Agile Austin meetups and started networking. In April I attended the “Launch your Agile Career” held by Scrum Alliance. I learned a lot by attending and more importantly I crossed paths with Nada Buhendi, MPCC, ICP-ACC, CSPO®, CSM®, SA-SAFe®4. I took her up on here offer for a Virtual Coffee, that snowballed into me becoming her client and working through her process.

Right after she and I started working together, I had an interview with Discover Financial Services. She helped me prepare for that interview and I knew right away that I made the right decision. Unfortunately, I didn’t receive an offer, but I was in the game. Other interviews came and went over the next couple months. I got frustrated. At one point I even had to take a step back and reassess where I was at. In the end, unexpectedly, it all came to an end with me getting moved to the role that I was searching for externally at General Motors.

I’m sharing all this for a reason. I know I’m not alone in feeling the way that I did about work. I know how overwhelming those feelings can be. I know that 2020 was hard for people because of the pandemic. I know it’s carried over into this year and we are quickly coming to the point of closing 2021 out. It’s not to late. I’m an example of successfully making a pivot. Progress is progress. Making a change can’t be done with a snap of fingers. It takes a plan. In the end, the feelings and the things you’re thinking on a daily basis, can be over come and you CAN be HAPPY and actually look forward to going to work again.

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you find this relatable!

Dec 2018, the idea of making a 6-figure salary = burnout + unfulfilling job. If you had asked me, would you consider becoming a career coach, I would have laughed out loud. I was a master of interview disasters for an entire year. Today I am thankful.

Fun facts:

I helped 43+ hidden gems and undiscovered leaders overcome imposter syndrome and land jobs they love in the past 8 months.

Of those 43:

❤️ 87% now earn a 6-figure salary.The highest = $200K/year
❤️ Some do not have a university degree yet earn 6-figures
❤️ 100% feel more fulfilled & no longer fear interviews
❤️ Continue to be part of the community and help new clients
❤️ 1 of them works with me as an interview coach because he’s awesome
❤️ Latest achievement: 1 got an interview at FB AND Google
❤️ All of them are RECORD BREAKERS

If you’ve ever seen Kung Fu Panda, this is a Po moment for me. Without awesome people there is no Unleashing Your Awesome.

Thanks to all my supporters and clients for making this happen.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

If you want to break a record without spending a ton of money on certifications and get over your imposter syndrome, DM me ❤️

3 months ago, I shared my QUITTING OVER TEXT story. Think “The Devil Wears Prada” when Anne Hathaway throws her phone into the water fountain and never looks back.

Sharing it felt like falling on my face in front of a crowd of 2.6K+ viewers. But what it did was land unexpectedly in one of my client’s feed 3 months ago. We’ll call that client Sarah for now to protect her privacy.

Sarah found my story when she felt like quitting over text too.

She wanted to pivot from project management to product management but had no idea how.

Sarah fit my ideal client persona. The type of client I love coaching. Smart, Ambitious, Hard Working…Just haven’t found her big break.

After 2.5 months of following my process to the T, I was able to keep Sarah from committing the same career suicide I committed years ago and gracefully leave her current position on good terms because I helped her land 3 product manager offers in the 6-figures.

And in a couple of weeks, Sarah’s real name will be revealed.

In the meantime, I share this story to tell you that one of the secrets of converting an interview into an offer is: authenticity. Share an authentic piece of yourself with employers to build that rapport and connection.

After all, Sarah interviewed me when she was looking for a career coach and hired me on the spot after reading my story.

Win of the Year! I’m on Scrum Alliance!! You can find my Doctor Frame Technique on how to convert interviews into offers here: https://lnkd.in/gm3aYmRj

Thanks to everyone who attended it. And thanks to Scrum Alliance for the opportunity to find 15 hidden gems at your event who completed my program landed jobs they love as agile coaches, product managers and scrum masters at companies like: Dell Technologies, General Motors, Miniclip, Slalom…in the 6-figure salary range! 🎉

Many were Pivots! And many did not require a “technical” background or felt they had to start over to land that agile or product manager role.

Congratulations to all of my clients (you know who you are)! Let’s cheer for them LinkedIn friends!

And feel free to check out the recording 👇🏼

We are squashing the misconceptions around “career pivots”. You don’t need to be a developer (or technical) to land a scrum master or product manager role!