Heidi Saucier

Knowing when it’s time to shift

Leaders often want to see something through to the finish line. There are times when the end for that leader isn’t the end for others. A leader may be at the peak of their career, full of success within their team, then realize it’s time for a new chapter. Others may have raised their hand years ago to help lead an event or volunteer for a committee and begin to ponder when the time is right to move on from that role. In both scenarios, it can be hard for the leader to make the proper shift and let go.

I recently experienced one of these scenarios. I have been leading a volunteer effort for 10 years. It happened unexpectedly when someone observed me organizing an outreach event at work and asked me to take on a new endeavor. From the experience I built new relationships, expanded my network, and gained skills I didn’t expect. It has become one of my favorite events to help lead over the years. As my role at work expands, responsibilities in another volunteer area change, and prioritizing my family always at the top of the list, I needed to take a step back and decide if I would continue to serve in this capacity.

I started with self-reflection. I thought about the lessons learned, the things I loved about the role, and how it aligned with my other goals. Through the process, I realized I was at the peak of my experience serving in this capacity. Then I had a random thought that helped me make my decision. In 1997, Seinfeld was one of the top shows among the major networks. Fans tuned in weekly to see what antics Jerry and his friends would encounter as they navigated through life. Instead of continuing the series, a decision was made to end it on a high note and prevent it from becoming stale among its captive audience.

As this thought came to me, I realized I wanted to transition out of this role while I still loved it. I appreciate being asked to take this on 10 years prior and all I have experienced during this time. I wanted to make the decision knowing it was the right time and not get to a point where I disliked what I was doing and have a more difficult exit. I had someone in mind to take over the role with minimal training who would have the support of the group coordinating the full event. I next shared my situation with one of my mentors, who had me look at all factors to help me decide.

With these discoveries, I felt more at peace and ready to share my decision. At the same time, I was nervous about the conversation because I did not want to let the group down but knew it was time to do this. When it came time to discuss, the response to my news was positive. While they were sad to hear it, they understood my reasoning and were open to my recommendation of the person to fill the role.

As you face decisions to shift or stay the course, I encourage you to take the time to reflect and seek the advice of a mentor or trusted peer to gain an outside perspective. It can make a difference in moving in the right direction! Have you been in a similar situation? What things helped you make your decision? Share in the comments!

Heidi Saucier

What’s your mantra?

From Merriam Webster:

Mantra (noun). A word or phrase that is repeated often or expresses the beliefs of a person or group.

I recently finished the book Fear Is My Homeboy by Judi Holler. I enjoyed her perspective of taking on fear and learning about her experiences. Throughout the book, she challenges the reader to take several actions that help with this. One of these is to create life and business mantras as an act of self-love. These sayings can be used to counter fear and doubt when they attempt to be the louder voices.

Mantras can apply to many situations. They can be simple sayings or favorite quotes to motivate you and move you forward to success.  Some people have phrases directed at themselves such as “you are capable and worthy of change.” Others may consider ones to help them through a tough situation. A friend recently posted on social media about a bad experience her family is facing. She specifically shared mantras that they are focusing on to help them get through what’s happening. All of them are positive perspectives despite the challenges they are currently facing. No matter what you choose, mantras should be positioned to encourage and bring positivity to help center you. For leaders, you can also choose mantras with your team to motivate and guide them as they work on projects and key goals.

When I read this section of the book and started considering mantras to use, I immediately thought about one of my favorite quotes. In my early days as a trainer, I discovered one by Wayne Gretzky that is often used when talking about sales. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” While typically shared with salespeople, emphasizing the importance of taking every opportunity to get a deal closed, it also can be used for personal and professional goals. As I’ve shared in other posts, I am continuing to move forward with decisions for better health. If I don’t make the effort, I’m going to miss the benefits. Professionally, I use this quote when thinking about networking and trying new approaches for my team to support our unique audience of learners.

As previously mentioned, you can also make a list of simple statements that you can declare when you’re in a tough situation and need motivation or encouragement. These can be things like “I am a leader,” “I am capable of success,” or “I’ve got this.” Even if you don’t believe the statement in the moment, I’ve found that still declaring your mantras helps you push through the struggle and continue to move forward with the goal or task.

For me, I’m going to continue to take those shots. Because if I don’t, I’ve already missed the opportunity.

What mantras or sayings help you as a leader? Are there quotes that keep you going? Share in the comments!

Heidi Saucier

Your mistakes can help others!

“Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something.” ~Morihei Ueshiba

I’m sure you’ve read articles that focus on learning from mistakes. Before you say “Thanks, Heidi, I’ve been down this road,” I encourage you to review the topic again.

We are often told we can learn from our mistakes and that they are an essential part of our development. It’s completely true, and your mistakes can help others grow! When mentoring or coaching someone, it’s easy to only share stories where things have gone well for us. While those are important when you want to encourage people to do something similar,  it’s just as beneficial to share when things have not gone well in your career and how those experiences have helped you.

During a meeting with a leader, she told me about a time she was coached for a similar struggle I was experiencing. She explained how that conversation opened her eyes and allowed her to make changes to her approach. As a result, she became more successful as a trainer. After she shared the experience, it motivated me to make necessary adjustments to improve my facilitation skills. Telling me what she went through showed me I was not the only person to struggle in this way and that I could overcome it.

As leaders, we have made mistakes. It’s part of being willing to take risks. Dede Henry shared in a Forbes Magazine article that while mistakes happen, how we respond to those mistakes is the key difference. I encourage you to check out the article and the strategies shared to change your mindset towards mistakes and failure. Some of the lessons we learn as leaders when things don’t go right have turn into key steps on our development journey. They may also be the experiences that someone needs to hear at just the right moment to redirect their path and achieve their goals.

How has sharing your mistakes with someone helped them grow? I’d love to hear your examples!

Heidi Saucier

Embracing Change = Growth

The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress. ~Charles Kettering

We’ve all faced it. Someone announces a change is going to happen for your team, division or even the entire organization. Or maybe through personal reflection you’ve realized that something needs to be different in your life. When we face change, it’s not always with the most positive of reactions. While the experience may have been difficult, I’m sure some of you are able to reflect on the changes and see the growth you’ve experienced because of the transition to something new.

When I moved to my current role over nine years ago, there were changes on multiple levels. I left a team where I had gained experience and knowledge. Now I was in a leadership position where I would learn new processes, build new relationships, and implement my own changes to the team’s operating structure. As I began asking questions and giving feedback on training projects, I received some resistance. I realized I needed to explain why I was asking the questions and build trust with those I would be working with. Once I made that shift, people were more receptive to my feedback and willing to partner with me on training initiatives. Not only did I experience changes overall by joining a new team, I learned that I also needed to change my approach as a leader.

A few years later, along with the rest of the world, tremendous change came as the pandemic hit and we had to make quick adjustments to daily living. For me that meant leading my team from home, making difficult decisions to ensure my family was supported while I was working, adjusting to mask wearing and social distancing, and even increasing virtual interactions with friends and family. For others it was working on the front lines, adjusting to wearing PPE on a regular basis, dealing with fear, figuring out how to stay connected to loved ones that were isolated, and wondering how we would come out of this. Reflecting on my experience during the pandemic, here are some things that I’ve learned:

  1. Curbside grocery pickups are a timesaver. I still take advantage of this option from time to time.
  2. It’s ok to take a break.
  3. Maintaining relationships is critical, even if you are an introvert.
  4. Some people are kind. Others are not. Either way, only we can control our decision to be kind.
  5. There’s always a way to support others.
  6. People are more creative than they know.

Most recently, I’ve begun exploring the use of AI in my role. I will be the first to admit my skepticism towards this technology. Would it really make a difference? Would it reduce the time it took to complete tasks I had grown to dislike because they slowed up the process? At the same time, I was hearing the benefits and possibilities to do things that I was not as skilled in with the support of AI. In other words, it would help me learn new things.

The company I work for has done an amazing job preparing us to increase the use of AI in our work lives. Through learning, job aids, and hands-on activities with the encouragement to experiment, they have offered numerous ways for employees to discover how AI can become a part of daily work. I began to take some classes and started practicing the art of prompting. I learned how AI could help make some of my email messages more concise, how to create a process map using CoPilot and Excel, and discovered analytics that are beginning to reveal key metrics related to the audience that my team supports training. I am still learning how to further refine prompts and use CoPilot throughout the Microsoft Office Suite. My willingness to give AI a chance is bringing positive change and new opportunities within my work. I know that AI is not perfect, and the human touch is still necessary to ensure anything I ask AI to create is accurate and reflects the goals and message we want to portray to our internal teams and external learners.

In all these times of change, I grew. Was it easy? Absolutely not. But when I took the time to step back and look at the bigger picture, I saw that I embraced the change in many ways and gained insights I will carry with me into the future. These lessons are ones that I often reflect on to remind me that despite it all, growth is still happening and there are things we are constantly learning.

Leaders – Embracing change and not running from it is the most critical thing you can do. Remember the people following you. If they see you avoiding the change, that may influence them to do the same. If they see you leading the way through change, and you remain honest and transparent through the process, it will help your entire team transition and come out on the other side of the change a stronger and more resilient group. How will you lead yourself and others through the next change that’s on the horizon? For those that have recently gone through a change, what have you learned through that experience? Please share in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!

Heidi Saucier

Turning 50 – reflecting on five decades part 3

I hope that you’ve enjoyed the last few posts that have reflected the decades of my life from a personal, professional, and historical perspective. This post will wrap up the overview of the last five decades of my life.  

2016-2025

Turning 40 was a pivotal point in my life from multiple perspectives. Desiigner’s “Panda” was the number one song on the radio (or satellite, or however else you listen to music). I would experience great joy with the birth of my son (it’s hard to believe that he will be nine in less than a month!) and great sorrow with the unexpected death of my husband. In this decade, we learned the words Brexit, SpaceX, and COVID-19.  Zoom meetings became the norm during quarantine, and we never expected to be stressed about having enough toilet paper at home. We also saw the emergence of A.I. which had been around for many years but now accelerated into the mainstream.

Leadership development introduced us to James Clear’s Atomic Habits that encouraged continuous improvement (yes, I highlighted this book in a past post), Bill Burnett and Dave Evans’ Designing Your Life challenging us to consider career maps and doing work with a purpose, and Kim Scott’s Radical Candor that helps leaders find the balance between giving direct feedback and having personal care for team members. Leaders during that time included U.S. Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Vladmir Putin in his second time leading Russia, France’s President Emmanuel Marcon, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

This most recent decade saw the strongest growth in my professional life. I earned my Master of Training and Development at Oakland University in December 2016, right at the end of my first trimester with my son. Not too long after his birth, I moved into a new role at work where I was an instructional designer and facilitator for sales support staff, starting to develop my instructional design skills. Almost two years later, I accepted a promotion to my current role leading a team that designs training for providers and staff that do business with our company. This experience has grown and stretched me as a leader, learning to build a team and develop relationships with co-workers and key stakeholders that foster collaboration and support for each of our training deliverables. It also taught me about leading teams in a virtual and hybrid environment, which was a factor in my interest to research organizational support for remote workers (You can learn more about that journey in a previous post).

If you remember my last post, I joined our company’s chapter of the National Management Association in the previous decade of my life. In this decade, I moved into roles that included an officer that oversaw the planning and hosting of our monthly meetings and two years as our chapter’s Board of Directors chairperson. Through the experience, I discovered an opportunity to become a National Director with NMA. This is a role that serves as a liaison between the national organization and the chapter you are assigned to. In 2023, I was sworn in as the National Director for my local chapter. Through my experience and involvement on board committees, I was nominated to become an officer on the board. In the fall of 2024, I was voted as the National Secretary and am now serving as the National Treasurer. It’s an honor to serve in these roles, and I look forward to future opportunities within the NMA board.  

2026

So here I am, starting the next decade of my life. It’s been about a month since I turned 50. The history is being laid out before me, and now I start to anticipate what the future holds. What will my career look like over the next 10 years? How will I grow as a leader? What knowledge will I have gained? How will my son grow up?

I don’t have these answers yet, and that’s completely ok. I look forward to this next path on my life journey and hope to have some amazing stories to share with you down the road as I continue this blog. Thank you for taking the time to learn about these five decades.

What were you most amazed about? How did it help you reflect on the decades of you life? I’d love to see your comments! PS – The number one song on my 50th Birthday was Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drop Dead.”