Leadership Development and Business Consulting​​

  • Talent Cycle consulting
  • Leadership Development
  • Executive coaching
  • High-Performance team development
  • Business coaching (tactical/strategic)
  • Motivational speaker

College Entrance Assistance 

Writeheightsllc provides one-on-one tutoring for SAT and ACT preparation and college admission essay brainstorming, writing and editing services.  ​


Write Heights LLC

CONCIERGE College  ESSAY Editing, SAT/ACT PREPARATION

Executive Coach, Leadership Development, Business Consulting Services

I propose that the concept of a professional career came about after WW II and was the major focus of our parents, grandparents, or great grandparents depending on your age. The concept was that you went to college, gathered some skills and the goal was to obtain a secure position after graduation with a company for life. You learned the company's values, behaviors, and priorities. Everything you learned was in the context of that company. Your goal was to work at one company for life until retirement. For the baby boomers, like myself, this was the goal when we went to college. Could you land a job in IBM, the Phone Company, or Kodak, or GE, etc.? If you could then your path for financial stability and success was assured. This "career at one company" philosophy changed during the 1980s. There were many factors: increased competition and pace of motivation, globalization, and the internet, to name a few. Additionally, the people entering into the marketplace wanted more than just the experience of one company. They wanted more choices and control. Therefore, it became the norm that the Gen-X professionals would work at 3 or more companies in their careers. It was still called a career, but it was more a "personal professional career" rather than a career at IBM. You moved to other companies because you were looking for faster acquisition of skills, advancement, and different company experiences. Fast forward to today. The Gen-Y and Millennials are moving away from the concept of a career. They are looking for even more choice in their personal and professional worlds. They want even more control, especially in work-life balance. It is not unusual to find young information workers taking a break during college, after they graduate, or between companies to explore a passion or seek adventure, and to expand themselves beyond what a company can offer. Today's professionals want more control, more choices, and a personal series of adventures. As our company continues to grow, and this is becoming the norm. So, I ask, "how does Avanade address this"?

I contend that Avanade is ideally suited to these new wave of workers. We are a growth company and have proven that we can grow faster than market and have done so for many years. Directly proportional to this market-leading growth is the creation of market-leading suite of opportunities for new experiences. These could be straight-forward and incremental or they could be stretch based and challenging. It could be experiences in a new technology, a new role, a new team, or a new market. Avanade creates these as a normal part of our growth agenda and we should encourage our professionals to partake. This is a two-way street. Our professionals need to make their choices and take some risks, and Avanade needs to make sure people are aware of the opportunities for growth and also take some risks by giving people stretch assignments.

The image that I have been using is captured in the picture above. This depicts a professional who has accomplished something which has produced pride. A summit was reached by exerting a great deal of preparation and effort. Inevitably, there were challenges encountered along the way. It was necessary to pack a backpack properly for this journey. This could not be achieved without learning and mastering a set of skills, typically experientially. You can see the excitement, the feeling of accomplishment that this hiker is feeling. After the celebration starts to subside, the following thought is "what's next?" Does the hiker want to go and walk in the valley, down by the river? Is climbing the next peak a goal? The choices are numerous and are dependent on the current set of opportunities and current inventory of skills, behaviors, and desires for the next adventure. Because Avanade is growing, we can offer the largest set of choices. Not only does Avanade provide the richest set of options, we also provide the best preparation for the next step in your professional journey. Avanade's Leadership, Learning, and Development (LLD used to be GLD) and Avanade University are all focused on preparing our people for success in their next adventure. Avanade's Talent Management function is focused on bringing visibility to our professionals on the options/choices available to them. These are not boiler-plate, rather they are more personalized, based on a person's professional accomplishments, skills, behaviors, and aspirations intersecting with Avanade's talent requirements. So to complete the picture, this hiker is given a set of options of what is possible to do next. These options are based on Avanade's requirements matched to your current skills and desires. Do we need to climb the next mountain; do we need people to go into the next valley? Avanade offers a rich menu. What is your current inventory, or what have you gathered in your backpack? Do you need more? If so, Avanade can prepare you for the next professional adventure of your choice. Find your desired mix of adventure, excitement, work-life balance, challenge, desire to do meaningful work, and camaraderie. We have it all.

 

Enjoy the journey!

It is not a career, but it's a personal series of adventures

English and Writing Tutoring

Writeheightsllc provides one-on-one tutoring in English, Writing, and student skills for grades 8-12 and college.  . 

​