Your Position Is Not Your Value: Navigating AI and Workforce Change | Anyah Land

As artificial intelligence, layoffs, retirement, and generational shifts reshape the workplace, how do we navigate change without losing our sense of identity, purpose, or value?

In this episode of Diversity Conversations, Dr. Tommie Lewis speaks with Anyah Land, Certified Executive Coach and founder of SOAR Growth Consulting, about one of the most significant workforce transitions of our time.

Drawing from her experience in human resources, public health, diversity and inclusion, and executive coaching, Anyah explores the human impact of organizational change—from the fear of displacement experienced by seasoned professionals to the challenge of preparing emerging leaders to carry institutional knowledge forward.

In this conversation, they discuss:

• Why your position should never define your value
• How to separate your identity and purpose from your job title
• Why experienced professionals may struggle to let go during workforce transitions
• How AI can preserve institutional knowledge and prepare the next generation of leaders
• The role of the S-curve in understanding growth and resistance to change
• Why you shouldn’t run from AI—but learn how to work with it
• How to create a growth plan that is bigger than your current employer

Anyah also shares three essential reminders for navigating the future of work: know your WHY, recognize your strengths, and document your accomplishments.

Your job may change. Your title may disappear. But your ability to create value goes with you.

Connect with Anyah Land and learn more about SOAR Growth Consulting:

soargrowthconsulting.com

Join us for another thought-provoking Diversity Conversation about leadership, equity, personal growth, and the changing world of work.

future of work, artificial intelligence, AI in the workplace, workforce change, workforce transitions, career transitions, layoffs, job loss, executive coaching, Anyah Land, SOAR Growth Consulting, workplace equity, age equity, baby boomers, retirement transition, digital transformation, institutional knowledge, knowledge transfer, emerging leaders, multigenerational workforce, career growth, professional identity, purpose at work, leadership development, HR leadership, diversity and inclusion, Diversity Conversations

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Diversity Conversations, where we engage in thought-provoking dialogue to identify leadership solutions to today's most challenging conflicts. Stream live each week, Saturday, 9 30 a.m. to 11 a.m., hosted by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategist and CEOs Eric Ellis and Tommy Lewis. Join us and add your voice to this engaging diversity conversation.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Good morning, Greater Cincinnati, the United States, and the world. I am Tommy Lewis, president and CEO of Mickey Plane Consulting, and I am so happy to be back after a month of hiatus and being out on assignment. And I've returned this morning to not be with my friend and brother Eric Ellis. Eric is on assignment this morning, but never fret because I'm so happy and so blessed to be back with you all. We're moving into our ninth year of diversity conversations every Saturday morning. We're getting close to 500 episodes. And it's always an honor and a blessing to have each and every one of you come back every morning. And sometimes it's not the morning for you, it's the afternoon, and even the evening. We've had our guests that have joined us from around the world, as you all know. And uh it's always good to be back. So I wanted to share with you all just for a moment of what July and first part of August has looked like for me. I've had to do three things. One, I've had to really level set and get my own mental health and wellness back in check. Uh, for the last six, maybe nine months, I had been experiencing brain fog. And so you all know this that I sleep basically four to five hours a day. I've been sleeping four hours a day for 20 years, and it's catching up to me. My body's letting me know, my mind's letting me know, my spirit is still strong, but uh the brain fog was a little bit different for me. And I have experienced concussions before when I played football and all that good stuff, uh, some type of brain trauma. And so it was reminding me of uh the brain trauma that I've had with brain fog. And so I decided to you know get some help, see sleep therapist, go to a sleep center, and so I'm taking the advice next steps to uh help myself help me. So with that being said, uh I'm starting to get more quality rest. Quality rest. I had not been going into ERM or REM rapid eye movement, and and basically I've been sleeping at a very shallow level, which has increased my cholesterol, increased my hypertension, and all that good stuff. And so I also listen to other people, like you know, my doctors and our producer Lydia. Uh Lydia and I have a uh a kinship where there's some things that she offers up to me and Eric. Uh I don't control Eric at all. There's some things that he absorbs and takes, but there's a lot of things that Lydia offers up that I take, things that are natural for us. And so I thought that this would be very important because just yesterday I was given the opportunity to speak to about 60 to 70 principals and superintendents as they were beginning their year. And the school district is in Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Public Schools, and I was uh the last plenary speaker over a three-day period. So they were in their third day trying to round third hair for home. They had been talked at all week, they were working through some workshops preparing for this upcoming academic year, and I was asked to speak on behalf of mental health and wellness, and I'm not a psychologist or sociologist, I'm none of that. But as I opened up my talk to them, I said I was going to share a few stories of myself, and it's not for me to say, oh, listen to Tommy talk about himself. That's not what it is at all. It's to open the doors for you to see your own story in my story. I've already had a heart attack and two cardiac arrests. I don't wish that on anyone. I have high uh uh cholesterol, very, very, very high. That the last time I went to the doctor two months ago, he said I was on a verge of having a stroke. And so my wife, my doctor, my friend said time out. My body has said time out about six months ago. So July came around and I called a timeout. So I was sharing this with the principals and superintendents and having an interactive conversation around what do you do as a routine daily to give you peace and calm. What can you really control? And then there's a slide that I had things are serious as a heart attack, but not that serious. So there's some language that we use all the time. Hey, it's serious as a heart attack until you've had one. No, I don't want it to be as serious as a heart attack. I want it to be serious, but it'll get done. And if it doesn't get done, I may not do it, but someone else may. So I know that some 25 years ago when I did have my heart attack, it was based on me psychologically and mentally taking the world's pressures and putting them on my shoulders. The other thing I mentioned is to these principals was you may neither have to have a coach or some assistant because professional therapists have therapists, counselors have counselors, executives have executive coaches, principals and superintendents should have some type of coach, a confidant. And so I'm excited today, and before we bring up our guest, I would like to remind us to like and to subscribe. I've listened to the shows over the week, and this is important for us to like and to subscribe, right? To keep us connected. And so with that being said, it is my honor and my privilege to bring to the front stage Anya Land, who is a certified executive coach, and she's the founder, president, CEO in all things, everything of SOAR. I'm laughing because I see her smiling. SOAR Growth Consulting. Anya, good morning to you.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Good morning, Tommy. And I'm just smiling because you know, we often forget about all the hats that we wear, but as I'm fixing my IT and making sure that uh my outfit is on point for this morning, I am all those things and more. So I'm so excited to have joined you and the team online. Good morning, everybody. This is an amazing opportunity for us to talk about what you just shared was so powerful and honest. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Oh, you're more than welcome. I appreciate that. And um, over the years, I have learned, Anya, that we do wear different hats. And some of those hats are titles that either we place on ourselves or others place on us. In my season and your season now as well, I've realized that some of the titles, if not, most of the titles don't really matter to me anymore. At all. Right? CEO, that that title doesn't matter. I'm a father. The title of dad doesn't matter to me. It's the behavior of father that matters. And so thank you. Uh, I try to be transparent, and I would like to invite you in our conversation, and this is exactly what it is, a conversation, right? To you know, share your authentic self and truth, right? Uh as we talk through today. In fact, I would like to ask you to start with, you know, tell us in our community a little bit more about you know who you are, you know, what people, what events have really shaped your now.

SPEAKER_02 9:05

Absolutely. You know, when you think about titles, one thing that I've learned at this stage of my life is that I am not my title, but in my heart, who I know is that I am the daughter of a king of the most high. In addition to that, I'm also on mission in the kingdom. And that mission has evolved since my time growing up in South Bend, Indiana. I am a daughter. Um, both of my parents raised me in South Bend, which is this beautiful utopian community where I grew up thinking that the entire world was a diverse and inclusive, equal split of African American, white, and Hispanic individuals. My community was split 30-30-30. And so I thought that that was the world. And growing up in South Bend, it was such a safe community that it really did help me see diversity and inclusion every day. And that also meant that, you know, when I was seven years old, we lived not too far from Notre Dame University. And my mother had a family gathering for Easter, and we had an Easter egg hunt. And she put the eggs out in the yard and waited for my pig here. And then I remember her yelling and running out the house because the kids in the neighborhood were taking the eggs. And so when I stayed diverse and inclusive, it was all of that from socioeconomic status to my grandparents lived around the corner. But that's how I grew up with true community, connection, and belonging. Like I said, my parents were educators, and so they instilled in me this one core value. And I believe they're online. Hi, mom and dad. Um, but the one core value that I remember most is civic duty. And what that looked like was, and when I was in the eighth grade, I remember spending my summers working at the American Cancer Society as a volunteer, in part because I wanted to get out of the house because we're all there all summer, and no eighth grader wants to be at home with their parents, the educators, all summer, but also because it was important to volunteer, give back, and help someone else. And what I learned then is that that's something that carried my career throughout. I've been a nonprofit leader, I've been an American leader, and that's taken me to the island of Jamaica, where I served in the Foundation for International Self-Help as a volunteer. Um, it's taken me to the nonprofit sector where I was a visit facilitator for foster and adoptive for foster and adoptive agency. And I sat in homes of kids with their biological families when they were taken from their homes. And that's where I really learned what diversity and inclusion is, because everyone doesn't grow up with the same set of resources, but everyone is doing their best. So when we talk about, and you and I've had many conversations about inclusion and equity, it looks differently, but you don't get that until you go into someone's home.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

Indeed, that's well said. That's well said. And so I want to back up just for a moment. Um my late mother and father uh were of different, they were in different industries. So I want to speak to my father real quick. He was a scientist and an educator, and he actually would share with me that there is no time limit for education, meaning that that if there was something to learn and he had it to teach, he would teach it to me no matter what the hour of the day or night was. I want to ask you with two educators as parents, how did your lessons come to you? How did they teach you?

SPEAKER_02 12:48

Consistency, discipline, and most importantly, accountability. My dad was my principal in high school, and one thing that he would say to me at the beginning of every school year and every moment is you can be friendly with everybody, but you don't have to be friends with everybody. And that was a cautionary tale of helping me learn situational awareness as a Black woman in life, but also ensuring that I understood that all people are not created equal. And the set of values and civic duty that it were instilled in me were not a reflection of the full world. And so the lessons were there and they were consistent, but their teaching was more so accountable. There were things that we always did. We always ate dinner together as a family. I always had at least three educational summer camps that I were so much fun every summer. I always volunteered. I always went to church. So there were things that became routine, and that's those are the guardrails of accountability that I am now someone who are now nine and 14, and I have one going to high school. But the thing that really did resonate with me is, you know, going back to the civic duty is my my career has been an evolution. So to be at this point of being the owner of SOAR Growth Consulting, my mission has stayed consistent. And that mission is to improve the quality of life of individuals. And I've done that in HR. And what I see now is that we are at this critical place in our country's history where we are at the in the cusp of a digital transformation. We are at the cusp of baby boomers leaving the workforce, and we are at the cusp of a lot of organizations reducing their headcount, and we're seeing a higher number of people being displaced in the workforce and all regulations that have changed. So my mission now is to help facilitate those transitions so that people don't feel what you said was the burnout, the rainfall, not feeling like they can manage, you know, the changes in the ether along with managing their careers because things are changing so quickly. And that in itself is exhausting.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

Sure, sure is. You know, as you talk about before we get to the work that you do today and for the people and the organizations that you work with, uh, can you you know can you share a uh a pivotal moment or two in your life personally that has uh really shaped your thinking today? In other words, when the event or situation or conversation happened, you may not have known how impactful it would be 20 years later or 10 years later or five years later. Can you recall of a significant event that has really landed as your core value today?

SPEAKER_02 15:52

Yeah, you know, I'll it takes me back to 2008. And at the time, I lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and I work for a private foundation called El Pomar. Now, El Pomar is a private foundation that was funded by Spencer Penrose, who started the Brawmore Hotel. If you know, you know it's one of the most beautiful resorts in the Rocky Mountains, quite arguably in the United States. But what happened at that time was during Prohibition, they put their money and resources to build a private foundation. So when you think of a nonprofit, you often think of the United Way. You may think of Girl Scouts, but the nonprofit sector also includes every hospital, state farm insurance, the NBA. It includes every private foundation, um, National Rifle Association. The nonprofit sector is vast, including a large number of private family foundations. So I went from visit facilitator in a small nonprofit that was funded by the state to being in a private foundation, and my job was to give away millions of dollars. The pivotal moment in my career, going from visit facilitator at a small nonprofit to a well-endowed private foundation where my job was to give away millions of dollars in grants, was 2008 when the Democratic National Attention came to Denver, Colorado. And I had an opportunity to go to a session on what at the time was called universal health care. In that room, I sat with another nonprofit leader, and we saw Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Michelle Obama, Catherine Sevilius, and a number of other leaders talk about the concept of universal health care and the importance of providing health access to all and getting on the side of prevention. And in that conversation, it lit a fire within me because I said, well, I know that everybody doesn't have access to healthcare. And if you don't have access to healthcare, you're not going to have what you need to survive. Massel's hierarchy of needs, you're not going to have access to medicines that will keep you alive. You may not have the finances to just go to the doctor or even to pay the medical bill right when you receive it, which will impact your ability to pay your electric bill, your light bill. You may not have be able to have a full-time job. So in that moment in 2008, I realized my mission is to continue to support universal health care, which then became the Affordable Care Act, which then became the safety net that the United States has to support the healthcare needs of all Americans, not just those who can afford private insurance or who have a full-time job. And that was the pivotal moment for me. I saw so clearly, like my mission is to study public health. And coming out of a pandemic and in the midst of a cyclospora explosion, pun intended, I see now my mission so clearly. It's really been, you know, the past 20 years of my career has been dedicated to studying trends and populations, including epidemiology, employee trends, labor trends, and really being on the side of prevention. And how can I support every individual in their quest to improve their quality of life? People aren't just working because they love it. Some are fortunate to have a career that they love what they do every day. But most Americans are working to provide for their families. They know their why and they get up every morning to make sure that they can pay for that health care to put food on the table. And my job as executive coach and as a human resources leader is to make sure that the people that I support my population has the resources to support their why. Not for the company, but I mean that's it's a delicate balance. But that's the moment that changed everything for me is understanding how universal healthcare is changing what the quality of life could be for Americans. And you know, fast forward 20 years, a lot has happened, but that was the moment that changed everything for me.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

I think that is significant. That's very, very powerful, Anya, because as I shared in the opening around my own journey with uh health, uh, I too see the value in one's health. Right. And in fact, uh, for the talk that I share with the principals and superintendents, the heading was it was uh be here to help us get there. So wherever the there is, we we have to be here. So we have to be mentally, physically, psychologically, spiritually healthy. And I've had the privilege, as you have, to travel the world, and there are other countries that have universal health care. Uh and so something like protecting an organization's number one asset, which is its people, it's human capital, I think is important. You also talked about you know your work in human resources, right? HR. And and so can you kind of talk us through you know a little bit of your work and or career in HR, and then as it evolved into your work at SOAR?

SPEAKER_02 21:25

Yes. So what's interesting is I never set out to be a human resources professional. Quite honestly, 15 years ago, I didn't know what HR did outside of give you a badge and give you a lot of rules to follow. They were not my people. I'll be totally transparent with you. I wouldn't have wanted to have coffee with my HR leader, but now I tell all of my clients take your HR leader out to coffee. It'll change your life. But in the reality, um, after being a healthcare examiner, Executive for the first 10 years of my professional career, I transitioned to the officer diversity, equality, and inclusion at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. And that's actually when I met you for the first time, when I heard your talk at the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce event, um a culturally competent workforce. So when I transitioned into that role, it wasn't because I cared about HR. I cared about working in the Office of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion at Cincinnati Children's Hospital because they were addressing the social determinants of health for their employee workforce. Now, quick sidebar. Cincinnati Children's Hospital has around 10,000 employees. They are phenomenal healthcare leaders, researchers, food workers, sanitation workers, nurses, doctors, students, right? They're a very diverse workforce. So as a public health leader, I see 10,000 people as a small country. I see my population as my employees. Okay, so the mind shift is okay, I'm a public health clinician by trade. I'm going to treat my employees at Cincinnati Children's Hospital as my population because we have the same benefits program. We are breathing the same air. We have the same flu vaccines, and we get the same paycheck at different levels, but from the same employer. So working in diversity, equality, inclusion at the hospital gave me an opportunity to address the social determinants of health by incorporating programs like a mentoring program. I implemented a cultural competency workforce program so that we can learn together how to support diverse patients and families and support our diverse workforce in ways that will build empathy, trust, connection, and belonging. That's how I started my career. And as I understood how HR operated, because HR has maybe seven to ten functions within HR, everything from benefits, onboarding, talent management, human resource business partners that support the business leaders, IT, uh all systems in between, uh population health that makes sure that employees have uh safe working conditions to labor relations to make sure that the hospital doesn't get sued for treating employees wrongfully. Okay. So in that world, I realized I can do a lot of good in the diversity space, but the true decisions are made with the HR business partner, the team of HR leaders who sit side by side by business leaders to make decisions on who gets hired, fired, and promoted. So I said to myself, if my if my mission is to improve the quality of life of individuals and I want to be on the side of universal healthcare, I'm in the pocket in HR, but I want to be able to influence the outcome by supporting business leaders who are making those decisions. I don't know if any of you know this, but HR does not hire, fire, or promote anyone. We advise on hires, we advise on fires, and we advise on and approve promotions. So really, those decisions are made by the business leaders with advisement from HR, right? So you have to play your role, but also be able to influence leaders. And that's a skill I really learned in the latter 10 part, the 10 years of my career of how to influence the outcome and work side by side with leaders to improve the quality of life of our employees. Remember, I'm I'm on mission, right? At this year, at this point, I'm 10 years into the mission of improving the quality of life of individuals. So doing that work in HR and transitioning into an HR business partner role allowed me to learn how to influence leaders to change the outcome for the people who need it most. You know?

SPEAKER_01 26:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:04

One thing that I'll say is when you work in human resources, every day you're faced with the balance of supporting leaders and making business decisions and knowing the hearts and minds of people and their why. You can't do HR without empathy. And I think the best compliment I receive is I put the human in human resources. Because whether it's your child's first day of school or it's your first day back from maternity leave, I care because I know that you can't be at your best at work if you don't know that somebody cares about what's going on in your home. Okay. So that's just how I do HR. And that's really at the heart of how I can stay on mission, whether I'm a business facilitator at a small nonprofit, giving out grants in a private foundation or working as an HR business partner. And I transitioned out of the nonprofit sector into the for-profit sector. Bigger scale, bigger budget, bigger decisions, bigger workforce. So thinking still population, right? Like I did the same heart-centered work that I did in the nonprofit sector, but took it to the for-profit sector because everybody puts their pants on the same way every day. And we're all people at the end of the day. And so getting that experience to work for Fortune 500 companies as an HR business partner was really at the heart of why it didn't matter to me where I worked. I wanted to continue doing good to support our people and had the opportunity just to travel the world and support businesses across. And one thing that remained the same is that when you know that people care about you at work, you're more likely to stay there a longer time. So what am I talking, right? So my language changed from I just want to do good for people to knowing that I need to influence the outcome by saying, you know, business leader, if you make John happy by giving him giving him time off on a Monday morning so he can take his child to school, he'll be able to work harder and longer. He'll stay with this organization. Because if not, he's going to work, walk across the street and work for an organization that has remote work, right? So the influencing changed. And those small decisions can be made in most cases, but it takes an advocate, whether it's an HR, your manager, or your business leader. And that's really where I found that sweet spot of how can I support people and drive business results? Because it's those micro decisions that will either drive an employee crazy and they'll leave, or they'll see, I feel seen, I feel heard, and this is where I belong. That's a big difference maker when the cost of attrition is three times an employee's salary. You feel me? Like that's that be that becomes a business case of why you need to be more supportive of every individual. I'll pause there because that's it's heavy when you think about it.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

Yeah, that that is excellent. You have the communities chiming in, right? You have folks who are proud of you, right? Who are mentioning that, you know, and you know, it's uh it is very powerful to be recognized by your community, people who love you, and to be recognized by people who don't know you, but you're speaking to them. And so as you were sharing your words, I'm listening intently because you're speaking to me, right? And I know that you're speaking to our community across the world. With that being said, I'm going to make an assumption that in your work, as you were just describing, there may have been some people who push back, right? They may not have agreed, they may not have seen or understood the value of what you, your role, your function provided to them. Could you give us kind of an example of when there was some pushback? And then what are some steps that a professional might do to overcome pushback, overcome some resistance?

SPEAKER_02 30:18

Yeah, I'll absolutely. You know, HR usually operates under the cloak of anonymity for many reasons. Um but the good thing about being my own CEO is I'm not going to fire myself, but that also gives me an opportunity to be more transparent about what that looks like. And and quite honestly, in the past 10 years, so many things have evolved that are big and small. When we think about, and I'll I'll get to the story, but I want to set the context. In the past 10 years, we've had a pandemic that forced a lot of workers home, a lot of people out of jobs because we had to social distance, and we and then some roles that didn't exist before, but were then recently created because of the transition of AI. In addition to that, we've had um when I tell you the number of baby boomers that we've had that have left the workforce, you know, at the beginning of the decade, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the baby boomer generation was at approximately 73 million people, 73 million that are slated to retire. And that is a bigger transformation than we've had in a long time. So we are living in one of the most significant workforce transitions of our careers. And before I get to the HR story, I just want to let you know that what's happening here is like we're not just talking about layoffs, because we can't talk about layoffs without talking about age. And we can't talk about age without talking about institutional knowledge. And we can't talk about institutional knowledge without talking about AI. And we certainly can't talk about any of that without talking about equity. So a story that comes to mind for me when I think about how HR has really made that transition is the number of baby boomers that have been impacted by those big US events, global events, that have had really sticky situations. For example, I had uh an employee who was in that range, shout out to my baby boomers, but who was also taking care of their parents who had an immunocompromising chronic disease. Okay. So as they have multiple generations in the home and they're working in the pandemic, they can't afford to expose their loved one to COVID-19 because they can't bring that home. So when an employee would come to me and say, I cannot come into the office because I have aging parents that live with me who are immunocompromised and I can't risk exposing them. I need to work from home. In a hospital setting, that message doesn't land slightly about the impact to the workforce, to the productivity, et cetera. And so when I when I share with you how hard it was to work in human resources, especially for my healthcare human resource leaders, it was extremely difficult to balance the real lived experiences of individuals with the needs of the business. And so what we found is that there were many situations, conversations about how can we support the employee and the business. And I can tell you, we didn't always get it right because the needs of the business to drive the results and to gross the revenue are important. But at the same time, being able to support the employees that we value, the the employees that, you know, you make the biggest investment in your workforce. You look at the budget, in most organizations, people represent the largest percentage of the budget. So these are both personal and business decisions. And in that situation, the person that was taking care of their loved one ended up being exited from the workforce because they could not meet the demands of the business and we could not find a solution for them to continue taking care of their loved ones. And at the end of the day, all I could say was, I know that you're going to be happier. I know that you're going to sleep better. I know that you're going to find something that works for you outside of this place because again, you grow where you're planted. But the pandemic and even the AI transformation transformation are making a lot of people, especially our baby boomers, question do I really want to do this? Do I really want to sacrifice sleep to drive these results? Do I really want to learn this AI thing? I remember a point in my parents' career when they were getting ready for retirement. I think that they just got Outlook or Google Gmail and they got their first computer. And there are a lot of conversations over there that said, you know, I don't know if I want to use this computer thing because I really just like my paper, right? And the hospital was, I don't know if I want to use an electronic medical record system on that computer thing because I like these manila files, and we would have rows of manila files for every patient, remember? Yeah. And so there have been these transformations with the baby. And my heart goes out to you because this is not the world of work that you grew up in, where you went to someone's cube, you had a conversation, you pushed through your day, you you puked at your desk, but you didn't take a day off. You know, that's how you started the workforce. And today things are moving at light speed. And it, I can imagine if I put myself in the shoes of those who are getting close to retirement, it feels less personal because the transactions happen so quickly that you don't have that connection like you used to feel. And for a lot of people, they say, I don't want this anymore. And so that is, you know, so many situations like that where people have decided to opt out of the workforce or have been forced out of the workforce because it no longer fits their needs, it no longer satisfies their their why, and their why has changed. And we have to honor that. And hopefully your HR and organization will do that with respect. But I know that doesn't always happen.

SPEAKER_01 36:41

Yeah, you said, you know, as folks are trying to understand their why in their current season, maybe even project when they transition from this season of work role or responsibility into another role. So the transition into retirement, uh, that's a different role. There's still work to be done because I believe that we're all continuous learners. If you're transitioning from an individual contributor to a manager to an executive, those roles and responsibilities uh change if you move from a uh if you're a single person transitioning into a relationship, a marriage, and then having additional folks on your payroll, which we call children. Uh, if that's the case, all of this creates a lot of change, sometimes anxiety. But in my opinion, it's all part of the growth cycle. Can you talk to us a little bit about your transition in founding and leading SOAR Growth Consulting? And what does that look like? Um, with your executive coaching, with your consulting firm, how might you bring value to someone like me, a group of people, or an organization?

SPEAKER_02 38:05

Oh, absolutely. And thank you for asking the question. I'll just say this: I became a certified executive coach because I wanted to make sure that I had an evidence-based platform to provide support, stay on mission, right? For people. And part of that journey was becoming a certified disruption advisor where we focus on an evidence-based tool called the S-Curve to really support growth. So it's SOR Growth Consulting and not SOR executive coaching because I don't just executive coach, I'm on mission. This is my ministry, and I use evidence-based data-driven approach to do so. So to set the context, I support individuals, teams, and organizations with executive coaching and contractual HR support to really get to the root of how do you support change? If you know me, you know I'm going to talk about the S-curve. And the S curve is really how we level set on where you are in that change manager. Because remember, Tommy, I know you and I know you are agile. You are always forward-thinking. You are a driver, you are embracing change on all fronts all the time with no sleep. Okay. You are a power driver when it comes to agility. And there are others who are resistant to change. They can become blockers where they're like, I don't want the, I don't want the computer. I don't want the AI. And I don't want, I don't want any anything new. And I definitely don't want a new wage millennial manager telling me what to do. I've been here 20 years. I'm sorry, was that too personal?

SPEAKER_01 39:41

Come on, that's what it's talking about. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:43

So people accept change differently. I use an S curve to assess where people are in their change, right? So if you think of a classic S, at the bottom part of the S, you're really in the launch phase. And really, it's three parts. The bottom of the S is a launch phase where if you are embracing something new, you're learning a lot of information, you're not making as much progress in outcomes because you're learning, you're absorbing, you're getting better slowly, but it's hard to learn something new and embrace the change. As time progresses, you'll get to the sweet spot where you have enough information to be more agile to post things through the so I'll use Facebook as an example. Your first day on Facebook, you're overwhelmed by the feed, the posts, how quickly information changes. Once you get used to it, and even like my 72-year-old auntie is better on Facebook than I am because she has the reps. I do not. But she's posting, she's in communities, right? It's it's a part of her lexicon. She's, you know, she's very fluid in it. She's in the sweet spot of using that digital tool, and she loves it. Now, when you get to the top of the S, right? That big S part, you're in the mastery phase. Now, two things can happen to mastery. When you are in mastery, either you know your craft so well, there isn't much that can be a challenge for you. You're comfortable, you're engaged, you are what some will call in the workforce a technical, deep technical expert, or you reach that title, that pay that you love, and you're like, I've made it to the top of the mountain. But there's also a group of people like you, Tommy, who are at mastery and they're thinking, I'm bored. I've done this a million times. What's the next challenge for me? I'm restless. I need something that's gonna invigorate me. And they lose that sense of vigor because they've seen it all, they've done it all. And sometimes they'll have that voice that says, Well, we tried that, it didn't work. So why would we try that again? Or they'll say, I've done that before. I know that's not gonna work, right? So they can either become blockers or they can say, I think I need a new challenge. What else you got for me? And they will transition out. When I work with clients and I work with teams, the first thing we do is assess where they are in the S curve because that'll give everyone an indication of how they are embracing the newness, the change, and the transformation. After that, we look at what will accelerate their growth. And because I stay on mission, I know that in this phase of my life, you know, the biggest thing that I see is as many baby boomers and subject matter experts as there are in the workforce who are making the decisions. There's a whole contingency of millennials, Gen Zs, Gen Alphas that think differently, act differently, speak differently, that don't feel the, they don't feel the love. And so a lot of my coaching has been focused on how to position the next generation of leaders to be promotion ready. So as the workforce transitions, they know what it takes to step into those big shoes and they know how to signal to their leadership that they are the ones who need those promotions, that needs that pay, that knows their why, that can assume those responsibilities. So that's what executive coaching looks like for me. And really, it's career coaching because for all the institutional knowledge that our senior leaders have, those messages and how to do the work isn't always translated to the next generation of leaders, and they're exiting so quickly that there is now a gap. And I'll tell you one quick thing. In the past two years, I've been asked by three different organizations to implement AI driven knowledge transfer tools to simultaneously exit employees from the workforce while retaining the knowledge digitally to prepare. The next generation of leaders. And that's a very sticky message because some people will say, oh, we're getting replaced by AI. But the reality is we have a big problem where the biggest fish in the pond are exiting and they're not getting replaced, but neither are their relationships, neither are their their character, their values, their ways of working. And we have to have a solution to help train that next generation of leaders. And so it's a delicate balance of how do you equip the next generation of leaders while there are so many people exiting for different reasons in this period of our history.

SPEAKER_01 44:44

I'm going to step into a role with you now in the same vein as what we've been talking about. So the role I'm stepping into is that I am the 30 plus year veteran in my space. Subject matter expert. I'm a Shmi. I've reached the pinnacle of my career or my role in my respective company, but I still have a few years left in my mind. Maybe five, maybe even 10 years. I am not done yet. In fact, Anya, in the last five, maybe 10 years, I have reinvented myself that I have a new why. And then I'm dealing with these millennials, these next generation folks. I'm in my role, right? Here's one thing that you don't know yet. And the insecurity is uh what other significant event like COVID might happen that disrupt my current lifestyle. I may lose money, I may not have the ability to earn another job, so I have some insecurities there. The other insecurity is I have more years behind me than I do in front of me. And this that I do today is a core identity to me. My job is who I am, and so now I see this next generation, and I literally I don't want to give it up at all. You know, it's not that I dismiss or don't value the next generation, but if I give anything, I'm gonna lose everything. Right? Everything. How might you coach me?

SPEAKER_02 47:09

Yeah, so let's have a quick conversation.

SPEAKER_00 47:12

Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 47:13

Why do you feel like you will lose everything if that title wasn't what it was for you?

SPEAKER_01 47:23

Well, one reason is because you know, when I was working through my career, when I was younger in my 20s, maybe even 30s, uh, I worked with a couple of bosses and they were training me, and I end up being promoted into their jobs. And I don't know about all of them, but there were a few that just spiraled, right? And so I I guess they spiraled because I I took everything from them. And I don't want that's the way I feel, I don't want everything to be taken from me.

SPEAKER_02 47:51

Yeah, so why is it important that you hold on to all the things in this phase of your career? You can't take it with you when you go. Why is that important?

SPEAKER_01 48:05

That's a great question. Why is it important? Yeah, that's a great question because I don't know if I've asked myself why is it important, which makes this a that's a logical question. I guess I'm I'm stuck on some feeling of what might happen. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 48:22

So, what do you think that feeling is of why you want to hold on to what you knew? Because those leaders, that was what, 30 years ago? They didn't even have a computer, and you're holding on to that. Why are you holding on to that now in 2026?

SPEAKER_01 48:39

I guess fear of loss or fear of fear of failure. At the end of the day, wow, this is a good question. At the end of the day, I have some fear in me about something.

SPEAKER_02 48:51

Yeah. And when I'm coaching people, the first thing that we do is start with five whys to get to the root of what it is that they're holding on to. And if we can identify what it is that they're holding on to, oftentimes it's something, someone, some trauma that is no longer relevant, but they never let it go. And so before we even get into coaching and career and wealth building and promotions, we get to the root of the why, because you can't hold on to what you had if you want to step into something new. You can't start a new S curve if you take with you those beliefs, those fears that you've held on to for the past three decades, because I'm gonna go out on an assumption, those fears from 30 years ago no longer serve you, Tommy.

SPEAKER_01 49:51

Right.

SPEAKER_02 49:52

So when we talk about executive coaching at every level, I mean, I've had uh a millennial, I won't say their industry, but a millennial emerging leader that was carrying the fears of the old guard from the first year of her career. And fast forward to now, she is not only brilliant, but she has 15 more years of experience. She has all the wins, she has the money and the title that she wants, but she's still holding on to the old guard and what she learned, what trauma she experienced in her first year of her career. And that no longer served her as she was looking at what her next promotion is. And I would even challenge you to think what you're holding on to will not allow you to ascend to the next phase of your career if it's rooted in fear. And we can't move forward until you let go of the fear and embrace what you want that next launch point to be. This is a conversation that I've had with many of my executive leaders. It's the fear of letting go. Yeah. Because baby boomers and those who are in that generation were it build into them that they were their career. Millennium, millennials grew up in the therapy era, the everybody gets a ribbon era, right? We will talk our feelings, and you know, the coaching for millennials is like your feelings are not facts, and those facts don't translate into business dollars. So your feelings are not what needs to lead your decisions. So, like, don't crash out at work. But for my my baby boomer, my you know, closer to retirement coach clients, the conversation is often rooted in just what you said. It's letting go of that fear of being displaced, not having a purpose. But we have to, in the process, decouple your purpose and your why from your title. Because the legacy that many of my boomers have created is not just one title, because they've had many titles, but it's the identity associated with who they are today that they are worried about letting go of to embrace what's coming next for them. And that's a slow conversation, Tommy. That is a slow conversation before we get to coaching. And that's the that's why sore growth consulting exists. Because again, I don't need you or any of my clients stressed out, tired, overworking, because the reality is you can't work at the stamina and pace that you used to work when you were in your 30s and 40s.

SPEAKER_01 52:34

Yep. Come on now.

SPEAKER_02 52:35

Your mitochondria will not support that. It's not sustainable. But to embrace your holistic well-being and your identity and your why and your purpose, we have to decouple identity, title, purpose, and why so that you get to the root of who you want to be in this chapter and what no longer serves you in that chapter.

SPEAKER_01 53:01

That's well said. Thank you for unpacking that. Um, and as you were sharing, I'm I was thinking of a number of things, uh, one of which was a direct connection to uh my talk with the principals and superintendents, which was a conversation. Which was a connoting, I was actually asking for their input from their their truth as they were beginning the year. So one of the topics that we landed on was around how do you find excitement, joy, happiness in the moment, every moment, at any time, regardless of the situation, the conversation, or the event, how do you find your purpose or joy in that? And so I turned it over to them and asked, let's just back up for a moment. Outside of work or in your personal lives, what do you do that brings you joy? Some people said, you know, a prayer brings me joy. Other people said jogging. One woman said, I wake up at four o'clock in the morning, put in a 45-minute jog. I may even go back to sleep, but I feel refreshed. I do another 30-minute jog in the in the evening. Another person said, I like to cook, I like to clean. One gentleman said, I like to work on my yard. So my yard is, and I jumped in. I said, It's immaculate. He said, Yes, it's immaculate, it's very well done. And the joke that I said, I said, uh, do you have a ring system or some type of alarm system on your home? Uh and he said, uh, no, I don't, I don't, you know, I'm in a I'm in a place that's pretty safe for me. I said, I was just asking because uh uh I have a fairly manicured home. My wife does our yard, it's it's very nice. And we have a security system that has a camera, and when Amazon comes to drop off things that she's purchased, they just walk through the yard, right? And so I'm looking at my phone at the camera, like, get out my yard. What are you doing? And so I find peace in having a well-manicured yard, but other people don't see value in it. That was a long explanation to turn it over to you and ask you. What brings you joy? What what not your why, not your purpose, but what do you like to do in your spare time?

SPEAKER_02 55:39

Oh wow, this is such a big question. And for me in this season of my life, what brings me joy is twofold. Number one, it's seeing the people around me grow and ascend. So I have a nine-year-old and a 14-year-old son. Ascension looks like they made bacon this morning by themselves for breakfast. And they are taking themselves to the coffee shop and they know how to be safe. That that's joy for me. Like they have they have made it, or I trusted them to be out in the world. But also um seeing my clients attain the wealth that they desire in their corporate careers, that brings me joy. On a personal note, I find joy in failing forward at golf.

SPEAKER_01 56:27

Oh, I'm gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_02 56:28

I have bitten the golf bug. Listen, I am on a quest to become a better golfer, and it brings me joy to just compress that ball a little bit more every time, or to hit the perfect ball. And really, I keep things very simple. I'm very disciplined in my health and wellness and my sleep regimen because my days are very demanding and my practice is growing where it requires a bit more stewardship and attention. So, joy for me looks like getting better at golf, and joy for me looks like hugging trees on a daily basis. There are so many studies that talk about how getting outside and being amongst the trees without your phone are better for your overall health. And in this season of my life, especially in the summertime, I find joy in taking walks through the neighborhood to count the ducks, to touch some leaves, to, you know, just really embrace um God's greener. So I know that uh we're almost at time, but I just want to, we talked about a lot of topics, and they're just three key takeaways for your listeners that I just hope that they will be reminded of. And as you think about like transitions in the workforce and whether you're getting closer to retirement or you are working with a millennial Gen Z or Gen Alpha who are entering the workforce, I hope that we are all reminded that number one, I don't want people to confuse their position with their value. I know that a lot of people are seeing their friends retire. I know a lot of people are maybe are experiencing their position being eliminated, but the thing that you can't control is what happens in the workforce. But the one thing that you can control is not confusing your position with your value and your ability to create value, which leads me to my second is I always tell people, don't run from AI. Just learn to work with it. And it can be a simple thing of how can I make this text message sound nicer? Or it can be something like, how can I use AI to create a fitness plan or a grocery list? Just learn to work with it in a way that meets your needs on a daily basis and don't get overwhelmed by those two big letters. And the third is I always encourage people who are in the workforce to build a growth plan that is bigger than your current employer. We know our why, Tommy, and I encourage listeners to know their why, know their strengths, and document their accomplishments because when you think about what legacy you're living, it's not the legacy that you're living for your employer.

SPEAKER_01 59:09

Right. Come on.

SPEAKER_02 59:10

That's you know, that's not it. What matters most is the relationships that you're building, who you are able to lift as you climb. How many people climbed with you? What are those skills that you have that matter most to you so you can equip the next generation with those skills? And I'll tell you, the skills that are so hard, the hardest to replace are the intangible skills like storytelling. You are a great storyteller, Tommy. If anyone has sat with you, they know the power of having a great story. I believe your dad was a storyteller. Yeah, those are the kind of skills that you won't be replaced by AI. Being a problem solver, bring back the Rubik's Cube, bring back Sudoku, you know, bring back the old school, solve a problem and figure it out because those are the things that cannot be replaced with AI. And those are the skills that the next generation need now more than ever, because AI is like candy. It's just too readily accessible. But that problem solving and storytelling are two skills that if you have them as an older adult, please, please, please instill those in the next generation because it's harder for them to attain those skills in a digital age.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:25

This this is fantastic, fantastic, fantastic. Before we close out for the show, uh, I just wanted to share with the community that I want to say publicly to thank Anya, who's our guest today, and to share my love and appreciation to our producer Lydia. As we were beginning the show, we had some technical difficulties. Something that is not unusual, doesn't happen all the time, but it's not unusual. As a new guest to Diversity Conversations, Anya uh was have been preparing this week. She had reached out to me as well. And I know for anyone, there is some sense of anxiety, right? Some sense of what am I gonna say? What might I be asked? How might I present? And then when that's disrupted by stuff, it can be even more uh rack, it can rack you, it can just be more disruptive. I want to thank you, Anya, for your patience, and I want to thank our producer Lydia. Anya was trying to get some clarity and using some different tools for the technology, and we had to do some sound check. And when I get stressed, I get very linear, and I started to speak in a linear form. We're working on it, we're getting to it. Give me a sound check, go to it. I get real linear, real engineer, Anya, and Lydia. Lydia chimed in with the human piece. Lydia likes to say, My dear, it's okay. When Lydia was talking to Anya, it made me feel better. It made me feel better. So I say that because Anya isn't is a professional, she does what she does, but she is something bigger than what she does. And because of that, it resonates through the universe. That those who are with us this morning and watching and listening, you you heard the words, you felt the spirit for those who are going to watch and view this later, right? Because we know this is a global broadcast. We want to invite you to take a listen, not just with your ears, but with your heart and your spirit. And I will leave you with this, Anya, if you don't mind. How might people around the world get in touch with you?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:11

Yes, absolutely. You can find me often on LinkedIn, and you can find me on Instagram at Sore Growth Consulting. And you can go to www.soregrowthconsulting.com to connect with me. There's a link there where you can schedule time if you want to have a follow-up conversation and connect. But oftentimes I'm on mission on LinkedIn and on Instagram to engage my community. And I would love to connect with you, hear your stories and hear how I can support your drive for growth because it looks differently for everybody. But you know, we're we're becoming more connected, one conversation at a time. So I love to connect with people one-to-one so I can just listen and learn and we can vibe together. But Tommy, Lydia, I want to just say thank you too for inviting me into this sacred space to your community. It's been an amazing morning, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to share a piece of me and also to learn more about each of you and see the comments in the in the chat. Like, thank you so much for this amazing opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:19

You're more than welcome. More than welcome. Again, community, it's been an honor and a privilege to be with Anya Land, who's with SOR Growth Consulting, founder, president, CEO in all things everything. We hope that you take advantage of the opportunity that's in front of you with Anya. Uh, we also want to invite you to join us next week on another episode of Diversity Conversations. Take care.

unknown 1:04:46

Take care.