Maggie Craddock is an executive coach who has worked with clients at all levels on the professional spectrum – from people entering the workforce to Fortune 500 CEOs. She has been featured on CNBC, National Public Radio and quoted in national publications including the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune.
Maggie is the author of Lifeboat: Navigating Unexpected Career Change and Disruption – released on August 4th, 2020. Her previous publications are Power Genes: Understanding Your Power Persona and How to Wield it at Work (Harvard Business Review Press: June, 2011) and The Authentic Career: Following the Path of Self-Discovery to Professional Fulfillment (New World Library, 2004).
She has written several nationally syndicated articles on behavioral dynamics in the workplace, and her work has been discussed in publications ranging from Harvard Business Review to O, The Oprah Magazine.
Before building her executive coaching business, Maggie worked for over a decade as a portfolio manager and received two Lipper Awards for top mutual fund performance.
Maggie received a M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics, an MSW from NYU and a BA in Economics from Smith College. She is an Ackerman certified family therapist.
* * *
Now please shift your attention to Lifeboat. For those who have not as yet read it, hopefully your responses to these questions will stimulate their interest and, better yet, encourage them to purchase a copy and read the book ASAP. First, when and why did you decide to write it?
A couple of months after finishing large coaching assignment for a New York based law firm, I found myself cleaning out my childhood home after my father had passed. On the bedside table in the room where I was raised, I spotted a crumbling old book called The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters nestled between a magazine and a science fiction novel.
As I gently thumbed through the pages of this cherished volume, I found myself reflecting on the successful coaching assignment I’d just completed.
Due to a combination of circumstances, I had been retained by the senior partner at a law firm that had abruptly announced that would be closing its doors for good.
This announcement had come without warning, and it hit the staff and associates like a bombshell. While some of the senior partners were prepared for retirement, many of the hard working people at this organization that found themselves abruptly out of work were barely able to function – let alone think strategically about their next career move!
The partner that hired me to work with those who had been reporting to him told me, “Maggie, look, this is not about helping our people get their resumes together. It’s not about giving them advice about networking. This is like trying to get everybody off the Titanic before we all go down.”
As I remembered his comment, I began to realize many ways that my lifelong fascination with the Titanic story connected with the stories these coaching clients shared with me as we worked to get their careers back on course.
When we began working together, many of these individuals reported feeling alone, powerless and adrift. However, in the course of our work, they gradually began to internalize the skills they needed to support one another as group to beat the odds in a tight job market.
Similarly, aboard those lifeboats that were launched from the Titanic, individuals were thrust into a situation where they faced their fears and contemplated what meant most to them in life. The small acts of courage, which aren’t small at all when survival is on the line, helped these people pull together and maintain a hopeful spirit in the midst of a terrifying situation unfolding around them.
As I thumbed through this old book while reflecting on this recent assignment, it struck me that many of the lifelong lessons that had helped me navigate my own career under pressure – and helped me guide clients through daunting times – stemmed from my early musings about the story of the Titanic and how those lifeboat survivors had managed to tap into their inner strength in a crisis.
Were there any head-snapping revelations while writing it? Please explain.
Yes!
As I reflected on the emotional tone of a workplace that’s steeped in a pervasive sense of fear vs. the environment that stems from a group that is united by a sense of mutual support and trust, I realized how vital it is for us to make a shift from the Self-help mindset to the Us-help mindset under pressure.
To what extent (if any) does the book in final form differ significantly from what you originally envisioned?
I was so eager to share all the insights that burst into my brain when I realized how powerful the Titanic story is as a metaphor for dealing with unexpected change, that my initial manuscript was way too long. Getting this paired down to the final version we published felt like literary “sculpting.”
That said, I gradually realized that the best way to convey the emotional shift we all need to make to change our mindset was to present this information as a series of timeless questions. This format helps readers put themselves in the shoes of how unexpected change transformed Titanic survivors and how, buy embracing the lessons at the heart of our current challenges, we can transform in positive ways as well.
While creating Lifeboat, what (if anything) did you learn about yourself that you did not know before?
I realized that, as an only child who had been the primary caregiver for my aging parents for over a decade, that I was more conditioned to give support than to receive it.
I learned how powerful it is to learn to receive when my father passed and then my mother’s health took a turn for the worse while I was in the final stages of completing this manuscript. Fortunately, the resilience required to meet the challenges of this chapter of life were reinforced by the blessing of being married to my best friend.
My husband Charles and I settled into a routine of ending the work week by heading to the Philadelphia airport, boarding an 8 PM flight for Fort Worth (Texas) and arriving at our hotel around 1 AM. We spent the balance of our weekends during those stressful years visiting with my parents, taking care of chores and paperwork for them, and crashing in our hotel room to replenish our energy.
What took my breath away was the kindness of the people we encountered everywhere we turned during this challenging time.
By the time my father passed, the hotel staff not only helped me print out the eulogy I wrote for his funeral – they laminated it. As I raced to the nursing home during my mother’s final days, I found that head of the nursing unit had literally moved her desk into my mother’s room to make sure she wasn’t left alone before I could reach her side. Years later, people we worked with to help settle their legal affairs, keep their home repaired and even store their possessions, and still reach out to stay connected with us.
This challenge taught me that, when it comes to resilience, people matter in a very human way during a crisis. There are some things you simply can’t do alone. Without the emotional support of my husband and our friends, I’m not sure how I would have balanced my duty to my parents with my professional responsibilities.
What are Margaret (“Molly”) Brown’s defining characteristics? Which of them do you admire most? Please explain.
For me, the defining attribute of Margaret Brown was her emotional agility under pressure.
The Titanic story is a timeless illustration of the wide range of power styles that play out between people, and how these power styles morph under pressure.
On Lifeboat #6, Margaret Brown was a gracefully aging grandmother traveling in first class who was thrown into a small but diverse collection of people fighting for their lives. She watched seasoned navel professionals break down emotionally under the strain. She listened to some of her fellow passengers in first class express outrage over all the things that were going wrong. She witnessed passengers from steerage frozen in mute terror as they contemplated their demise, and she overheard the man who was supposed to lead them to safety proclaim they were doomed.
Somehow, in the midst of the wave of terror engulfing them all, Margaret Brown managed to find the courage to stay present and listen thoughtfully to herself.
She looked for practical and positive things she could do in the present. She offered words of comfort and items of warm clothing to freezing fellow passengers. She coaxed her fellow first-class passengers into focusing their energy on supporting one another as opposed to finger pointing. She eventually realized that although none of the women possessed the individual strength to pull these oars through the water, if they organized themselves two to an oar, they could stay warm and get moving.
When Quartermaster Robert Hichens, tried to stop her efforts, she faced him down and told him that if he didn’t stop his pessimistic prattling they were going to throw him overboard! At this point, the other passengers rallied behind Brown and she became their unofficial leader. By the time they were rescued, the other passengers referred to her as “Lady Margaret” and credited her with having the strength that saved them all.
I often say that Margaret Brown didn’t think her way to greatness, she aligned her thoughts, her feelings and her intentions in the present moment – and greatness found her.
In your opinion, which would probably be the most difficult portion of that process to complete? Why?
For readers who work their way through the various sections sequentially, the work on identifying their “inner iceberg” can be the trickiest. This is because, getting to the roots frozen feelings that can pop up under pressure is something many of us have trained ourselves to avoid.
However, this work isn’t about perfectionism. It’s about giving ourselves permission to practice skills like taking strategic pauses, and learn to regroup when we realize these skills are easier to imagine ourselves employing than they are to actually execute under pressure.
In fact, it’s not unusual to have a client call me and say something along the lines of, “I tried! I really tried not to lose my temper under pressure, but I had to abruptly jump off an audio call with my team because my frustration was getting the better of me!” When I reassure them that it’s O.K. to do this imperfectly at first, and they keep at it, they often end up reporting that frustrations that once made them toss and turn at night no longer throw them off course.
This is why, throughout the book, I provide several case studies of hard working professionals who have disciplined themselves to employ the various lifeboat skills we discuss until they develop emotional muscle memory under pressure. It’s also why the section on finding someone from whom to get what I call “Lifeboat feedback” is vital to staying centered and grounded when dealing with a protracted challenge. Be patient and the unexpected changes just keep on coming.
A Swiss-American psychiatrist, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, is renowned for her research on human grief. She formulated a five-stage reaction model: Denial, Anger, Negotiation/Bargaining, Depression, and eventually Acceptance.
Here’s my question: To what extent (if any) is this model relevant to how people tend to react to what you characterize as an inner or external “iceberg crisis”?
I think this model is fabulous for thinking of the stages we go through as we loosen our grip on the idealized image we strive to convey and replace it with an authentic acceptance of who we are in the present moment.
When dealing with an inner iceberg, some people commence the process after years of denying any fear-based or even self-serving motives that may prompt their emotional reactions under pressure, and they can easily become angry or defensive if this is brought to their attention at an inopportune moment.
Even when engaging in self-reflection with a trusted mentor or coach, the negotiation/bargaining phase can be compared to the narrative many people create to cast themselves as a victim in order to rationalize an ineffective attitude or a penchant for dysfunctional or self-sabotaging behavior.
Working through the inner tension and strain that it takes to suppress unwanted feelings and keep this narrative in place can release a flood of uncomfortable feelings – depression, anger or even anxiety. That’s why the process requires courage.
That said, it doesn’t take as long as many people think, and the energy you free up when you start to accept who you are, what you feel and your genuine desires in the present is exhilarating and powerful. I think you make very clever use of what you identify as eight “Lifeboat Questions.”
For those who have not as yet read the book, please explain what the primary function of these questions is. That is, what will they help your reader to accomplish?
Their purpose is to use the Titanic story to help readers take a step back and evaluate how they usually respond to unexpected change and disruption, then suggest how they could respond more effectively.
Here are three questions from the Lifeboat Process that people are finding particularly thought\-provoking:
“Is this ship safe?”
Many people who boarded the Titanic believed it was unsinkable.
When you think of your organization as “Your Ship,” you may want to consider your firm both as a financial enterprise and a corporate community when you contemplate this. From a commercial perspective, it’s important to know that your firm is financially solvent and prepared to course correct strategically under pressure.
However, when it comes to your ability to thrive, it’s equally important to focus on the behavioral norms at your organization and whether these strengthen your ability to believe in yourself and foster a sense of mutual respect and support for others.
“When is it time to get in a lifeboat?”
Some people didn’t get into lifeboats fast enough on the Titanic and they perished.
An aspect of The Lifeboat Process that’s particularly vital for today’s readers is that it gives them some important checklists to consider if they are evaluating whether or not their current job is right for them.
However, for clients who can’t decide whether or not it’s time to consider a job change, I often encourage them to do the “inner iceberg” work and work on the emotional agility they are able to employ in their current role before making a transitional move. This is because, if you haven’t clarified why you are emotionally triggered by certain people and situations in your current position, you are likely to recreate these same emotional dynamics in your next job.
“What will be my story?”
We are living through an extraordinary period in history. Our system of government is under strain at the same time that we are struggling through a global pandemic.
When you look back on this period in history, how will you feel about the way you have navigated this period? Will you use this period to strengthen yourself and evolve? How will people who know you, work with you and work for you describe your legacy after this crisis abates?
I wrote this book to help people find the answers they need to questions such as these. I hope the material enables them to navigate their way through the disruptive challenges and crises during this turbulent, perilous time.
* * *
Here is a direct link to Part 1 of the interview.
Maggie cordially invites you to check out her website by clicking here:
As well as the resources at these websites: