You Have to Get Comfortable in the Gray

By Tracey Green Washington

She invited me into an intentional relationship to stretch, grow, and release thinking, feelings, and actions that were getting in the way of my why, my purpose, and preventing me from showing up to leadership self-aware and understanding of the privilege to lead and embrace transformational change.

I couldn’t name it then but today, I embody change and ‘gray areas’ in my leadership; I was in the messy middle of my leadership journey – the transformational space that represents the gap between our current state of being and desired purpose. This critical space for strategic leaders invites grappling with three important truths.

#1 Alignment is Necessary

The leadership walk can’t be done alone. Alignment with your unique purpose will serve as important anchoring as you resist the disorientation, distraction, and fatigue of this heavy work.

#2 Get Comfortable with Discomfort

It is a walk that requires a level of intimacy with discomfort that can shift one into a range of emotions that can cause leaders to move from being paralyzed and fearful to excitement in the collective work.

#3 You Need Someone Who’s Got Your Back

This walk requires a coach that asks powerful questions, provides a support space for reflection, creates accountability through action steps, and provides an open curious space to grapple with fears, shadows, and unspoken ideas that have yet to be shared with the world.

My experience of the messy middle heightened my awareness and unapologetic belief that in these momentsfor leaders working on the cutting edge of some of the most complex social issues of our life-time-coaching is vital. A powerful coach can provide a consistent voice armed with powerful and curious questions converging in just the right way to unearth new insights, reveal and interrupt false narratives, and create permission for truth-telling to facilitate healing and identification of pain points. A coach provides confidential and intentional space to speak unspoken desires and consent to be in alignment and support your unique purpose. I have learned a healthy partnership with a coach accepts and honors each individual and travels alongside them in the transformational process to amplify their innate leadership, vision, passion, will, desire, and clarity. Lastly, a powerful coach supports your proximity to discomfort and navigation of the messy middle in service to unleashing superpowers, catalyzing authentic partnerships, resisting complicity, and mitigating harm to support transformation change within communities, networks, and diverse teams leading some of the most complex work in transformational change.

Coaching Enables Each of Us to:

• Sharpen our ability to shift our thinking, which influences our feelings and activates our actions to harness the necessary skills, relationships, and networks in service to generate the greatest return on investment towards tackling complex issues;

• Lean into a transformational process by leaders/team members at all four levels, the “I”, “We,” “Work,” and “Walk” (Ideology), to truly step into this type of posture within ecosystems of change to effectively align our unique superpowers, skills, relationships, and networks in service to achieving key goals; and

• Make a collective commitment to show up as our best selves in a way that catalyzes change, model the way, constantly assume a learning posture ready to be sharpened, and be of service that supports others around us.

I’ve had the privilege of receiving support from four influential coaches throughout my career. Each entered my life at a critical moment where I knew intuitively as a leader that it was time to shift my posture in a significant way but unable to see, name, and navigate the critical path ahead to amplify my voice, level up my impact, and stretch into my influence in service to something greater than myself. These relationships throughout my career have allowed me to understand the power of coaching as a tool and respect the inextricable link between coaching, effective leadership, purpose, and transformational change. Consequently, fueling my desire through Indigo Innovation Group to foster ongoing spaces, cultures, and practices that intentionally normalize coaching as a vital lever to strategically position leaders to be bolder, more innovative, healers, and equity centered. Given this proposition, I ask one single question of you, “Who’s coaching you?” —

Tracey GreeneWashington is the President of Indigo Innovation Group, a consulting firm dedicated to serving as a thoughtpartner, as well as CoThinkk, a social change philanthropy initiative. To learn more, visit IndigoInnovationGroup.com or CoThinkk.org.

JORDAN DEVERE Senior Recruiter & Client Service Supervisor

After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University in 2015, Jordan fully immersed himself in the Western North Carolina community. He built a strong foundation in sales and account management before joining Spherion Staffing & Recruiting in 2021.

As an expert in client relations and direct hire recruitment, Jordan provides long-term staffing solutions to clients and creates permanent careers for job seekers throughout our region.

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KÉGAN ENGLISH CEO, Atlantic Coast Business Brokers

Kégan founded the “next generation” business brokerage and advisory firm, believing that the industry was in desperate need of change. He and his team use their years of professional business consulting experience to elevate the business purchasing and selling experience.

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JENNIFER DURAN Sales Consultant, Vistanet

Jennifer has been a licensed funeral director for almost 30 years and understands the importance of being available when the phone rings.

Her experience using Vistanet while managing a local funeral home made her an instant fan of the technology and the company. Knowing that she helps businesses and their clients connect is truly rewarding.

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Matt Fraser

Vice President of Commercial Services, Epsilon, Inc.

Working with Epsilon since 2012, Matt has a passion for helping organizations implement proactive IT support services and cybersecurity improvements to enhance their business goals and objectives. He received his CompTIA SEC+ in 2017 and actively maintains this certification. Matt has lived with his wife in Asheville since 2005, where they now raise their daughter. When he’s not working you can typically find him running or biking a trail in Pisgah National Forest.

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Bill Gilliland

Award Winning Presenter, Entrepreneur, and ActionCOACH Business Coach

Bill is currently one of the top ActionCOACH business coaches in the world, speaks on a wide range of business topics, and loves to teach business owners how to build “commercial, profitable businesses that work without them.”

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Nick Iosue

Sr. Commercial Loan Officer, United Federal Credit Union

As the Senior Commercial Loan Officer, Nick has more than 12 years of financial industry experience. Prior to joining United, Nick was a VP of Business Banking at First Citizen Bank. He has a degree in accounting and corporate finance from Western Carolina University and is a graduate of the North Carolina School of Banking at UNC Chapel Hill.

Nick lives with his wife and two daughters and has served with the NC Young Bankers Association, the Brevard Chamber of Commerce, and Pisgah Forest Rotary.

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Chris Kaminski

Award-winning Designer, Entrepreneur, Owner Lone Bird Studio LLC., webguy.tech

Chris has wholeheartedly invested his energy and resources into Webguy.tech, a WordPress backup and security service. With a strong belief that it holds the answer to the plaguing issues faced by WordPress users, such as backups, updates, and security, Chris has become a local expert in the field. Webguy.tech offers convenience, peace of mind, and cost savings, allowing businesses to focus on their core operations while entrusting their website’s protection to this reliable service.

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CINDY KIMMEL Owner/Benefits Advisor

Cindy Kimmel is tackling the diminishing value of health insurance by bringing alternative health plans to local businesses. Her 15-year career in corporate employee benefits has given her valuable insights into the challenges of providing competitive benefits. With a focus on sustainable health plan solutions, Kimmel Benefits+ is committed to ensuring businesses can access affordable, highquality health plans. Holding a Master’s in HR and serving on the Western NC HR board, Cindy is a trusted advisor to her clients.

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CHEYENNE MATHEWS ALLCHOICE Insurance

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Drew founded Craft HR Solutions with the vision of helping mission-driven, small and mid-sized organizations grow. He saw leaders struggle to find the experience and expertise needed to make critical impacts through their people. The Craft HR team offers solutions ranging from HR Assessments, Fractional HR, and project-based engagements to enhance compensation, benefits, recruiting, leader training, employee engagement, DEI, and more. Set a time today to learn more about how Craft HR can help you achieve your goals. Follow the QR code to visit our website.

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