IN THIS EPISODE…
In this episode of Matters of Creative, Jenny chats with professional coach Jen Verharen of Cadence Coaching to discuss the unique vulnerability, challenges, and connectedness that creative teams can experience. Jen shares her expertise on navigating the sometimes emotional nature of creative work, offering tips for building trust, processing feedback, and aligning teams.
Learn about how a culture of curiosity and prioritizing learning over knowledge can foster resilience and creative energy in the workplace. This episode offers actionable insights to help teams connect, grow, and create better for everyone, from creatives and leaders to team culture enthusiasts.
ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Whether it’s in your work, your health, your relationships, your sport, your business or a special project that you desire to evolve, it’s part of the human condition to struggle. And wrestle with Resistance. And feel thwarted by Circumstance. It is in this struggle that Jen Verharen thrives. And partners with you to create Clarity, cultivate Courage and help you get out in front of whatever’s in your way. Jen’s superpower is the ability to uniquely blend the energetic and the strategic to help you get results.
Jen has a BA in Organizational Psychology and Mental Health. She’s done Master’s work in clinical psychology. She’s a certified Health and Wellness Coach, certified Transformational Life Coach and a trained mediator. She has more than twenty-five years of experience as a coach, trainer and facilitator. This cred pales in comparison with hundreds and hundreds of hours coaching. Of being present for the struggle. Witnessing breakdowns. Facilitating breakthroughs. And celebrating wins. To her work, Jen brings a powerful belief in the strength of the human spirit. She brings inherited and learned knowledge about the path forward. And she brings the ability to hold a larger vision for you than you may be able to hold for yourself at a given moment.
HERE’S A GLIMPSE OF WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:
- [1:19] Common challenges creative teams run into. How to navigate the personal nature and vulnerability of creativity.
- [3:49] Building trust, authenticity, and commitment to shared goals within creative teams to overcome communication barriers.
- [6:26] Creating a routine around structured feedback conversations to build confidence.
- [8:17] Frameworks Jen uses for aligning teams: values, vision, goals, and honoring emotions.
- [11:47] Strategies for acting with integrity: planning ahead so you can process when emotions arise in creative work.
- [15:17] Putting up boundaries in your personal life to sustain creative energy in your work.
- [19:53] Cultivating resilience in working through the lifelong “gap:” the space between where you are and where you want to be.
- [24:26] Synchronizing personal vision with professional creative output.
- [27:38] Creating team cohesion and fostering communication with things like energy check-ins, and “5-minute bullshit” sessions.
- [32:59] Cultivating a workplace that’s driven by learning over knowledge
- [37:07] Making a leadership shift from “telling” to “asking.”
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
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- Jen Verharen on LinkedIn
- Cadence Coaching
Quotable Moments:
- “Curiosity is the antidote to fear and judgment.”
- “In a culture of learning, people are expected to be curious and ask questions and challenge each other. And of course, we know now that that is a culture that is going to be more innovative, more successful in a really quickly changing world, over a culture that values knowledge.”
- “One of the tweaks that is really common is for leadership to make a shift from telling to asking.”
- “One of the things that happens is people often prioritize harmony in the relationship or people pleasing, and sometimes avoid honest communication and really clear feedback towards shared goals.”
- “You want to build a practice around honoring those emotions, allowing yourself some time to pause, feel them, know that it’s totally normal to feel them and then be able to step over those emotions and re-engage with, okay, what are the values here? What is the vision for this team? What is the vision for this project? And what choices do I want to make now about how I am going to act or behave…”
Action Steps:
- Create a “code word” for emotional pauses: Creative work is vulnerable and can be emotional. Come up with a phrase or word that team members can safely use to pause discussions if needed and regroup.
- Build check-ins into your routine: Kick off meetings with short energy or mood check-ins. These brief opportunities for team members to share where they’re at each day build trust and create connections.
- Structure your feedback processes: Consistent feedback sessions with clear agendas encourage honest communication and make team members comfortable with both hearing and sharing feedback, creating an environment of safe collaboration.
- Explore your personal “why”: Discover where your personal values and professional creativity overlap.
- Embrace “the gap”: While it will shift and progress, the space between where we are and where we want to be will always exist. Resilience and growth come when you get comfortable and vulnerable in that space.
SPONSOR FOR THIS EPISODE…
This episode is brought to you by M Agency, a full-service creative marketing agency in Tacoma, Washington.
We are a strategic partner for companies wanting to build memorable brands, websites, and marketing campaigns.
Our team of creative professionals leverages their unique talents and skills to provide various branding, design and development, marketing, and creative services.
If you’re ready to take action with your marketing, visit https://whatisyourm.com/.