Discover
What Crisis
Taught Me
Go inside Lynn’s journey that ignited The Work Human framework!
LYNN SETH, MPH, MA
Speaker, Coach, Consultant
And Chief Work-Human Officer!
A Very
Human Story
Go inside Lynn’s personal journey that ignited The Work Human framework.
LYNN SETH, MPH, MA
Speaker, Coach, Consultant
And Chief Work-Human Officer!
A Human Story:
Four Things I Learned While In Crisis
I was 27 weeks pregnant with my first child, and I started feeling abdominal discomfort
during a workday full of back-to-back meetings, a frustrated client, and unrelenting demands.
Yes, I ignored it because stopping did not seem like an option to me.
It never crossed my mind. As a busy corporate leader, I was used to days full of fires, trials, and tribulations. The hustle was my norm, so I just kept going. Plus, I prided myself on being ‘that worker’ who could manage any crisis with a smile while still performing at my best.
Furthermore, as a former Division I athlete, I found myself built for the intensity, hustle, and competitiveness of corporate life. Essentially, my mindset was this is just another day were my goal was to get it all done – by any means necessary.
I wish I felt different on this day, but I didn’t. If I had, I might have made different choices, but I did not.
I never stopped…I just kept going. And it was this act, not stopping, that gave me one of the early lessons in what would soon become a crisis and that lesson was:
Yes, I ignored it because stopping did not seem like an option to me.
It never crossed my mind. As a busy corporate leader, I was used to days full of fires, trials, and tribulations. The hustle was my norm, so I just kept going. Plus, I prided myself on being ‘that worker’ who could manage any crisis with a smile while still performing at my best.
Furthermore, as a former Division I athlete, I found myself built for the intensity, hustle, and competitiveness of corporate life. Essentially, my mindset was this is just another day were my goal was to get it all done – by any means necessary.
I wish I felt different on this day, but I didn’t. If I had, I might have made different choices, but I did not.
I never stopped…I just kept going. And it was this act, not stopping, that gave me one of the early lessons in what would soon become a crisis.
By days end, I was hospitalized with pre-term labor.
The tightness I ignored all day was contractions because my baby was trying to come 12 weeks early. Nothing slowed the contractions except a heavy concoction of medication. It was the answer we all wanted and the relief I desperately desired. I eased into a mindset that “I’ll be back to work tomorrow.”
That is until a nurse came to my bedside and quietly started connecting a medical device to my leg. She moved quietly and calmly as she explained that the device would be intravenously connected to me 24 hours a day because it provided the constant medication my body needed to hold off the contractions.
My mind was spinning. I couldn’t figure out how I’d work with this device. When I shared my concerns with the nurse, she simply said…
“Honey, you’re not going back to work.
You need 24/7 bed rest until your baby comes.
Things became very real in that moment, and it forced me to learn a second lesson, which is a hard one but necessary…
By days end, I was hospitalized with pre-term labor.
The tightness I ignored all day was contractions because my baby was trying to come 12 weeks early. Nothing slowed the contractions except a heavy concoction of medication. It was the answer we all wanted and the relief I desperately desired. I eased into a mindset that “I’ll be back to work tomorrow.”
That is until a nurse came to my bedside and quietly started connecting a medical device to my leg. She moved quietly and calmly as she explained that the device would be intravenously connected to me 24 hours a day because it provided the constant medication my body needed to hold off the contractions.
My mind was spinning. I couldn’t figure out how I’d work with this device. When I shared my concerns with the nurse, she simply said…
“Honey, you’re not going back to work.
You need 24/7 bed rest until your baby comes.
This is the moment my corporate world stopped spinning. Things became very real in that moment, and it forced me to learn:
My truth was that my baby’s best chance required putting work aside.
Going back to the job that consumed me was no longer an option. At least not until the baby came. My truth was that my emails, meetings, programs, and projects would need to be left as is. My truth was this pregnancy was not going to be like one of those ‘perfect’ experiences I had been reading about in books. And the biggest truth – I needed to rest, something that would not come easy to me.
My hospital instructions were simple, go home and get in bed.
Try to stay as still as possible for the next 10 weeks.
As I lay in bed, day after day, I was fixated on a narrative based on failure. I was obsessing over the belief that I was failing at being pregnant, a wife, and a leader. I spent my days consumed by fear, fighting overwhelm, and drowning in anxiety. As a result, I endured panic attacks, hardly ate, and cried day and night.
I felt powerless until my people, scooped me up. My lifeline, in the form of my family and friends, literally and figuratively helped me to stand, when I could not do it on my own. In different ways, people asking me to consider what I could do to feel happier, healthier, and more whole in the situation. It took me to another critical learning, lesson #3, that I encountered during this journey.
My truth was that giving my baby its best chance required putting work aside, at least for now.
Going back to the job that consumed me was no longer an option. At least not until the baby came. My truth was that my emails, meetings, programs, and projects would need to be left as is. My truth was that I was not going to be like other women who seemed to do pregnancy so easily. And the biggest truth – I needed to rest, something that would not come easy to me.
My hospital instructions were simple. Go home and get in bed. Lie more than you sit to ease pressure and the possibility of contractions. Try to stay as still as possible for the next 10 weeks.
As I lay in bed, day after day, I was fixated on a narrative based on failure. I was obsessing over the belief that I was failing at being pregnant, a wife, and a leader. I spent my days consumed by fear, fighting overwhelm, and drowning in anxiety. As a result, I endured panic attacks, hardly ate, and cried day and night.
I felt powerless until my lifeline of family and friends asked me to consider what I could do to feel happier, healthier, and more whole in the situation. It took me to another critical lesson that needed to be learned in this journey.
But, I was so stuck in the mud of fear, overwhelm and doubt that it was hard to imagine taking any action.
Yes me, the high-achieving corporate leader, who could solve complex problems easily, felt completely powerless.
That is, until she told me to surrender.
I’ll never forget my sister casually saying this to me.
She knew I was struggling and in a bad place, so she invited me to let go – to surrender. Specifically, her invitation was for me to surrender to the people and things around me that, not only could help, but also wanted to help.
For me, that would be a new and different approach. I was used to ‘suffering in silence’ to get hard things done. I did not register the importance of knowing when and where to seek help, one of the most important attributes of peak performance. However, I learned it in this crisis. If I wanted to reach my goal of delivering a healthy baby and maintaining my well-being in the process, I needed to surrender to the people who wanted to cook for me, pray for me, run errands for me, and everything else. The lesson was there, right in front of me…
But, I was so stuck in the mud of fear, overwhelm and doubt that it was hard to imagine taking any action.
Yes me, the high-achieving corporate leader, who could solve complex problems easily, felt completely powerless.
That is, until she told me to surrender.
I’ll never forget my sister casually saying this to me.
She knew I was struggling and in a bad place, so she invited me to let go – to surrender. Specifically, her invitation was for me to surrender to the people and things around me that, not only could help, but also wanted to help.
For me, that would be a new and different approach. I was used to ‘suffering in silence’ to get hard things done. I did not register the importance of knowing when and where to seek help, one of the most important attributes of peak performance. However, I learned it in this crisis. If I wanted to reach my goal of delivering a healthy baby and maintaining my well-being in the process, I needed to surrender to the people who wanted to cook for me, pray for me, run errands for me, and everything else. The lesson was there, right in front of me…
As the weeks went on, these simple yet profound lessons transformed my mindset and my actions.
I went from feeling overwhelmed, scared, and doubtful to happier, healthier and more whole.
And it started by dropping my
commitment to pursuing my goal as a ‘super-human corporate queen’
(something that doesn’t’ even exist!)
These lessons taught me that, the secret to doing hard things, without losing yourself in the process, requires...
leaning into being human!
These lessons reminded me that doing hard things, without losing yourself in the process, asks us to do one thing.
So, I started to ask myself...
“What does the
human in me need?”
As I continued to ask and answer this question, it presented a pathway for success that was not at the cost of myself, my relationships and everything that mattered to me. This simple question opened up my world – it gave me hope.
As I constantly asked myself,
“ What does the human in me need?”
I started to energize the human approach to my situation, it opened the pathway for success to happen without the cost of everything else.
No. Things were not suddenly perfect.
I still struggled, but I was not stuck.
As I journeyed through my weeks on bed rest, my needs varied.
Day after day, as I worked towards delivering a healthy baby, I tried multiple things to help me feel a little happier, slightly healthier, and a little more whole while trying to lie still and slay mental demons day after day.
Eventually, these rituals and practices became the blueprint that guided me through doing this really hard thing, the human way.
And I did!
Many weeks later, I welcomed a baby boy, the human way!
(Who is now all grown!)
No, this did not mean things were suddenly perfect. I still struggled, but I was not stuck.
As I journeyed through my weeks on bed rest, my needs varied.
Day after day, as I worked towards delivering a healthy baby, I tried multiple things to help me feel a little happier, slightly healthier, and a little more whole while trying to lie still and slay mental demons day after day.
Eventually, these rituals and practices became the blueprint that guided me through doing this really hard thing, the human way.
And I did!
Many weeks later, I welcomed a baby boy, the human way!
(Who is now all grown!)
A New Way Forward
Through research and practice, I have learned that it’s not primarily the challenge of a difficult task or the complexity of the role that makes leaders struggle with work-related issues such as: overwhelm, disengagement, fear, or stress.
Instead, the downfall comes in how we pursue the hard things, difficult tasks, or challenging roles. Are we pursuing it through the traditional performance lens, which often pursues excellence at any cost, or are we taking the more advantageous and humane approach? Essentially, ‘human-centered’ approaches that are proven to benefit well-being and maximize performance.
I found this out firsthand during a personal crisis of my own. It was when I went from functioning as a corporate leader to suddenly spending weeks on bed rest. I was fighting to keep my firstborn baby healthy while simultaneously fighting doubt, fear, and guilt. Nothing moved me from existing in that dark space until I started focusing on my needs through a human lens.
Embracing my human needs was my lifeline during that debilitating time of my life. It was a transformative and powerful shift. I ultimately became obsessed with better understanding how people can perform when things feel really hard. What I found confirmed my own experience and ultimately served as the inspiration for the work I do today.
And the good news is...
I share how in my learning programs.
With over twenty years of experience as a corporate leader, COACH, and INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER, LYNN HELPS TEAMS EXCEED THEIR GOALS MORE HUMANELY by unlocking OUR HUMAN PERFORMANCE ESSENTIALS OF:
TRUST | MINDSET | PURPOSE | WELLNESS
Lynn’s Story
I was 27 weeks pregnant with my first child, and I started feeling abdominal discomfort in the middle of a typical busy work day that was full of back-to-back meetings and unrelenting deliverables.
however, I prided myself as a worker who could push through, so I did.
Lynn Seth, MPH, MA: High-performing, learning and development professional eager to align my twenty years of facilitation, coaching, and program management skills to individuals and organizations that desire high-quality, innovative, and relevant services.
About Lynn
Lynn’s Story
I was 27 weeks pregnant with my first child, and I started feeling abdominal discomfort in the middle of a typical busy work day that was full of back-to-back meetings and unrelenting deliverables.
However, I prided myself as a worker who could push through, so I did.
How Did I Get Here?
The’ discomfort’ continued as I continued my work. My response was to ignore my inner voice telling me to pay attention.
By the end of the day, I was in the emergency room with the confirmation that I was in pre-term labor. The tightness I felt was contractions because my baby was trying to come 12 weeks early.
The thought of delivering a baby at 27 weeks put a fear in me that I had never experienced before. I was a leader who persevered under the most challenging of pressures, but this was different. The complete lack of control that I was experiencing was crippling.
Thankfully, the contractions slowed but this was only because of the heavy doses of medication; which gave me a false sense of security until my new reality was presented to me.
A nurse came into my hospital room with a medical device that she quietly connected to me as she explained that it provided the medication needed to minimize contractions. She calmly shared that I would live with this, intravenously, 24 hours a day until the baby came, hopefully in another 10 weeks.
I looked at the nurse in complete shock and asked her,
"How will I wear this device to work?"
She looked back at me and simply said:
"Honey, you're not going back to work. You need 24/7 bed
rest until your baby comes."
Living With Overwhelm and Fear
Lynn’s Story
As I lay in bed, day after day, I was fixated on a narrative based on failure. I obsessed over the belief that I was failing in my role as a soon-to-be mother, my role as a wife, and my role as a leader in my organization. Each of these roles needed me to perform, but I felt like I was not even close to delivering my basic responsibilities. Truthfully, I was used to excelling in anything I set my mind to, but not this time. I spent my days consumed by fear, fighting overwhelm, and drowning in anxiety. I endured panic attacks, I hardly ate, and I cried day and night.
How did I, a high-achieving leader, reach such a low point?
What I have learned, from my own experience, and from working with leaders all over the world, is that there are consistent themes related to struggling with overwhelm, isolation, and fear that can get many, including myself, to this point. Those struggles can paralyze the best of us in the most important moments, those times when we desperately want to perform but we can’t make it happen without compromising the best of ourselves. Often, the compromise comes in the form of our mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health. During my medical crisis, each of those areas was compromised, resulting in my best-self becoming a faded memory.
I looked at the nurse in complete shock and asked her,
"How will I wear this device to work?"
She looked back at me and simply said:
"Honey, you're not going back to work. You need 24/7 bed
rest until your baby comes."
Struggles that are carried daily, even through smiling and performing, as we challenge ourselves to excel at work and home.
What I have learned through research and practice is that it’s not primarily about the challenge of the hard task or the complexity of the role that leads to these struggles and ultimately the inability to survive let alone perform.
The truth is, you, me, and the leaders in your organization – we can do hard things.
Instead, it’s about how we pursue a hard task or challenging role. Are we pursuing it with the traditional lens of performance that calls upon excellence at any cost, or are we taking a more humane approach that’s been proven to bear greater benefits for individuals and organizations?
As I sat on bedrest week after week, was there a more humane approach to pursuing my goals during that time? Even in the face of the scary and overwhelming crisis, could I have found a healthier, happier, and more whole way to make it through?
I can honestly say - Yes!
I lean into the ‘yes’ answer because embracing my true and real human needs was my way out of my darkest time during my medical crisis. But, it’s also yes because the research and science confirm it to be true. Working human is the way best way to work.
And I share how in my science-based learning programs,
What I have learned through research and practice is that it’s not primarily about the challenge of the hard task or the complexity of the role that leads to these struggles and ultimately the inability to survive let alone perform.
The truth is, you, me, and the leaders in your organization – we can do hard things.
Instead, it’s about how we pursue a hard task or challenging role. Are we pursuing it with the traditional lens of performance that calls upon excellence at any cost, or are we taking a more humane approach that’s been proven to bear greater benefits for individuals and organizations?
As I sat on bedrest week after week, was there a more humane approach to pursuing my goals during that time? Even in the face of the scary and overwhelming crisis, could I have found a healthier, happier, and more whole way to make it through?
I can honestly say - Yes!
I lean into the ‘yes’ answer because embracing my true and real human needs was my way out of my darkest time during my medical crisis. But, it’s also yes because the research and science confirm it to be true. Working human is the way best way to work.
And I share how in my science-based learning programs,
Let's Talk!
Let's Talk!
Do you have a question?
Want to discuss your upcoming event?
Are you interested in exploring how we could work together? Whatever it is, contact us and let’s talk about it!
