Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
                            I took the one less traveled by,
                        and that has made all the difference.
                                           - Robert Frost
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We all want to grow at work. But how do we decide which road to choose, and deal with what comes next?

It's a New Year, a time of change. We're looking forward to finding a new job, growing our business, or bringing our passion into the world. Or perhaps we've been forced into change by downsizing or the recent economic meltdown. What kind of transition are you in?

This month we have a panel of four speakers – all Workplace Centre Board members – who are in the midst of significant transitions at work. Here are some of the changes they will be talking about:
 
• on the verge of retirement, John K. suddenly found himself launching a new manufacturing venture, with a partner who's a drug addict
 
• downsized from a managerial job after 30 years, Lois has become a cold-calling salesperson - something she said she'd NEVER do - and loves it
  
• "was it destiny or stupidity?", Roxanne asks herself. Jumping for her "dream job," she found herself taking on three jobs at once and suffering from work responsibilities beyond her wildest expectations
 
• a "flood of imagery" one night has led Eric into moving to Toronto this March. What he's going to do there, he's not fully sure. But the "knowing and peace underneath" tells him it was definitely a 'spiritual call'…

Everyone's reason for change is different. But we all need support and encouragement to move through it.

Join us as we explore how to cope with change at work – and help each other move into 2009 with more confidence, resources and wisdom.

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               click here to RSVP  or  phone: 604.685-6560


DATE:           Thursday, January 15, 2008 -- 12:00 - 1:30 pm

LOCATION:   Main Floor, Conference Rooms, Terasen Building,
                     1111 W. Georgia St. (at Thurlow), Vancouver

Cost:             Without lunch: $10
                     With lunch:  non-members - $20;  members - $15

Lunch:          Catered sandwiches, salad, tea and coffee

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About Our Speakers:

John Kuchenthal
Preparing to retire in 2008, John found himself drawn to become a partner in an innovative new manufacturing venture in the alternative health field in California. Knowing his partner was a brilliant scientist – but not realizing he was also a drug addict – John has faced countless challenges in seeing the operation succeed, including the foreclosure of their premises several months ago. Despite that, he says it's one of the most amazing and freeing time of his life.

A Board member of Workplace Centre for 15+ years, John has a wide range of skills and experience in personal/professional development. Previously a vocational counsellor at Malaspina College and a program designer with the Federal government creating re-employment programs for professionals, he has 20 years' experience as a business consultant (in resolving conflicts and creating common ground among workers and management) and 35 years as a personal development trainer in organizations.

My transition to retirement was not what I expected. I've chosen to loosen the white-knuckle control of a fear-based self and accept life as it unfolds. This has involved shifting my identity from a rational, ego-based intellect to a kinesthetic or felt sense of the Divine within. - John K.

Lois Brassart
Lois spent 30 years working for Fletcher's Fine Foods (a Vancouver food processing company), so long and with such loyalty that people called her "Mrs. Fletcher's." Despite having many opportunities to leave, she stayed because she knew, deep down, it was a company with heart.

With her long tenure there, Lois had many of the perks that belong to someone in a more entrepreneurial position: setting her own agendas, creating her own work, and having some say over her own travel. But in 2008, that all changed. With new owners, the company downsized – and in one fell swoop, Lois and six of her long-term co-workers were terminated.

Since then, her path has been "the one less travelled" – a path requiring great courage for someone so used to a traditional business environment.

In addition to having several consulting contracts, she is now a Business Consultant for EMBERS, a company that finds work for people who have graduated from drug & alcohol programs. Her new job involves sales and cold calling to potential employers, activities she had once vowed never to do. Yet in her "chaos" and challenges of change, Lois is finding great opportunity. She uses her past talents in planning, her common sense way of turning a vision into reality, and her skills of listening to and communicating with others. And along the way she has developed new skills, opened to 'trusting the process,' and realized that out of chaos can come amazing things.

Roxanne Davies
Roxanne was born in Montreal and moved to the West Coast in 1990 with her family. Having always loved Vancouver, it was a dream come true.

From managing her family business – one of the first health food stores in Montreal in the early '60s – to being a newspaper reporter, ad copy writer, fundraiser, researcher and art gallery manager, Roxanne has done as many different kinds of jobs as someone with a history degree can do!

Her longest position – 10 years to the day, eight as Program Manager – was with Successful Contracting and Consulting. Once called Vancouver's best-kept secret, this successful, federally-funded centre offers entrepreneurial training for unemployed professionals, with some 1600 receiving training during her time there.

In 2008 she was offered her "dream job" – to develop community and health resources in a northern B.C. town called Kitsault, recently purchased by Krish Suthanthiran. Upon being hired, Roxanne also became both Office Manager for Best Entertainment, a Vancouver-based boutique TV production company (owned by Suthanthiran) which does lifestyle and travel shows -and- his assistant on the CURE Foundation, a non-for-profit organization intent on providing direct medical services for Prevention, Early Detection and Total Cure.

With three new positions instead of one, she experienced workloads and stress beyond her imagination, in areas of work in which she previously had no experience.

Eric Hellman
For 25 years, Eric's commitment has been listening to the Divine to the best of his abilities – and following it to the best of his willingness (which has often been less than divine).

Last summer, he experienced a "flood of imagery" in which he saw himself moving to another city. Questioning whether this was fleeting thoughts or a deeper guidance, he took three months to discern his spiritual direction – then realized it was something he needed to do. He will be moving to Toronto this March.

Eric is a communications consultant, spirituality-at-work coach and writer, with 30 years experience in organizing, marketing and communicating projects & ideas in business and the community. Co-founder of the Recycling Council of Ontario and co-designer of the first Blue Box recycling program, he was the consulting writer of the bestselling book, Leadership from Within (for Peter Urs Bender) and has written his own mini-book called Coming Out of the Spiritual Closet, about his challenges of talking about spirituality.

A Therapeutic Touch Recognized Practitioner (his healing/relaxation service is called A Touch of Stillness), Eric is also a long-time student of A Course in Miracles, and a Board Member of the Workplace Centre for Spiritual & Ethical Development.


               click here to RSVP  or  phone: 604-685-6560


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