Jennifer Doyle Vancil, M.Ed., PCC

I am a GALLUP CERTIFIED STRENGTHS COACH,  STRENGTHS-BASED CAREER COACH and EXECUTIVE COACH helping leaders, mid-career professionals, career-changers, MBAs, early career professionals, and students leverage their strengths in their work to find or create jobs they like and are good at. 

I also consult and facilitate workshops to help groups and teams understand how to work from their strengths. 

Learn more:
http://communicatingstrengths.com

I’m the AUTHOR of the upcoming book “Creating a Strengths-Based Career: Navigating your Journey to an Ideal Job” and the EXPERT CONTRIBUTOR of the 2022 book “Practical Strengths: Career Success” by Jo Self. 

I can collaborate with you to find these answers:

🔹 What are your STRENGTHS and are you using them effectively in your current work? 

🔹 What ROLES would allow you to maximize your TALENTS in your career?

🔹 How can you best LEAD with your strengths to create trust, hope, compassion, and stability for those who follow you? 

🔹 How are you LEVERAGING YOUR STRENGTHS at work? 

🔹 What PREPARATION and CONNECTIONS do you need to reach your goals? 

🔹 How can you COMMUNICATE YOUR STRENGTHS to your workplace team and to other people who can help you use them?

🔹 Do your RESUME, COVER LETTER, LINKEDIN profile communicate your value effectively? 

🔹 Are you communicating clearly through INTRODUCTIONS, INTERVIEWS, and MANAGER MEETINGS what’s unique and valuable about you? 

It’s my goal to help you CONNECT to people and strategic opportunities that will open doors for you. I love to be a BRIDGE-BUILDER between you and the people you work with or those who can get you to where you want to be. 

Teaching you how to connect and communicate using LINKEDIN effectively is a special passion. 

I am a RELATIONSHIP BUILDER and I genuinely care about your success. If I can encourage you to know you can reach your goals and give you the real tools to do it, I’ve succeeded. I’ll teach you to build professional relationships that leverage your strengths and provide value to your life. 

COMMUNICATION matters to me. I love to listen, ask questions, provide insights, offer direction, and provide encouragement. 

I work with individual clients by zoom and travel for presentations to teams and organizations. Schedule a free call to learn more about strengths-based presentation topics including STRENGTHS-BASED LEADERSHIP. 

My Top CliftonStrengths are Communication, Connectedness, Maximizer, Woo, Relator, Positivity, Belief, Individualization, Strategic, and Ideation.

How can I help you understand and communicate yours?

Senior Consultant

Writing the curriculum for strengths-based career development programs, strengths-based career coaching, and training on strengths-based career development topics. 

Who are the women who have made an impact on your career? #IWD26 Today is International Woman's Day and that's a great opportunity to shout out to some incredible women who have had a big impact on mine. 

The first female entrepreneur I knew was my mom Susie Doyle. She was a concert flutist turned stay at home mom of three who taught flute lessons in our home after school and weekends. She's the first voice in my life who said, "You can accomplish anything you put your mind to." I still believe it. 

The legacy continued in high school with my choir teacher Barbara Lueck (RIP) and my Speech coach and Language Arts teacher Jane Nicolet who still inspires me to write today. (I promise I will someday get my book done!)📕 

When I worked at the University of Alaska Anchorage, I had incredible mentors who supported my growing career, gave me space to take graduate classes, opened doors to teaching, promoted me, supported my graduate research and let me work part-time when I had my first baby. Thank you Heather Flynn, Leslie Tuovinen, Cecile Mitchell (RIP), Toni Croft (RIP), Trish Jenkins, Helena Spector, Vara Allen-Jones, and Bonnie Nygard. 🎉 

To my Masters in Adult Education Professor at UAA, Gretchen T Bersch, thank you for taking my thesis out of my hands and declaring "you've done enough!" 😊

To the first woman I saw lead a consulting company who hired me early to write grants and train with her, planting the seed in me that I could someday do it too, I will always be grateful to you, PJ Bell. ❤️

When I worked at Colorado State University, the women who changed my life were leaders who saw my value and gave me opportunities to live into it and longtime colleagues I loved collaborating with. Thank you Melissa Luna, M.Ed, Susan Schell MBA, Andrea Karapas, M.Ed., Jenn Leard, ACC, NCC, Amanda Langhorst, Shelly Reed, M.A., Patti Mishler (Chapman), Brittany Koonce, Amy Kozlarek, LPC, Lorie Humphrey, M.Ed., Judy Brobst , Kelly Mapes, Cassie Shearholdt, M.A., Maria Yusuf, MBA, SPHR, Barbara Valusek, and Beth A. Walker, PhD. 🌺

When I started my business, these women coached, trained, and encouraged me. Thank you coaches Christi Masso Byerly, MCC  Valeyne Grotrian PCC, ANDREA LEDA LLC, Charlotte Blair, Lisa Cummings, and trusted colleagues Roxanne Russell, Tina T Clark, CPA, Stacy Crawford, M.S.Ed., PCC  and Kim Fisher.  

As my business grew, these women have given me some of my most impactful work opportunities and invited me into rooms where I could make a difference.  Thanks for your trust, Dr. Amber Williams, Donde Plowman, Brita Jones, Michele Williers, Rosina McNeil-Cusick, MPA, RPCV, Jo Self,  Melanie Sue Hicks, PhD, SHRM-SCP, CFRE, Caren Leaf, MSW. 💛

And to my daughter Skye Vancil who inspires me every day as she chases HER dreams. Thank you for keeping the legacy going. 🚀 

You know you can do anything you put your mind to, right?⭐️

(Me with my family at "Women Give" 🩷)

I help people create strengths-based careers🔅Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach🔅ICF PCC🔅 Strengths-Based Career Coach🔅Executive Coach🔅Higher Ed CliftonStrengths Consultant 🔅Strengths-Based Leadership Trainer🔅Author

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What makes your life most meaningful? How do you decide when you have more than one good option? What are the driving factors that fuel your decisions? What is the criteria for a good decision?

I've been thinking a lot about this while I take the Global Purpose School Meaning and Purpose in Life class this spring. 

Last night I had two potential community events on my calendar and I was wrestling with which to attend. One would have reconnected me to professional colleagues, but I found out many of my closer friends weren't planning to attend, and I wasn't sure who would be there so it was hard to measure the value, and yet there was potential for connection to colleagues that would have been meaningful. 

The other was a community event honoring a leader I deeply admire and it occurred to me that it would be good to be there for future business development, but I hadn't been specifically invited so I just had to decide to buy a ticket or not. 

The best choice wasn't obvious to me.

But then I had a family member unexpectedly visit from out of state and at the end of the day yesterday, he asked if I wanted to go to the gym with him and then I suggested we add dinner and he agreed. And the decision became very easy. Neither of those community events won over connecting with this out of town family member in that moment. 

I am a person who often tries to fit in too much. (I am still trying to figure out how to fly to Madrid for a 2-day conference I'd dearly love to attend in between a friend's wedding in Florida and giving trainings in Denver and South Dakota.) 

I know it doesn't make sense to do all of those things - financially, energy-wise, and even just logistically. It's not even physically possible to go to all of those. They are competing priorities. And in trying to do them all, I am really just avoiding the choice and the acknowledgement that a choice even needs to be made.

Isn't that the challenge of life?

Do I do my PhD or focus on my family life?
Do I want to work remotely or work in an office?
Do I take the unpaid internship or get a paying job?
Do I take the job in Florida or in Southern California?
Do I grow my small business or do I take a full time job? 
Do I take that government job or choose the consulting firm?
Do I spend money on professional development or daycare?
Do I study elementary education, speech pathology, or marketing?
Do I reach out to this new person or reconnect with someone I know?
Do I keep applying for the same kinds of jobs or do I change industries?
Do I fire underperforming employees or keep investing in their development?

These are the kinds of questions I help people wrestle through as a career and executive coach. 

What's the criteria for a good decision? And what do competing priorities reveal about what is meaningful to you? 

How do you make these kinds of decisions or help others wrestle through them? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. 

#careercoach #meaningfullife

How important is it to work from your strengths as the founder of a technology company? It's critical! I just finished a presentation to the founders in the Earth and Space Systems Accelerator that is part of Innosphere, Colorado’s leading non-profit accelerator for science and technology companies. 

🍾 When you are starting a company, you have to know where your own "zone of genius" is so you don't get "Founder Syndrome" and hold on to everything and become the bottleneck to growth. 

✔️ Starting a business you do everything - create a product, design the website, do the accounting, sell the ideas to try to get funding - but smart founders partner strategically based on their strengths. 

💛 I love having this conversation with entrepreneurs. 

💲 Because while "work on your weaknesses" seems like great advice on the surface. spending 20 hours next week getting better at accounting costs me too much coaching, training, and business development time and those are things I'm actually good at. 

💡 Think of it this way...

🤚 I'm right handed. 

🤚 I write well with my right hand. If I spend 10 hours using my my right hand I might finish several pages of my book. I could practice calligraphy, I could get better at pencil drawing or watercolor painting. 

✋ But if I invest 10 hours with my left hand, not only do I feel drained just thinking about it, I might get to mediocre legible writing and definitely couldn't paint or draw well and wouldn't get much written for my book. I could get better, but not as much better as I can get with my right hand that is already strong. 

⭐ Work from your strengths if you want to accomplish more. 

It's true for the founders of space tech companies, and it's true for the rest of us. Thanks for inviting me to speak, Timothy Jones and Bud Michael. 

#workfromyourstrengths #communicatingstrengths #strengthsbasedcareer #founders Communicating Strengths LLC

On Tuesday when I speak on "Leveraging LinkedIn to Grow your Business" what tips would be most impactful to share from your experience? 

I'm speaking at Founded in FoCo, run by Nick Armstrong for creatives, small business owners, solo entrepreneurs, and nonprofit founders to come together and share ideas that benefit each other. I'm excited to speak for the 4th time at this in person local event. 

Check out the schedule and come to any session that interests you. (It's pay $0 or donate $50 and you don't have to attend everything!) 

https://foundedinfoco.com/

And if you come to my session, and you're part of my LinkedIn network, be sure to say hello!

PS If you want me to run one of these LinkedIn workshops virtually, bring this topic to your organization, or coach you on it personally let me know! 

#careercoach #linkedin Communicating Strengths LLC #strengthsbasedcareer

You put off exploring career options because you dread the job search. But it's so much easier to explore your options when you know your bills are covered, you have a flexible timeline, and you still feel confident that you can provide value. You probably have options internally that you haven't explored. You likely have options at competitors that you don't realize are there. And there's a related industry or role that only requires a small pivot that is easily accessible to you if you only understood what kind of change you wanted to make. 

That's the importance of always managing your own career. 

But if you're like most of the people I talk to, you're so afraid to lose what you have (even if it isn't meeting your needs) that you're avoiding considering other options. 

And you're probably waiting too long. 

Because by the time you're desperate enough to prioritize your own career development, it's likely you're discouraged, don't feel valued, are getting behind on what's current in your field, regret you hadn't prepared better, and imagine you are so stuck it's hard to see hope. 

Tony Robbins said, "Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change." 

But what if managing your career was a normal part of your life? And what if discussing your goals and asking others about theirs was a normal part of everyone's work? 

We all want to grow. We just somehow are made to feel badly about it. 

I worked with a leader once who was so highly regarded in our organization that people asked her all the time if she was going to leave. 

"I'm always looking for the next best way I can contribute," she said. And because of that, the organization was so afraid to lose her that they invested in her - they funded her initiatives, they expanded her responsibilities, they listened to her ideas. They understood she was a "flight risk" and they valued her, so they kept giving her reasons to stay. 

She stayed and contributed at a high level for 20 years. 

As estimated 50% of workers in the United States want a different job. But the desire to grow is normal. The desire to strive for what's next is good. The desire to increasingly work more and more from your strengths and grow as the world of work changes is what makes us able to continue contributing. 

"I'm always looking for the next best way I can contribute" is a great attitude to have. 

How are you looking?

#communicatingstrengths #careercoach #strengthsbasedcareer #workfromyourstrengths Communicating Strengths LLC

Mountain image with the words from Tony Robbins "Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change." 

Many people think that they have to choose between MEANINGFUL WORK and PROFITABLE WORK but the research shows that people who feel a greater sense of purpose in their work often perform better and are compensated more. 

There's also research showing that companies with a clear PURPOSE that the employees feel tied to are also MORE PROFITABLE. It often means that the employees are listened to more, they are more engaged, and they are able to contribute more fully of themselves. 

But there are many examples of people choosing work that feels meaningful but doesn't pay as much or choosing work that pays more but isn't very meaningful feeling trapped into that decision.

What are your thoughts on a Friday afternoon about this idea of the tension between meaning and purpose in work and profit? 

Have you seen it in your own work decisions? Does it feel like you have to choose? Are you leading or coaching people who feel this tension? 

Thanks to Kiko Kislansky and Michael F. Steger who are teaching the Meaning and Purpose in Life Training Program from the Global Purpose School I'm in for sharing this impactful research. Their class this morning inspired this question. 

What has your experience with Meaningful Work been, friends? Do you have to make less to do it? Is that really true?

#careercoach #meaningandpurpose #meaningfullife
Communicating Strengths LLC

Is it possible to have both purpose and profit in your work?

A leader I'm coaching reached out to me this week to ask, "When do I need an exit plan?"

This leader wanted to know when to call it. "How do I know I'm finally done in this organization?" 

It had been a hard few weeks, and the idea that things might not actually work out here was starting to take root after months of trying and feeling the stress and reading leadership books and getting coaching...

♦️I offered the following questions to journal on:

1. What kind of environment would you THRIVE in based on your strengths? You can see the "where you'll thrive" statements in the gray box in our Practical Strengths Career Success book OR ask in Gallup AI "based on my top 10 strengths, what kind of environment will I thrive in?" 

♦️How close are you to that❓

2. What do you BRING with your strengths? (See your bring/need report or read your CliftonStrengths report)
Are you getting to bring it? Is what you're bringing valued? What do you not get to bring that you wish you could? 

♦️Is anyone here willing to let you bring it❓

3. What do you NEED because of your strengths? (See your bring/need report) 
Are you getting what you need? What do you need that you aren't getting? What would it take? Who needs to know? 

♦️Are they willing to give you what you need❓

4. What's causing you stress or distress in your current job? Is this something you can change? Is this something someone else can change? 

♦️Is anyone there willing to address it❓

5. What would be the line that if crossed, becomes a definite dealbreaker? 

♦️Can you name YOUR dealbreakers❓

#careercoach #strengthsbasedleadership
#workfromyourstrengths #communicatingstrengths #strengthsbasedcareer Communicating Strengths LLC

Founded in FoCo is next week. If you will be in Northern Colorado next week, come join us. It's a "pay what you can" event for entrepreneurs of all kinds and nonprofit founders so come for free or donate to cover costs, but join us if you can. There are events over three days and there's work space with good internet and food to access between sessions (we are all entrepreneurs, after all!) I'm speaking Tuesday at 9am. Check out the registration and the schedule here: https://foundedinfoco.com

View Jennifer Doyle Vancil, M.Ed., PCC’s profile

I'm speaking on "Leveraging LinkedIn to Grow your Business" at Founded in FoCo, the local "startup week" for entrepreneurs of all kinds in Fort Collins, Colorado March 10. 

I ran my coaching business for two full years using only LinkedIn without a website. (And 8 years later it's still my main tool for engagement).

I teach LinkedIn strategies to all my job seeker and entrepreneur clients. (It's both marketing and relationship-building) 

I'm a huge believer in the power of maintaining relationships as the foundation of any meaningful career development. (And LinkedIn helps us do that!) 

I'm excited to share what I've learned with you. If you'll be in Northern Colorado in March, consider joining us. 

Founded in FoCo, run by Nick Armstrong is for creatives, small business owners, aspiring entrepreneurs, and nonprofit founders to come together and share ideas that benefit each other. I'm excited to speak for the 4th time at this in person local event. 

Check out the schedule and come to any session that interests you. (You don't have to attend everything!) 

https://foundedinfoco.com/

And if you come to my session, and you're part of my LinkedIn network, be sure to say hello!

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