Learning to T.H.R.I.V.E.—What You Need to Know

There’s a wonderfully poignant quote from Dolly Parton: “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”

For many of us, recognizing we need to take a different path is the first step in our professional and personal journeys of self-growth. But that’s easier said than done, and even after we’ve decided to chart a new course, there isn’t always a clear roadmap to follow.

From experience, I can tell you that my journey was full of twists and turns—and many roadblocks—as a Latina aspiring to technology leadership roles in an industry full of systemic barriers.

And I wish there had been a manual or some type of “operating system” to help me get here.

Fast forward 25 years to the launch of my leadership coaching business, Tech & Thrive, which I started after the pandemic to address many barriers that COVID-19 exacerbated for women and diverse professionals: work-life balance, childcare and caregiving, isolation, pay inequities, and more. What was hard before the pandemic was even more difficult now for many of the women—and so many like them—whom I’ve mentored and coached in my executive roles.

That’s when I realized we each deserve our own guide to finding success and happiness at work and home, especially those who’ve struggled far too long to achieve leadership roles in technology. So, I created the T.H.R.I.V.E. Operating System™ as the core foundation of my coaching practice for women in tech.

START WITH TRANSPARENCY

T.H.R.I.V.E. stands for the six elements that I focus on with each of my coaching clients. Every coaching program is personalized and developed through a deeper understand of who each person is, where their strengths are, and where they want to go.

But the first step always starts with “T,” or a “Transparent Leadership Assessment,” which provides a clear view of each person’s drivers, character, and risks. There are different types of assessments, but I have been certified as an executive coach to administer the data-informed leadership development CDR 3-Dimensional Assessment—a globally recognized, state-of-the-art series of assessments that focus on each individual’s difference to provide unique insights into their key strengths and development needs.

In the world of leadership development, CDR is the gold star. Its multi-dimensional assessment becomes the basis for a personalized plan with each client as we work through my T.H.R.I.V.E. Operating System™ (see below).

These assessments provide the ideal foundation for “paving” the road you want to walk down, as Dolly Parton would say.

In my coaching, I always start with creating clarity through transparency and end with engaging and executing. The middle part is the real journey—where we create a compelling vision for who you are and how you want to show up in your leadership. It’s where we’ll do the tough(er) work together to build the skills you need to thrive in work and life.

And it reminds me of another quote from a great female leader, Rosalynn Carter: “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.”

YOUR TRUTH STARTS WITH YOU

Before starting my coaching business, I was sometimes wary of sharing my journey—successes and failures—with the larger community of women in tech or in my leadership roles in professional organizations. Because it’s scary to self-assess in public or with people you don’t know well.

But I quickly learned the power my self-awareness gave me to help others and to pursue this passion for coaching that I’ve had for quite a long time.

Even before launching Tech & Thrive, I completed mastery executive coaching coursework through Harvard University and earned a certification from Heroic Enterprises, further equipped with science and evidence-backed resources, tools, and expertise to empower women in tech to step into their heroic best selves through theory, practice, and ultimately mastery.

Taken together, it has helped me forge a path I would not have thought possible even a few years ago.

Now I challenge you to take the first step to thrive in your own leadership journey—to pave the path that you want to walk, which starts with a true recognition of where you excel and what you want to do with it.

Taking my free T.H.R.I.V.E. quiz is a great way to get started. And knowing that you have a guide who’s ready to help get you where you want to go makes the next steps just a little bit easier.

Denise Musselwhite is a tech executive turned leadership coach, speaker, and strategist. After 25 years in the tech industry, she founded Tech & Thrive, a coaching and consulting practice that provides personalized coaching solutions to help women and diverse professionals in tech overcome the hidden barriers holding them back. Learn more about Denise and her coaching at denisemusselwhite.com.