This week on the Pursuit of Learning, we have Terry McDougall

Terry Boyle McDougall is an Executive & Career Coach and CEO of Terry B. McDougall Coaching. She helps high-achieving professionals remove obstacles that keep them stuck so they can enjoy more success and satisfaction in their lives and careers. Before becoming a coach, Terry was a long-time corporate marketing executive where she led teams, developed strategies and advised senior leaders to drive business results. She is the author of Winning the Game of Work: Career Happiness and Success on Your Own Terms. She is also the host of the Marketing Mambo podcast.

Terry is an ICF-certified coach with years of experience in the corporate environment and as an entrepreneur. Through her coaching practice, she helps high-achieving professionals just like you break through blocks, regain their energy and enjoy their careers. In today’s episode, we talk about corporate culture, doing what you love, coaching, growth, and more concepts from her book. 

In the early years of her career, Terry worked in several different roles in corporate America. We start the discussion with the story of how she decided to make a significant pivot in her career and become a coach. Terry’s area of expertise is helping high-achieving professionals with their career growth. And there are some characteristics and personal traits of high-achieving professionals that influence their behaviors and decisions. Terry shares with us her thoughts on how these traits are shaped from childhood and how we can identify and transform these behaviors positively.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a psycho-social intervention that aims to improve mental health, is another area Terry discusses in detail in her book. She walks us through what CBT is, how she uses CBT to help her clients and a couple of examples of how we can use it in our lives to handle some of our daily dilemmas better. We also talk about some of the lesser-known traits that help us be successful in our careers and how to develop them in our lives. 

Sometimes we tend to have the same problem repeatedly in our careers, and that’s when it’s time to consider making a change in our lives. Terry walks us through the process of understanding this need for a change and how to go through with it. We also talk about handling our inner critic and using it to our advantage. Wrapping up the session, Terry debunks some of the biggest misconceptions around coaching. We hope you enjoy our discussion with Terry McDougall.