Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Kay Delvo.
Hi Mary Kay, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up on a small, diversified North Dakota family farm just twelve miles from the Canadian Border. Although it has been years since I’ve lived there, I’m still a farm girl at heart. It occurs to me that growing up with five siblings and four cousins all in the same farm yard, may have been my personalized boot camp for becoming a resilient business owner specializing in disrupting conflict-ridden, political, and complex environments.
My pathway to business ownership was completed unprescribed. I cut my teeth as a social worker, working in the trenches with people from across cultures, demographics, socio-economic classes, and varying ranges of abilities. In common, they faced life challenges and needed to navigate complex systems to move forward. After seeing the impact of systems on individual potential, I yearned to affect change in a more systemic way. So, from there, I followed opportunity, listened to what spoke to my heart and pushed myself to take on roles out of my comfort zone.
I have always been in tune with the effects of power and culture on the people who worked within organizations. I’ve watched grown men with titles like “president and CEO,” have full blown tantrums in the office if they were challenged or didn’t get their way. Eventually, I became disenchanted with the disconnect between those who were getting paid big bucks to “lead” yet were completely unaware of the drain they were on the culture they were responsible for leading. On the farm, we would describe that as, “S— runs downhill,” and so it goes with impact of leadership presence on the people they are responsible for leading.
So, I took my disenchantment and my farmgirl work ethic and started a coaching and strategy business. That was seven years ago, and I am proud of my ability to stand in the fire with my clients as they navigate complexity, rapid change, and the unknown.
I live just outside St. Paul, Minnesota, with my partner, Patrick. Between the two of us, we have four children in their twenties, my two sons, and Patrick’s two daughters. I love to sing, watch hockey, swim, cycle, stream fish, backpack, travel, and explore breweries, distilleries, and wineries.
Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My inner critics. You know, the ones that put you down and create doubt. They win the award for biggest and most consistent challenge. I call them, “The Girls.” Oddly, helping others manage their inner critics is a frequent theme in my coaching work.
Thanks for sharing that. Can you tell us more about your business next?
I love the dance that comes with organizational coaching and facilitating. My expertise is in mindset coaching and creating safe spaces for my clients to explore the human complexities that exists within the workplace. Listening to what is emerging in people and organizations helps make change bearable, sustainable, and fuels energy for the right mindset for moving forward.
Circling back to being a farmgirl, there are so many things I learned there that contribute to my success as a business owner. For example, constant change and disruption were a given on the farm because weather is central to a farmers’ success. If you’ve ever heard the phrases, “make hay while the sun shines” or “burning daylight,” they are mindsets farmers use to take advantage of opportunities and make the best of what they are given in the face of what they can’t control.
Ironically, now, I work with businesses to help them develop the mindsets necessary to survive in environments which resemble what we dealt with on the farm— unpredictability, disruption, and a constant need for adaptation. Businesses have to give up the idea that volatility and disruption are temporary. This way of thinking is no longer valid. I help businesses get there.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
These are at the top of my list.
Podcasts:
Relationship Matters
Mel Robbins
Esther Perel
Pivot
Coaching Revealed
Conversations with Coleman
Do it For The Gram
Off the Record
Books:
How to Thrive in Chaos by Nadya Zhhexembayeva
Thinking in Systems by Donella H. Meadows
Sitting in the Fire by Arnold Mindell
The Alchemist and The Archer by Paulo Coelho
Upstream Thinking by Dan Heath
Nine Types of Leadership, Beatrice Chestnut
The Art of the Enneagram: 9 Paths to Awareness, Acceptance and Transformation, Ginger Lapid-Bogda
Reclaiming You by Sharon K. Ball and Renée Siegel
Magazines:
Nonprofit Quarterly
Standford Social Innovation Review
Experience Life
Regular conversations with my ORSC Learning Community and ICF Coaching Community
Contact Info:
- Website: www.inspiringsight.com
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/mkdelvo
- Twitter: @INspiringSIGHT
