Eleven is not a round, tidy number.

Last week, I wrote about the top 10 places where you can play our #storytelling board game. I like a round number, so I chose ten. I held one spot back on purpose, knowing I wanted to write about it here with you, in this micro-blog.

I dare you: play this game for yourself.

As helping professionals, now more than ever we need to walk the talk. We need social proof that we believe in what we are coaching our clients to do.

Our field of career development is watered down. From self-help gurus to ‘follow your bliss’ coaches to career hacks touting ‘the resume is dead!’ - we are not the loudest voices on the internet. There is a lot of noise.

We need to, as a field, drive a stake in the ground and say “who we are matters - and here’s why”.

As Community Growth Manager with OneLifeTools, I’m privy to these discussions. I speak with career practitioners from all over the world. We all struggle with how to convince clients that meaningful work is possible, and that’s it’s worthwhile to pursue it.

We all have stories about clients that stumble upon their dream jobs, completely unprepared. Stories about huge lay-offs that came out of nowhere. Stories about unexpected transition. We want to encourage people to be pro-active in their careers and lives, but so much is reactive.

But what about us? Are you doing your best work, under the best circumstances, within your reach? Have you stopped to clarify your desires for your own career? Have you reflected on the paths you chose, and the paths left untaken? Are you exploring possibilities…ever? Are you even open to them?

We play a super quick round of the game at conference booths. Common themes emerge like the desire to help people, or the strength of teaching ideas. But truth bombs abound too.

Revelations happen on a trampled, carpeted floor about an opportunity or a shift.

Once someone chooses to take 5 minutes to pause and engage with the game, using the mechanisms of storytelling and storylistening, there is an immediate click - an aha moment. They say “I get why this is so useful for clients”.

I’ll ask again, what about us?

I hear you already - you don’t have time. Let’s meet that challenge with a quick lunch time gameplay. Dig out your boards and play together, for 60 minutes. Let’s use the tools we love in our client work for ourselves, for our own personal and professional development. Let’s create space to support each others' reflection and growth.

Let’s take our own advice, grab a taste of our own medicine. I dare you!

Let me know in the comments - will you play? Have you played? If not, what else do you do to "walk the talk"?