This month, at Two Piers, we've been thinking about the concept of readiness.
In industry, we often refer to “operational readiness,” which we might define as “the capability of an organization, an asset, a system, or equipment to perform the missions or functions for which it is organized or designed.” I.e., when the time comes, we'll be able to respond to what arises.
In coaching, a sense of readiness is a frequent topic. “Am I ready to take this leap?” “Am I ready for the next promotion?” “Am I ready to quit this job?”
At the Women Offshore Conference earlier this month, Captain Kate McCue wisely advised attendees to stop waiting to feel “ready” and instead focus on being prepared. We may never feel “ready,” but we can understand what “prepared” looks like and how to measure it.
We view readiness as a practice built through feedback, reflection, repetition, strong relationships, and the ability to learn and adapt before the stakes are high.
This month’s resources approach that idea from several angles, from performance conversations to decision-making under pressure and the role emotional awareness can play in operational readiness.
In today's digest:
Coaches’ Corner 🧭: Feedback Before the Stakes Are High What We’re Reading 📚: Experience, Performance, and Feedback The Podcast 🔊: Decision-Making + Operational Readiness Where to Find Us 🗺️: Community, Connection, and What’s Next
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Performance-review season is upon us, which makes this a good time to pull one from the archives.
Feedback works best as part of an ongoing development process, not a once-a-year verdict. Done well, it gives people information they can actually use, helps calibrate expectations, and creates opportunities to learn and adapt before small gaps become bigger problems.
In “This Performance Cycle, Ditch Gold and Go For Platinum,” we explore how to make performance conversations more useful, equitable, and development-focused.
And if you weren’t able to join us at the Women Offshore Conference earlier this month, you can still grab the resources from Erica’s workshop on effective communication in high-stakes environments. We’ve collected the tools, prompts, recommended reading, and other resources from the session in one place, free to use and share with your own team.
A compelling case for the value of breadth, experimentation, and nonlinear paths in a world that often rewards early specialization. Particularly relevant for anyone navigating a career transition, developing leaders, or making sense of experience that doesn’t fit neatly into a single lane.
A practical look at sustainable high performance, including the relationship between stress and rest, deliberate practice, purpose, and recovery. A useful counterweight to the idea that readiness simply means pushing harder.
Receiving feedback can be surprisingly difficult, even when we genuinely want to learn. Stone and Heen explore why feedback triggers us, how to separate the message from the messenger, and how to get more value from conversations that might otherwise put us on the defensive.
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This month’s conversations explore what helps people think clearly, communicate effectively, and stay ready when the stakes rise.
⌛️ Decision-Making Under Pressure with Dr. Ron Martin
Veteran, combat surgeon, physician executive, and educator Dr. Ron Martin joins Erica to explore what sound judgment looks like when information is incomplete and the consequences matter. One recurring theme: build trust, clarify decision rights, understand limitations, and develop capable people before you need those systems in a crisis.
🧘🏻♀️ Emotional Awareness and Ops Readiness with Will Paulson
Will Paulson of Wayward Purpose joins Erica to explore an element of operational readiness that can be easy to overlook: emotional awareness. Drawing on his experience across a long military career, they discuss feedback, self-awareness, leadership relationships, and how recognizing what is happening internally can help us communicate and make better decisions when external pressure rises.
October has been full of opportunities to reconnect and learn in community, from Women Offshore in Houston to the Maine Women’s Conference, and now ICF Converge in Washington, D.C., where Erica is spending the week with coaching friends and colleagues from near and far.
With Veterans Day approaching, we’re also thinking about the veterans and active-duty service members who have shared their experiences through the Two Piers Podcast, such as Colonel Angela Reber and executive leader Angela Parker, as well as our ongoing volunteer work with Boots2Roots, supporting military members, veterans, and military spouses transitioning into civilian careers and life in Maine.
And there’s more happening behind the scenes: the Two Piers team is growing, along with the ways we’re able to support leaders, teams, and organizations. Keep an eye on the November Digest, where we’ll introduce some of the people who have been joining us!
As we close out this spooky season and enter the holiday rush, we're wishing you a safe, fun, and sufficiently spectral season. Here’s to keeping your wits about you, your people close, and your broomstick pointed in the right direction. 🧹
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Erica and the Two Piers Team
PO Box 554 Woolwich, Maine 04579-9998, United States
