NGC Experience: Brittany McGuiness

Brittany McGuiness had been through plenty of leadership courses over the years. So when her CEO told her it was her turn to go through the Foundation for Effective Leadership program at NextGen Center, she went in with measured expectations.

"For me, I was like, oh, it's just another leadership course," she said. "But this, for whatever reason, felt and hit different. It wasn't so corporate-driven. It was more about the whole person and learning more about that and communicating."

McGuiness is an Operations Manager at Go Forth Marketing, a company whose CEO has made a practice of sending one team member through the Foundation for Effective Leadership program each year. By the time it was Brittany's turn, she'd already heard plenty of good things from colleagues who'd gone before her. Still, nothing quite prepared her for what the experience would actually feel like.

The cohort format surprised her too. Walking into a virtual program alongside engineers, tech startup founders, and professionals from completely different industries, McGuiness wasn't sure how much common ground there would be. What she found was something she hadn't expected.

"It was good to hear people from different industries, different backgrounds, different companies be able to share their experience and what they were learning. It was all so similar. You could figure out how what we were learning ties into people's jobs, regardless of what they were doing."

She also found that working across industries sharpened something more practical: her communication.

"You couldn't just talk and assume everyone knew what you were talking about. When you were talking to other people, you had to intentionally speak as if they knew nothing about your job, your company, your role. You have to communicate more clearly so that everyone in your group knows what you're talking about. It really helped to be more mindful."

One of the most memorable moments came during an exercise McGuiness describes as a Wheel of Life, a structured look at fulfillment across different areas of life, not just work.

"Although this is about growing as a leader in your work, all of those other things play a huge role in you as a person, but also what you bring to work as well."

The assessments were another turning point. McGuiness describes herself as someone who already had a strong sense of her own strengths and tendencies going in. But seeing the results laid out alongside her cohort's shifted something.

"I knew what mine were, but not to the extent of, wow, this is really who you are. Being able to take that test and have the feedback and really see results was good. The neater part about that was, we did it enough time into the program that you'd really gotten to know people in the group. When Brian was able to show us everyone's results, you could identify, okay, this is the type of person, this is the result, and this is who it ties to. You kind of learn how people communicate and how that relates back to what their results were. I like analytics and analyzing stuff, so that was really neat."

The most significant shift, though, came in how McGuiness shows up as a leader day to day. In a transitional role over the past year, she'd spent years being the expert, the one with the answers, the one doing the teaching. The program helped her see that her next move as a leader was to step back.

"I've spent the last few years being the expert and being the one talking and teaching and constantly pouring in. Through the coaching, it was like, ask more questions, sit silent. Taking a step back and not being the expert and being able to listen was a massive change for me. Once I made that shift, I could see the people that were reporting to me elevating instantly. They were taking ownership. I need to step away and allow them the space to do what they're really good at and what I've prepared them to do."

Looking back at who she was as a leader before the program and who she is now, McGuiness keeps coming back to the same idea.

"A lot of it comes down to understanding who you're meant to be in the position you're in. Are you meant to be the expert or are you meant to be the listener and coach? Depending on what situation you're in, really knowing your role and knowing when it's my turn to step back or when it's my turn to be a good coach and ask questions and help guide them. It's not me always giving people answers, which was what bogged me down a lot prior to going through this course. I needed to raise my team to be independent thinkers because they are so smart and brilliant. I just needed to take a step back and understand, let them be them and they will succeed."

For anyone who's already been through a dozen leadership programs and is wondering whether this one is worth their time, McGuiness doesn't hesitate.

"It's well worth your time. It's different than just a corporate leadership class. It's so much more intensive, learning about yourself and who you are and how you can be a better leader. It's very personal… you have to learn yourself first and figure out how you fit into your organization while staying true to yourself."

Her advice to anyone starting the program is simple: show up fully.

"Sign up, show up. You have to be committed to knowing it's a day, and it's one day a month. You have to plan ahead, change meetings around, be present and you have to interact and engage…. being present is so important for this. The more you speak up and the more everyone speaks up in the class, the more everyone else gets out of it."