Connections written by Celia Crossley

“It’s not who you know but how you know them...” this has been the theme of my life. This year I will celebrate my 30th year of being in business. As I reflect upon the past 30 years I can say, without question, I owe this success to my connections from all
facets of my life. Today the vision of our company, Crosworks, Celia D.
Crossley & Associates is “Everyone in the World in the Right Job.”
Imagine how productive we could be! We live our mission everyday, whether it is helping individuals going through a transition and our Career Assessment & Appraisal© program or helping teams improve their communication style through our Team Effectiveness for groups, we help our clients to be more self-aware,
focused, productive and fulfilled.

When I began my consulting practice in 1981, I was the “outsourced HR shop for hire.”  Yes, a bit ahead of my time. Today this a common approach for small to
medium-sized employers to outsource their HR function. It was through
my “business” connections that I was strongly encouraged to reach out
into the small and medium-size business market to offer my skills and
talents in human resource management. Through those connections I began
to develop a long list of my own connections that became clients and
helped me grow my practice.

After 13 years in business, I pulled together another “connection,” a group
of my consulting associates who encouraged me to open an office where I
could better serve individual clients as well as my corporate clients.
The dream became even more real as I walked in that office in 1994 and
transitioned my practice to better serve my clients by offering
personalized career consulting and through the creation of our Career
Assessment & Appraisal© process and becoming certified in the
Birkman Method®.

I also embraced the opportunity 30 years ago to reconnect with my
community as a volunteer. I found a “connection” through an
organization that was supporting women with their employment and
financial needs, The Metropolitan Women’s Center. Once I connected with
the Center, I developed many new relationships that grew my community
connections to include, chairing the human resource committee at the
YWCA that connected me to a board role at the local level and
eventually to a board role at the national level. Numerous board roles
followed as the connections kept multiplying including the Children’s
Hunger Alliance, Northwest Counseling Services, Junior League of
Columbus, Leader Institute (now LeaderSpark), Tri Village Mentor League
and Thurber House.

These board roles led to leadership connections and the role of chairing the
YWCA board and then chairing the steering committee that led the $15
million renovation of the Griswold Building in 1996.  In 2002 while attending the YWCA Women to Women luncheon, which I founded, to connect like-minded women to financially support the YWCA, I was connected to the Women Presidents’ Organization. I was selected to lead the Columbus Chapter and now manage two chapters and serve on the Women Presidents’ Organization International Board.

My connections today also include over 1000 clients including individuals and business we have served.  One of the greatest satisfactions in my business is connecting clients to organizations and opportunities where they can utilize their skills and talents. Although we are not a “placement agency” we connect our
clients through referrals and informational meetings that often lead to
new and improved career opportunities.

My life is blessed with community connections, business connections, my
family connections and the opportunity to lead. When I started the
consulting practice in 1981, it was truly driven by a need to find more
balance in my life. The end result is that I have a great family, two
successful daughters, a successful husband and 41 year marriage as well
as a successful business. I have the gift of connecting and serving my
community and my clients.

“It is not who you know but how you know someone...” that will help you
make more and more connections creating a fulfilling and balanced life.