While coaching is always client-directed to serve your needs at this point in your life, common themes appear. In the list below a few common themes to assist the client in expressing their current requirements to the coach.
Yes, we will tackle time management, but energy first - How often do you feel that you are Running on Empty? (It's by Jackson Brown by the way, we all know the song, but I had to Google the artist.)
Running empty is a bigger problem than you may realise. If you live in a drought-prone country like South Africa, you’ve heard and read the daily reports of dam levels. When the level drops to 10%, you can’t use any of it. For all intents and purpose, it’s empty. The reason is that there’s mud and all sorts of crap at the bottom – you can’t run the last 10% through the system's pumps.
The older I get the more I realise that it is more important to manage my energy than my time.
I can catch up time over the weekend and be OK. Just get up before the family wakes up and drill out 50 e-mails. But don’t think that you can still squeeze the last blood out of the energy stone – It doesn’t work that way. The thing about energy is that you cannot just empty the tank to the bottom and then pour some liquid energy back in. You must clean out the pumps, flush the system, get the air out of the lines. So you really want to pump the brakes before you have nothing left, it will save you a lot of recovery time.
But time management is a crucial component. Like energy, there is (literally) only so much of it available to you. The problem is that we often think of time in the short run, not years. So before we work through your weekly schedule, some visioneering work needs to be done. All the mini chunks of time stack up to make a life. In case you've never done the math- the average person in the West have about 4000 weeks.
That's it.
So yes, let's work at efficiency and effectiveness - but make sure all this effort contributes to building a time-bridge to a place where you'd like to end up in the long run. Otherwise, why bother?
When last have you heard said of a grownup, in an organizational context, "O he is such a dreamer" with the speaker intending it as a compliment? At best the speaker does not intend to insult but certainly does not, in our cut-throat world, intend it as a compliment. Leaders are do or die type of people right, not dreamers?
Here's the bridge, eloquently put by T.E. Lawrence, the writer-adventurer called Lawrence of Arabia:
All men dream; but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds Awake to find that it was all vanity; But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men. That they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it possible...
So, as leaders, can we be both Dream AND Do people? I certainly believe you do not have to sacrifice the one for the other. I believe it's crucial that you don't, and I will help you clarify your dreams, and then map a realistic way towards making them day-dreams. (In Lawrence's poetic sense)
Health, whether physical or emotional, should not be narrowly defined by the absence of illness. Rather, investing in the development of the individual as well as the team's emotional, cognitive and relational health will lead to an abundant, mental wealth position. In an age of technology and AI, this human-based-wealth will be a key value differentiator for individuals and organizations of the future. Coaching is the key to unlock your own, as well as your team's potential. Make the investment!
Irrespective of the season you find yourself in, our fast-paced world (especially for high achievers!) carries us forward in the current relentlessly, and we frequently have less control over outcomes than what we would have hoped for. Developing the ability stop, take a deep breath and review the situation you find yourself in realistically and holistically has become critical to, frankly, staying sane. While sanity is a great thing, we'd like to do a bit better of course. Narrative Coaching is a specialist field in which the coach assists the client to carefully explore their own story - what led up to the moment, survey where they are now, and plot the storyline into the future the envision for themselves, as well as those in their care.
Are you running on all cylinders? Performing at your peak? How would you know, really, whether there isn't another gear available? A good coach does not compare you against others, or measure you against your performance, but rather against your potential. This is where experience matters: I have been a corporate leader for more than 26 years in a various organizations and have had the wonderful opportunity to help other believe that, indeed, they can rise to another level of competence - and have fun doing so. It's exhilarating, but it ALWAYS comes with a disclaimer: We will never drive efficiency, even effectiveness at the expense of purpose. It's not worth it in the long run. The good news is that you do not need to sacrifice the one for the other - but it is a skilful balance. This is where a good, caring coach is invaluable, giving an outside perspective to keep you centred on your long-term goal: A well lived life, not an efficient life.
"As with any other skill, some people are naturally more gifted at executive presence than others. However, everyone can improve their executive presence with focus and practice. And, perhaps most importantly, the more senior you become, the more executive presence is required, so everyone needs to continually focus on improving his or her executive presence." (From Forbes Magazine)
But what is it, really? What creates that gravitas, or sense of "There goes an Executive Leader"?
I can only share my view and experience, and one must remember that what is recognised, and revered even, as credible Executive Presence in one culture can be vastly different in another: Be very careful. You will find, as I have, that the way you present yourself to engineers from say Ford, Volkswagen and Toyota (US, German, Japanese) requires a very different approach. This is where a coach comes in - helping the client review the dynamics in different organizations and situations, gaining the ability to adjust seamlessly. This, in my view, is the essence of effective AND authentic executive presence. Don't worry - you have everything you need: It's just tweaking..
We all want to change, right? You may be sick of self-defeating behaviour holding you back, but you have never made the effort to really analyse and verbalize the real issue. Its time.
Specialized coaching techniques I will use include Cognitive Behavioural Coaching. With this toolset we will review your triggers and reactions and then challenge and replace those that do not serve you.
While a lot have been written about Emotional Intelligence, I believe that a case can be made for Intelligent Emotions: Thinking Through the immediate biological response, and Intelligently CHOOSE the Emotion that serves you, the situation, and others best. It's not only biology: It's choice too. However, first being Mindful and being able to name and interpret your emotions are of cardinal importance. Only then can one attempt to read and interpret the emotions of others. Helping the client to better name, and then fully own his or her emotions is the coach's first task. While not always pleasant, it's a wonderful personal growth experience - be brave and do it!
