3D Juggling 470: Lessons from my iPhone

March 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Liz writes: “Whilst standing on a cold station platform waiting for a train to Leeds this week I noticed that the “slide to unlock” function on my iPhone won’t work if I’m wearing gloves.

Being the sort of reflective person I am I started wondering what message this might have for our business?

My phone wanted a personal touch, not a gloved approach and I reflected on how important being yourself is in coaching. Being transparent, saying what you see and tailoring your approach to the coachee is, I suggest, a powerful way to unlock potential.

Often what’s needed in coaching is a space for people to unlock their thinking and the best way I’ve found to do this is to really, really listen. Not so that I can ask the next clever question, not even so I can fully understand, but so that the coachee can believe that I am there for them, that I believe in them and that I trust they have the ability to find their way through the maze of their issue if I just let them.

When trying to unlock new business, a personal touch is also very effective. Rather than sending blanket emails I find it more effective, and enjoyable, to meet with people face to face, spend time talking to them about their challenges and discussing how I might be able to help. Working out how I can meet their needs rather than seeing where they fit into my offers.

So what are you trying to unlock at the moment and how might a personal touch work?”

Love this? Do us a favour and send it to five people. Who thinks like you? You could send it to someone who loves their phone!

© 2010 3D Coaching Ltd
May be distributed freely. Please retain contact details: www.3dcoaching.com and send a copy/ link to info@3dcoaching.com

Filed Under: 5 Active Listening Tagged With: , ,

3D Juggling 469: Eiffel Tower

March 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Claire writes: ‘At half term, Ellie and I got totally lost looking for the Picasso Museum in Paris. It turned out to be closed for 2 years. The back streets of Paris are complicated to navigate with only a very scanty tourist map. Road signs, crowds and traffic make it hard to see where you’re going. What should have been a 5 minute walk to the museum turned into a fruitless 30 minute trek where we both lost energy and hope!

What we really needed was to be able to rise above the streets and look down through the crowds to work out where we were going. She persuaded me to go up to Level 2 of the Eiffel Tower in the lift. You get to rise above the streets, but you have no control of how fast you go, and for someone who is terrified of heights it means that I still had no perspective. I just had my eyes closed!

Later we climbed the steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. For a moment I was willing to look at the panorama below. And it felt much better to have control of when to go up and when to go down, as well as what speed we went. Had I been less scared, we could have spent a long time up there working out what we could see.

For a holiday, these were expensive outings given that I wouldn’t look when I got to the top! And I have to confess that I only agreed to the Eiffel Tower because I knew I could tell you! The point? There are several ways to get a different perspective at work. One is when you feel that you have no control and that at best you’re in a lift that someone else is controlling. At worst you might feel that work is controlled from somewhere else and that you have no idea which way it will go next. My experience is that the lift produces as much fear as elation, and you’re often not still for long enough to fully understand what you see. You’re more likely to be wondering when the next lurch will come from.

Another way to get a different perspective is where you choose to rise above the day to day problems and business and take a strategic view of the workplace for a while. It’s more like a climb up the Arc de Triomphe. What can you see? What looks different? Who are the stakeholders now?

Even when work may sometimes feel out of control, you can even choose to rise above the rollercoaster and see what’s happening there. It just takes some clear time. And perspective.

Discuss this week’s juggling at http://www.3dcoaching.blogspot.com/

© 2010 3D Coaching Ltd
May be distributed freely. Please retain contact details: www.3dcoaching.com and send a copy/ link to info@3dcoaching.com

Filed Under: 8 Creating Awareness Tagged With: , ,

3D Juggling 468: Hole in The Wall

March 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Claire writes: “I was with a group last week talking about finding the right fit job. Too often, I think, we imagine that a new job needs to be either the perfect fit or simply OK because at the moment any job will do.

It may be that finding a job that pays the bills is enough. But if you’re going to find a role which can be an opportunity to use your strengths and passions and get paid for it, you may need to find a better fit. Once you’ve done some work to identify your skills and begun to explore which you are good at, which you are passionate about, and more importantly which are both, then it’s time to find what might fit.

So how do we find out what will fit? Remember that the job doesn’t have to be an exact fit – in fact that would mean there was no room for you to grow and develop. Your next job needs to be a good enough fit. It’s rather like Hole in The Wall, the BBC entertainment show (if you’re interested!). when the teams have to move to fit the shape of the hole coming at speed towards them. If they don’t adapt to fit through the hole, they get knocked into a swimming pool. If they have to adapt too much, I imagine that it’s both painful and unsustainable. On the show, you would not want to have to put your left leg by your right ear to fit. The same is true with a job!

So what is a good enought fit, for you?”

Love this? Do us a favour and send it to five people. Who thinks like you? You could send it to someone who is trying to find the right fit.

© 2010 3D Coaching Ltd
May be distributed freely. Please retain contact details: www.3dcoaching.com and send a copy/ link to info@3dcoaching.com

Filed Under: Career Change: 1 Know what's in your toolbox, Vocation and discernment Tagged With: ,