February 27

Wisdom – learning from someone who learned the hard way

Wisdom – learning from someone who learned the hard way

“You don’t really think what could happen to yourself, you think ‘how is what I am doing going to improve the situation?’”. L/Cpl Josh Leakey VC

I am not sure if you saw the story of Josh Leakey this week? It was an incredible story of a modest man who defied the situation he was in to accomplish something in a situation where most people would be rooted to the spot.

So what has this got to do with business, and indeed coaching? If you think about it there are some clear lessons here:

  • If you focus only on yourself, you may hold yourself back from being the best you can possibly be in a situation.
  • Think about your actions and how they can help. How many times have you been in meetings where you have seen self-destructive behaviors?
  • Focus on the outcomes and you might just get there.

If any of these points strike a cord, perhaps you need to reflect on where you are headed, maybe you need to speak to a coach?

February 20

Want a different result? – make a different choice

Want a different result? – make a different choice

“If you don’t make the time to work on creating the life you want, you’re eventually going to be forced to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don’t want.” (Kevin Ngo)

At the heart of it, this quotation is all about choice. Choice in life, choice in work, choice in career…. Choice applies to everything.

You may disagree after all the word choice doesn’t appear within it. So let me explain.

One of the key skills that coaches like myself need is the ability to listen. This doesn’t mean I hear the words that you speak, it means really deep listening with the objective of understanding. When you do this, you often hear clients talk about what they ‘should do’ and ‘ought to do’. When these are explored, they so often transpire to involve other people’s expectations or imply obligations that may or may not be valid. These things are often at the expense of the clients own needs, life or career goals.

February 2

Are you living the dream?

Are you living the dream?

I am not sure how many people know that Brian May’s iconic and signature “Red Special” guitar, was built by him and his father (who was an electronics engineer) when May was a teenager. So songs such as Bohemian Rhapsody were recorded on a guitar that was built with wood from an 18th century fireplace, had a fingerboard lacquered with Rustin’s Plastic coating and a tremolo arm made from an old bicycle saddlebag topped with a knob off a knitting needle.

It would be disingenuous to conclude that the “Red Special” is just cobbled together. May and his father (according to May) spent many hours hand shaping and sanding the guitar body until it was just right. As his father was an engineer by trade, he set high standards and the guitar had to be just right. There are other personal touches, as the dots on the fret board are old mother of pearl buttons and you will notice that on the headstock there is a sixpence.