What I've learned during my third year at the "University of Life"
What I´ve learned during my third year at the “University of Life”
When you work for yourself, what´s the merit in an “end of year evaluation”?
In the 3 years since I set up the Swim Not Sink Coaching business I have chosen to keep up the tradition and to do it publicly for a few reasons
· to show appreciation to those who have helped me along the way,
· to share my ambitions for the year ahead, and
· if this can help anyone else who is “doing their own thing“, then that’s a bonus.
To read the full article, click here , where you can find the articles from year 1 & 2.
So what have I learned in my third year at the “University of Life” – the year of Covid?
1. Whatever field you are in, think in terms of becoming a “KPI”, a key person of influence
I started the year confident that I was addressing a meaningful need and that I was getting results with my clients, but I was equally clear about what was holding me back: the barrier for all new businesses, low awareness of my brand and what I was offering!
And that´s when I came across the work of Daniel Priestley, the author of Key Person of Influence, click here. His simple thesis is that in any industry the 80/20 rule applies and the way to ensure that you are the minority getting the majority of the work is to become a key personal of influence. In my case it meant I needed to get my message out there by publishing it. And that’s what inspired me to launch my podcast which has been a huge learning, great fun to do, and has (re)connected me with some great people … and which peaked at #5 in the Podcast Charts
2. Beware of the “identity mind trap” – don’t assume that your identity is settled!
Research from McKinsey finds that people don’t believe they will change as much in the coming decade as they have in the previous one.
“Teenagers as much as their grandparents seem to believe that the pace of personal change has slowed to a crawl and that they have recently become the people they will remain. History, it seems, is always ending today”
According to the study, because we don’t think of ourselves as changing in the future, we focus our energy on projecting - and protecting – the person we have become, not on growing into the person we might become next. We are caught in “the identity mind trap.”
This landed strongly with me because I was caught in that mind trap in my mid-40´s – hanging onto a work-style and life-style that no longer motivated me. Interestingly, one thing that helped me re-boot was reflecting on my dad´s life. His best decade was probably his 70´s when he was more curious, energetic and adventurous than he´d been in middle age.
If your energy is focused on protecting the person you have become, rather than on projecting the person you might become next, then take a look at the research, click here
3. What limits people is their own awareness of how good they are.
As Elio put it on the podcast “Even amongst those with high potential, the thing that limits them is often their own awareness of how good they are”. To listen to the full episode click here
This is not a pithy platitude – I see it every day in my work.
Coaching assumes that the individual is “creative, resourceful and whole” and my role is helping them draw out their own resourcefulness and creativity;
· some need support with the “foundations” eg clarifying what they want to achieve
· some find themselves at a plateau, and
· some simply want support with “situational issues”
In all cases, it´s encouraging to see how much can be resolved just by acting as a sounding board/ sparring partner, helping clients to recognise what they have to offer and to communicate that clearly and confidently. Again and again, a little bit of courage and (self) confidence are what´s needed to help transform the situation. As I like to say “It´s not about what you want, it about what you are willing to do to get it”
And I apply the same standard to myself. So when I decided to do the podcast, the first challenge was how to get great guests. My key learning is that you just have to ask, not one of them asked me “who else is on the show?”
4. You can only bring your clients where you have gone yourself
The biggest hurdle in any career is to move from being great in a #2 role to being the #1 – be that in a corner store or in a multi-national.
And I look at this challenge from various angles, from the experience of my clients who are facing it right now, from my corporate history and my current reality as the leader of my own business.
This rich combination has led me to develop the CRED model so that people can assess their own readiness for a leadership role. It measures their preparedness for the “hot seat” on 4 levels
· Clarify – what needs done and why me?
Renew – what is my new definition of success?
· Embody – Do I walk the talk?
· Disrupt - the openness change as much in the next 10 years as in the previous 10.
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5. Work is more enjoyable when you are doing what you are good at.
I write this, not as a statement of the obvious but, because job satisfaction is quite elusive and having found it myself, I think it merits sharing.
As a stand-alone coach means you need to master 3 distinct skills.
· Marketing the work, aka Brand building
· Getting the work - Sales
· Doing the work – the actual coaching
Fortunately, I enjoy all 3 roles. In fact I believe that doing all 3 roles makes me a better coach as it connects me to the needs of the sponsors (those who pay the bills), the needs of the coachees themselves in the actual delivery, and for me to keep fresh intellectually and energetically by going deep in my chosen field. A virtuous cycle which bodes well for the future
So when do I graduate from the University of Life?
Well, returning to the advice of a fellow coach as I was starting out: in the first year as a coach, people will ask, “is that a real job?”, in the second year, ¨are you still doing that?” and, then in the third year, “you´re still doing that, you must be good, we should talk”
My personal highlight is not my growing revenue, my new relationships, or the performance of the podcast, but rather that an ex-peer engaged me directly to coach him. This was vindication that my transition from “corporate to coach” was complete.
2021 has been great so far. My professional objective and big idea for 2021 is to normalise coaching for leaders on the cusp of the hot-seat – to motivate their sponsors to provide it and/or to empower the individual leader themselves to ask for it. A nice marketing challenge! Despite the evidence in favour of onboarding new leaders, (with a ROI that the leadership guru Michael Watkins calls “ridiculously good”), proper support programmes are still the exception rather than the norm.
And graduation… At the “University of Life” there is always more to learn so I´ll continue to share these annual reviews as long as you read them!