To
Fly….
I recently had the
opportunity to participate in the South East Coaching
Conference. In attendance were an inspiring
group of individuals dedicated to the
coaching profession, choosing
to share their insights and ideas to the
emerging population of individual and executive coaches.
I was impressed with the quality
of the speakers and in particular, a professor
from Georgetown University, Lloyd Raines,
captured my attention and imagination.
Mr. Raines offered
his audience a simple chart: Life
in Flight: Four Forces That Shape our Paths.
With all the other exercises we worked on, he did not
have enough time to discuss the chart comprehensively.
When I got home, I sat down and worked through it in more
depth by myself.
Eureka!
I had found a keystone to exploring change
with my clients. This concept has given me a framework
to finally be able to explain why
good coaching works, and to share with
my clients and friends how real change happens,
systematically.
Picture a simple
x- and y-axis diagram, the crossing point
simply labeled “NOW”. Moving forward on the
x-axis; Mr. Raines names Thrust/Motivation.
Moving upward is Lift/Inspiration. Moving
backward is Drag/Trepidation
and moving downward is Weight/Limitation.
(view
diagram by Lloyd Raines)
To
actually pull forward from
NOW, you need to have both motivation
and inspiration AND you need to minimize limitation and
trepidation.
A
simple equation to flight!
Think about this…..how
many people have you known who were highly driven, focused,
motivated people who were
miserable? No inspiration. How many inspiring,
exciting, energetic people do you know who never get anything
done? No motivation. It is that magical
blend of fuel that moves you forward toward positive change.
Of
course, that is too simple!
It gets more complex
when you add in fear and limitation.
I have worked with several clients who didn’t see
great effects from coaching. Not because they weren’t
motivated or inspired, but they were really scared
to see change happen and too aware of
all the resources they were lacking.
Finally - a
way to work through these blocks. With
this chart, I can see how to clear the decks and honestly
take inventory of where a client stands and what holds
them back from positive change.
Ok, so all this is theory so far.
Let’s
take a real example. I have a client, for our purposes,
we will call him Pete. Pete wants a new career. He is
tired of what he is doing, although he is still driven
to go to work every day for a paycheck. Motivation:
security and financial abundance. He is not inspired
by his work, so we begin to explore what charges him up.
Turns out, he loves photography. In his younger days,
it consumed him and fueled his desire to travel and explore.
Perfect! Pete’s next career! Everything
would be solved if we could ignore the lower left side
of the flight quadrant.
 Trepidation:
turns out that Pete has a big
fear of bankruptcy and the loss of financial
stability. Pete also worries about what other people would
think of him if he dropped out of the corporate world
to take up photography. Limitation: he
is feeling constrained by his current financial resources
and by his abilities, it has been over a decade since
he seriously picked up a camera.
Is
it hopeless? It depends on how Pete shifts through this
model. Is photography more inspiring and motivating to
him than what is holding him back and down?
We discuss options.
We explore his idea in smaller increments that will move
Pete forward slowly, minimizing his fear. Approaching
a limitation, his skills; Pete decides
to take a refresher photography course in the evenings.
After a few weeks, more inspired than ever, Pete invests
in new equipment and creates business cards. Working
a few nights a week and over the weekends, Pete
begins to build his portfolio of work.
Momentum
is taking him forward, shaking loose the
fear and weight. Within a few months, Pete writes
a transition plan to be a full time photographer
in two years. Four months after we started working together,
Pete’s photographs are beginning to get noticed
and clients are starting to call him for appointments.
Pete is still in
early stages of finding an ideal balance between
the four forces that Raines believes shape our
path, but I see how well it can allow a client to articulate
the challenges and rewards and make the impossible feel
possible.
The next time you
are feeling stuck, ask yourself
these questions:
1)
What am I afraid will happen?
2) What is restricting me?
3) What is exciting and fun about this?
4) What will keep me interested
and working hard?
Good luck to you
as you explore your Life in Flight! For more information
about Lloyd Raines and the Center for Collaborate Learning,
contact raines@charm.net.
|
Susan
Maravetz