Helping someone grow Reflecting on a recent engagement, I realized that Coaching a person is about enabling their self-discovery and self-realization. One of the fundamental learning I gained was I cannot change a person. I can only aid them in being who they want to be. It meant learning to trust in the innate wisdom …
Helping someone grow | Surviving before thriving | Wielding power gracefully Read More »
Giving permission to understand My work revolves around conversations. Hence, I found this simple advice from Carl Rogers, an eminent psychologist, deeply insightful. “I have found it of enormous value when I can permit myself to understand the other person… Is it necessary to permit oneself to understand another? I think it is. Our first …
Giving permission to understand | Action comes before motivation | Expressing gratitude Read More »
Removing the creases from our chutes Parachute jumpers follow a unique practice to hang their reserved chutes every once in 60 days for 24 hours to let the creases out, and get the life back into the material. What can we do to remove the mental creases that we have accumulated over the years of …
Removing the creases from our chutes | Reason is not Rational | Having faith in people Read More »
Obaitori – Every flower blooms in its own time When everyone sees everyone else as their competitor in the mad rat race, Obaitori, a Japanese idiom, comes as a great mental model to instill sanity in us. It refers to the four trees – plum, apricot, cherry, and peach that bloom at their own time …
The difficult part of learning Learning is hard if it requires us to let go of our own personal truths. Indian philosophy uses the term Avidya. It means the presence of mistaken conclusions about ourselves and the world that we value as knowledge. The only way to learn is to ask ourselves if what we …
A valuable leadership trait Responding to bad news deftly is a valuable leadership trait. It involves truth-seeking, decision-making, and course correction. These can happen only from the space of response rather than knee-jerk reaction. Good leaders do not shoot the messenger. They do not ignore the message. They do not scare others by saying, “We …
A valuable leadership trait | Seeking support | Taking time to heal Read More »
Unnatural leadership skills All leadership skills do not come naturally to all leaders. Some leaders struggle with executive presence, while some struggle with being decisive, and many struggle with being empathetic towards their team. There are always areas that need improvement. Real growth happens when leaders acknowledge and are willing to learn, even if it …
Unnatural leadership skills | Lesson on evaluation | Pygmalion effect on team members Read More »
Relativity and coaching In a recent behavioral science conference, that I attended, one of the themes that was reiterated was being multidisciplinary in approach; Bringing concepts from different fields to solve a problem. Upon reflection, I found it relevant for coaching. One example is that of the concept of Relativity. The main idea of relativity …
Relativity and coaching | Pursuing contentment | The nonlinearity of success Read More »
Past as a guide The past is a useful guide only if it can show something about the future. Warren Buffet says that in the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield. However, we must peer and try to look through the windshield to know where we will be heading. Power …
Past as a guide | Power of presence | Understanding potential Read More »
