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 is that observers cannot truly understand a system of which they themselves are a part. I realized the concept of relativity has a great role to play when I am helping a leader as a coach. I get an external perspective of how the leader is coming across, which the leader cannot see for themselves. It is that aspect I reflect as a mirror to the leader. Only a few leaders accept and acknowledge having blind spots and are willing to take help.
Pursuing contentment
Being content is misinterpreted as a laidback attitude towards development. Nothing can be a bigger folly than this. It is evident from the rapid growth and crash stories of some companies we have witnessed recently.
The underlying myth is that contentment is all about passivity. Rather contentment is an attitude of detachment to outcome which is essential for success. As Victor Frankl said “In the long run, success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it”
The nonlinearity of success
Success is not a linear story. Everything will not yield results in the same proportion. Some things have a disproportionate impact. Some things take longer time. Nature has many such examples. One example is the non-linear growth of bamboo. A bamboo does not grow linearly. It takes several years for the bamboo to show its growth. The work is going on but it will not be visible till it is ready.