Advice, tips and inspiration to help you perform at your best
‘Keep showing up’.
These were last words spoken by Elizabeth Gilbert in one of my favourite Ted Talks. She was speaking about creativity. She implored us to stay present and work at your craft so that ‘your elusive creative genius’ will make an appearance.
In our personal and professional life goal setting is easy. We find it easy to imagine the life we want to lead. A life where we’re happier, fitter, richer and more successful. Achieving goals is much harder. Unsurprisingly, New Year’s Resolutions usually end in failure. Goals help us grow, but we can get so much better at setting and achieving them.
Over the past few months I’ve learnt a lot about feedback. I’ve been giving lots of feedback on presentations delivered to me as part of an ongoing training programme.
Plus, whilst training to become an accredited coach, I’ve received lots of feedback on my own coaching approach.
Here’s my key lessons.
Supporting others in this difficult time is essential. So, when your friends or co-workers ask for your help, how do you react? Most people just dive into offering solutions. Instead, learn to hold back, listen and figure out what kind of help they really need. Spend time immersing yourself in their problem.
Broadly, there are then 5 potential approaches you could take.
Whilst I was training to become an Executive Coach, one of my big ‘a-ha’ moments was to discover that asking ‘why’ when trying to get deeper into a discussion was completely the wrong thing to do. It was a real revelation to me. I always ask ‘why?’ whenever I’m trying to find out more. Whilst my intention is positive, I learnt that simply asking why can have a negative effect.
