“What do you think?”
4th February 2020
A challenging situation at work propelled me to the door of my boss. I summarised the situation and asked for her advice. In response, she asked “what do you think?”. I could feel a tightening in my chest and the thought of ‘oh, I should know’.
Then something wonderful happened. I found a voice which belonged to me outlining the solution articulately. I could feel a rise in my energy level. When I reached the end, she smiled and said “there, you do know, you’ve got this’. It was empowering. She gave me back the control and I took it. Unconsciously, I had made sense of what had happened to me and around me. I had found a way forward. A way forward which I would not have found if I’d stayed at my desk working.
Working with my boss and mentor changed my life so positively. She shone a different lens on what was possible. She was the boss it was true. An amazing Coach, Energiser and Organiser (CEO). She held steady in the most challenging of situations that the corporate sector threw up. I asked her how she did it. She had a coach.
That is how I was introduced to classic coaching techniques. She asked the profound question ‘what do you think?’ and challenged me to find the answers that were within myself. I truly had a light bulb moment of ‘I know it!’ I started to appreciate the qualities that all good coaches share: to listen, to be curious and to ask the powerful questions.
Asking your team questions like ‘what do you think?’ will free your time and energy to focus on the year ahead, to see the opportunities in front of you and to seize them with both hands.
As a leader you will be aware of how others in your team are focusing on their 2020 goals, but not necessarily on your own goals. A considerable part of your life will be dedicated to learning to understand your colleagues. But who fully understands you? A coach can work with you to plan how to deliver a project, or on a wider, deeper lever visualise the coming months to bring a fundamental shift in awareness of desire, needs, wants and values to move forward consciously towards the life you want.
Bombarded with high levels of information your filter will help you see what is needed, what you need to know. Many professionals never realise their full potential because of emotional baggage and compromised thinking rather than any lack of ability.
There will be competing choices in your path to change and grow so it’s time to ask yourself what you really want? A good coach will give you the tools to manage stress and burnout, vital in todays’ hyper fast and competitive business environment.
Anxiety and fear can undermine your career if unchecked – don’t let them. A coach can also stop you being a slave to so called ‘impostor syndrome’ where your life is ruled by focusing on mistakes rather than achievement while pursuing an unrealistic ideal of perfection.
At Trapeze we have highly qualified and experienced executive coaches to enhance people performance across your business. All our coaches have been selected due to their expertise and are also accredited with a professional coaching body such as the Association for Coaching, the European Mentoring and Coaching Council or the ICF.
About The Author
Julia Whitehead is an Executive Coach & HR Practitioner
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