Now What?® Coaching
from Laura Berman Fortgang
Blending a unique management style with cultural knowledge, Jack Ma created a hugely successful business and great wealth for himself. Which of these secrets to success could you apply to your venture?
“How Jack Ma’s ‘Crazy’ Management Style Built a Technology Empire.”
“Occasionally ask, “What is the connection between what I want most in life and anything I plan to do today?” Robert Brault
When they hear, “Do you have any questions for me?” most interviewees ask things that they hope will make them look smart.
Set yourself apart from the crowd by asking great questions. Let them know that you’re interested in more than just landing a job – you intend to be a great employee and you want this to be a match made in heaven!
“The most beautiful make-up of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.” Yves Saint Laurent
to come out in March that I’ve felt drained.I took care of myself by taking a much needed week’s break. I slept, I caught up with my children, and I spring purged my home. And now that I’m back at the computer, there’s something bigger on my mind.
The earthquake in Nepal and the Baltimore riots are in the news so they are cramping my brain space. We are in another period of unrest and another crisis brought on by Mother Nature.
They are not really all that different from each other. Upset people who have been holding on to an underground rumble of anger are not unlike the earth seeking relief from underground pressure by reorganizing its platelets, unfortunately, under a very populated city.
Unsaid things are brewing underneath the surface all the time. For each of us individually and collectively, whether in a workplace, community, organization, or gang, the unsaid is at risk of coming to a boiling point.
This is true in career and clarity exploration as well. There is often an unspoken resentment or dissatisfaction that, when not addressed, builds up over time to become a problem we are forced to face. If we could have faced it before, it wouldn’t have been left unsaid.
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to coach an executive during the course of 3-1/2 hour training on coaching skills. She presented a communication issue she was having with a new person who had come into her department.
As my questions probed more deeply, it became very clear that the problem was not really about how these two individuals communicated with each other, but rather something unsaid coming into light.
What became clear was that the executive resented this new recruit because she felt she should have the new person’s job. There was no need, in her opinion, to have a younger, less-experienced person as her boss.
How long would it have taken for the ‘unsaid’ to have leaked out through actions, tone, and difficult conversations?
It may not have been appropriate to come completely clean and be honest about the resentment right away, but it was important for the executive to be clear with herself and get to the truth. SHE was creating the problem, not the new hire.
As the coaching went on for all of 5-7 minutes, she also admitted that this resentment lit a fire in her to look at opportunities in her own company. Her research already turned up one. She will be applying for the job that would make her the new hire’s boss!
Rumblings create energy that will inevitably find a way to be released. We may not be able to control Mother Nature, but it’s important for us as reasoning humans to be aware that what’s rumbling, if left unattended, becomes a problem.
It’s unfortunate when the truth explodes through anger or violence like with the Baltimore riots and other unrest around the world.
“Renew your passions daily.” Terri Guillemets