As leaders, we are assessing ideas ALL THE TIME. This can be our own ideas, or from our teams, colleagues, the “higher-ups”.
Figuring out which to follow, and which to ignore, is a key part of our job as a leader and manager.
Sometimes we come up with an idea, and we love it. But somehow, over time, we stop doing it.
Was it a bad idea? Do we just lack motivation? Am I just suffering FOMO and jumping to the next thing? Am I a quitter?
When my inner critic is in charge of analysis, I always come out the loser. All these accusations disguised as questions.
I’m not the only one, right? Right.
My go to solution is rooted in my supply chain background. The diamond of all questions to ask before we jump to those negative conclusions.
💎 why are we doing this?
My example: first session with a client. I used to take notes and put it into a one pager. Shared it with the client.
Then I stopped.
Why? I was conflicted by these thoughts:
My clients are capable, and make their own notes.
Anything they don’t pick up on now, will come up again in the coaching process (totally true, this always happens) so it’s not lost.
Who am I to say what is important?
And so on.
👟 Self doubt had turned up and was being sneaky 👟
Then I started doing it again and I realised:
➖ I had been doing it because I thought I should (never a good reason)
➕ That as a trained coach, I noticed things my clients didn’t. When a client sees that in writing, they can think about it.
➕ I phrase things differently so when I share it in my words, they get a different perspective on their goals and challenges
➕ I’m trained to phrase things in a way that shows: what you really want, what matters, in a way that creates options and possibility i.e. the problem you can’t solve is now a challenge you can’t wait to tackle.
So now my reason for doing it is to be of service. To share something of value and offer it to them.
What’s something you stopped doing, then realised it was actually worthwhile?
“What’s a leadership series? How’s it different from the thought series or coaching tips? Good questions.“ This series gives you tips to take your own leadership to the next level, and ways you can extend your own capabilities. Ready to take your skills to the next level, but aren’t sure where to start? Get in touch with me.