Yesterday I was reminded of how hard it is to be a catalyst for strong CORE centered leaders. I have the privilege of building many such people. They know what they believe, why they live and work, and are, oftentimes, very CERTAIN about how they want to live and work. Why wouldn’t they be?
They have hit it big. Knocked it out of the park, so to speak. All my clients are wildly successful in the eyes of the world. Isn’t it interesting that most of them would trade it all for just a little more LOVE. More on that later…
Back to yesterday. Yesterday’s client is a darn near genius in his business. He’s reached the pinnacle of performance a number of times over his lengthy career. He knows that his formula works. He’s gotten this feedback from his results, his team, industry experts, and from one award after another. He’s also taken the time to build his CORE, even though most of his building has been absent his awareness.
Yesterday I tried to be a catalyst for change. A catalyst for changing one of his age old beliefs about his performance. His eyes told me I was clearly in the deep end and we were both quickly getting in over our heads. I took a couple deep breaths and kept asking him questions that I knew were NOT being well received. I pushed him out of his comfort zone and in the process got out of mine. You see, I recently got fired for pushing a client TOO hard. I had to fight my own FEAR and just keep doing what I knew was right.
It’s always there. FEAR that is. For all of us humans.
At the end of a couple productive hours my client had learned something about the power of the question. He’s not sure how to apply this knowledge, but he’s experimenting…ANYWAY. Yesterday, none of his CORE beliefs changed. He’s too strong, and they’ve been too productive. However, yesterday he agreed to test them. He agreed to try some new behaviors and see what happens. Here’s the cool thing about this client.
Do NOT miss this. This is HUGE.
He tried to apply his new learning immediately. He did NOT wait until it felt like the timing was right, his skills were developed, it was safe, or he had finally gotten his last piece of analytics proving that this was the best way forward. He simply experimented.
I got the phone call a couple hours after our session.
The experiment had NOT been a home run. Here’s the good news though. He hadn’t knocked it out of the park but he had put some “wood on the ball” AND it felt good. He’s already teed up the next experiment. He’s testing this new learning in a safe and active manner. Very smart.
You see, strong CORES are both consistent, predictable, structured AND always under construction and changing. Strong CORE centered leaders are also full of FEAR. I mean, FULL. The difference is that they are willing to face their fear and then choose to walk into it. Acting into your fear will build you too.
Do you know what you believe?
When was the last time you challenged your deepest held beliefs?
Do you know what has the been key to your success?
When was the last time you experimented with changing your most successful habits?
Do you know how you want to live and work?
When was the last time you learned from someone that lives and works the opposite from you?
What FEARS are holding you back?
What small step can you take today to WALK ON?
Tell me more…
BUILT TO LEAD 