Working To Your Higest Potential.

What amazes me when working with clients is how very blind they can be regarding owning their skills, capabilities and general brilliances. This is not confined to any particular gender or business sector, payscale or seniority, people are just pretty blind to depth and breadth of talent that they bring to their roles, their own lives and those of their significant others too.
I sit across from these people, questioning them regarding ‘what personal attributes do you being to your work…..’ and there is usually a hearty, cringing silence. When I nudge these professionals some more, there will be some uncomfortable shifting in their chair before they begin to volunteer sentences such as ‘I suppose I’m ok at xy&z’ & ‘my boss mentioned I did xxx well’. This is the beginning of an excavation that yields real delights…!
Within a few minutes, and never you fear, I can sit with silence, there is inevitably a flurry of ‘& I really enjoy it what I ….” And “I believe I am good at…” And “I find it really satisfying when…..” And then we get to play.
I don’t know if it’s a cultural fear of the consequences of being ‘arrogant’, an internalised message of ‘pride before a fall’ or an etiquette-thing, but I find as I coach European clients and some of my US ones too, that there is a genuine reticence regarding each individual’s unique combination of skills.
In asking the question of a client it seems I grant (eventually!), the permission for them to speak what they see…. When they hear themselves speak these words and have them mirrored back to them, they begin to feel their power. In this way they can internalise the echoes, implications and consequences of being gifted with these talents, and then a client can integrate them into their working works. It’s a powerful thing to be granted permission to celebrate ones professional skills. Only when we own then can we use them. When we own them we can use them to their highest good in all areas of our lives. 

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