Greatest Revolution

"The greatest revolution in our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives" William James

 

 

This quote has been written on the mirror for more than a few weeks.  Some time ago I finished a five month management course, sponsored by my organisation.  When asked towards the end of the course what I thought, I told them it followed my philosophy on why we read books.  If you have one sentence or paragraph as a take away, then reading the whole book was not a waste of time.

 

http://www.miracleminds.org/Life-Coaching.html

 

This caused a bit of a stir.  Well a big stir, I actually was talking to the CEO!  The course is now undergoing a redesign.  My honesty lead to that.  And further, at a moment during the course I gave similar feedback to several of the business coaches.  The effect of this was so profound that the business coach assigned to work with me actually went of in search of my one take away moment.  It was with one of the coaches who sat with me for an hour during a simulation.  This person had such an impact that she caused me to pause and reflect.  That is no mean feat, it is hard for an introvert to have an immediate mental connection at such a level, especially on a random meeting.

 

My initial coach was equally blunt, none of the existing coaches wanted to work with me.  Now I am not an overly reactive person, as the real reason followed with there was little to teach me....phew!  The simulation coach asked me to think about my reasons for avoiding a promotion.  She actually challenged me to think differently, to analyse my reasons why not.  In discussing this concept with the new partner, well I actually ended up with way more to think about.  The possibility of sometime actually living in the same house.  This then later sailed into a discussion about pre-nups, and hit a small road block, but that it is more for another post.

 

Several weeks later I had actually decided to finally register an interest when the subject was raised by my manager.  From there the universe moved very quickly.  A restructure reported the position down one level.  Now this was instantly more appealing, as one of my worries was the direct contact with one manager.  A level between was a relief. 

 

Next came the end of year review.  A ranking system was employed, and I made the top 17, and this is a big company.  In line with my development plan to raise my profile, I then accepted a speaking opportunity at the upcoming leadership conference.  I am sure an introvert will have no problem standing up in front of 200 peers to talk about performance management, especially with an impending promotion on the horizon in the next year or so....right...OMG what have I done!

 

"How do you celebrate success?"

 

The next question posed from the coach was an excellent pick.  This is one of my greater challenges.  I am not a person who buys stuff, I hardly want for anything, and my approach to life is fairly simple.  The suggestion, invoke a menu.  She was actually kind enough to send me her live example.  By creating a menu of rewards linked to time, cost and effort it is designed to encourage you to take time out to celebrate the amazing journey.  I also scored a range of other thought provoking moments to reflect on.  Now back to working on that speech.