How are you doing this far into the pandemic, faced as we are with a hard winter and a second wave of Covid-19 infections? In a polarized world — with just days before an election that offers a stark choice between rolling back progress or saving people and the planet — merely existing demands a lot of emotional bandwidth, leaving us with less for everything else. Therefore, since the pandemic started, I put out a call offering free spot coaching to founders, owners, and executives. It is my way of giving back, and I thank those who reached out.
Spot coaching in these complex times provides an essential check in. Simply bearing witness to the hopes and fears associated with accountability and responsibility (to employees, families, customers, investors) can be beneficial. My spot coaching offer was meant to create a container to make this possible.
Some of those whom I spot coached remained for on-going coaching. They believed the current climate demands new perspectives and pressure-testing of old beliefs and future plans. They needed a safe venue for this exploration and a rhythm for discussing what is at stake with their professional and personal decisions. They remained because they knew what worked pre-pandemic might not work in the new normal. They are investing in retooling.
They are worried about the elections, tribalism, the economy, and the second wave. Within this unprecedented uncertainty, they are trying to make decisions that will, at best, create growth and, at worst, maximize loss avoidance. They are pivoting their businesses, launching new startups. They are concerned about downturns and excited by new trends and opportunities accelerated by the pandemic. They want to be seen as managers who are stable rocks, but with heart and humanity. It now feels normal to hold conversations about big bets while, in the same breath, envisioning escape plans. I see acceptance of starting over and rewinding years of progress, and hear rich gallows humor.
Through it all, my clients are proactively examining opportunities to grow, acquire, be acquired, raise money, partner, build/reorganize teams, shrink, borrow, invest, and divest. These decisions are transactional, crucial, practical, but also wrapped in deeply personal elements like financial fears and the ego. As we work together, they start to shift and shed the parts of their businesses that are no longer relevant to them as professionals and people. They reconnect with their passions and focus on new lines of business. They see their own abilities and gifts in new ways. They are clearer about the types of clients they want to meet, and how they want to be seen by those clients. Together, we examine the arc of their professional growth: we hit an imaginary replay and revisit forks in the road they wish they had taken. Equipped with a clearer perspective, we imagine taking those other turns or map new turns going forward.
A 90-minute spot coaching launched them on this journey. I invite you also to get in touch with me for a free session using the form below.