To my fellow coaches
I want to call myself out on something. My last few posts on LinkedIn have been a bit “best practice”-y.
“Curb your crutch words.”
“Embrace eye contact.”
“Think about your body language.”
“Utilize THIS rhetorical device because XXX person did so”
When we always preach best practices, we give people the impression that if they stand still enough, speak at the right pace, and inject the perfect amount of humor, they can be the leaders they’ve always wanted to be.
While those things do matter, they aren’t the only things that strong leaders do.
Strong storytelling and leadership are about something far less tangible: awareness.
The good news is that there is always more we can be aware of.
Lately, my work has been about helping my clients cultivate awareness in how they treat themselves, their clients, and their teammates.
Here are a few things I have helped my clients build awareness around:
Your work isn’t for everyone.
While your words matter, your actions offstage matter more.
Giving someone credit for his or her better idea doesn’t make you less of a leader.
Your past failures are fuel for your next move.
You really can’t control how an audience receives your words…and that is a good thing.
When we put in the work to become more aware, we earn the most important thing: trust.
Awareness is harder to teach than how to write an impressive opener or how to use the rule of threes. But in the end, it always gives us the most bang for our buck.