Coaching takes a broad perspective and I wish to share with you a few useful insights to corroborate that statement. Let’s begin with comfort zone and perspective. To evoke a metaphor, my life has recently been about rhythms. And they change depending on our perspectives.
For my own particular case, learning has always been at the forefront of my priorities, in chime with the rhythm of life. Learning new things, experiencing and sharing them have always been one of the things I have enjoyed the most.
Coaching, on the other hand, has been one of the most edifying and intellectually nurturing experiences for me in this learning process. First of all, it broadened my view on my own life, my work, leadership styles and people in general. While change is an ephemeral concept that we sometimes resist, expansion is a much broader concept. It is expansion that transforms you and allows you to see events/persons from a broader perspective, and it thrives in the diversity of perspectives.
I think the coaching perspective is extremely beneficial for companies, a driving force. That is what I am experiencing working for Arkas.
As a business and as an individual, you feel confident and supported in an environment where the coaching perspective is brought into the picture. Knowing that there are many points of view and that there are no absolute truths, and approaching events happening around you from that perspective afford you more flexibility and comfort. This way, you can plod on knowing that nothing is black and white. This offers a much more broader vantage point for each of us, each staff member. With this point of view, you begin to understand that decisions or preferences that you do not approve of in your private life or at work are not necessarily wrong and, of course, not necessarily right. So seeing that the decision made is a “conscious decision” and acting accordingly is indeed a liberating experience for all.
However, learning can sometimes be a challenge. Everything you learn about yourself may not make you happy, and the interesting thing is that this can actually be a good thing. So you can get excited about it, explore and fiddle around with it, and look at it from a brand new perspective like a child. For example, if it feels a bit boring to always be right and you can admit to yourself that others may have thought better than you, then you may have gained a more pleasant new perspective. If we can see ourselves embracing this approach, this may help us become happy, open-minded individuals always eager to learn something new, whatever work environment we find ourselves in.
While today’s fashionable concept is coaching, it could be something completely different tomorrow. It is not about being trendy so much as being honest with ourselves and keeping our perspectives broad. I don’t think there is any way that this won’t help with your self-improvement and help you do good for other individuals or institutions.