Uncategorized

Last weekend one of my relatives called my wife about a random idea of investing in a holiday home on a beach. She relayed that message to me and asked – should we be interested? To that, I promptly enquired about my relative’s age. With a puzzled look on her face, she asked him – how old are you? He said I am 38, why? Was this a sign of Midlife crisis? This seems to be a very delicate phase of one’s life where one is confronted by very fundamental questions and random actions – 1) What am I doing in Life?2) What is the purpose?3) When will I live for myself? When will I pursue my hobbies and passion?4) Is my life confined only to 9 to 6? What after retirement?5) How can I contribute and give back? And many more…this may seem like a flux but it actually is a great opportunity to transform and live a more fulfilled life. Recognizing this phase, Creating Self-Awareness, and Taking Right Action can help one transition through this phase. Life Coaching is an apt intervention here… To set up an exploratory “What is Coaching?” conversation, please write to me at metobecoaching@gmail.com

One’s ability to FOCUS is also the subject of deciding what NOT to do! I had this learning from one of my recent coaching conversations with my client. My client was not too satisfied with the progress he was making towards his goals. He knew his goals and what exactly needs to be done. He was exerting his will on focusing and prioritizing, but in vain. My clients had this Ah Aha moment when a question was put to him about what is that he can REMOVE from his schedule that is distracting. My client spelt out his distractions – hence bringing them to his awareness. In this awareness client was all smiling, spelt out his action plans and accountabilities with renewed zeal and clarity. Happy to be holding the space for such an insight . To set up an exploratory “What is Coaching?” conversation, please write to me at metobecoaching@gmail.com

Couple of weeks back one senior technology professional called me to enquire about a job opportunity. As we concluded our call, he said I also see that now you have got in to training – What kind of training are you providing? I said I am not into training – I am into Coaching! Another acquaintance of mine called recently after seeing some of my posts and said I am glad that you have got into counselling now. I corrected him and said I am not into counselling I am into Coaching! And in another instance, one more gentleman in a casual meeting asked – I see you have got into Coaching now! Yes, Yes – I said with the excitement that finally I found someone who knows what exactly I am doing! But this excitement was also short lived as he went on to ask “Which subjects do you teach?” These experiences prompted me to put a poll on LinkedIn to know what is the level of awareness about Life Coaching. Happy to share the results with you below. According to me Life Coaching is a transformative intervention which helps to built one of the most fundamental but overlooked ability – that is “Knowing Thyself” – which implies real freedom! To set up an exploratory “What is Coaching?” conversation, please write to me at metobecoaching@gmail.com

Words are the biggest limitation to the true knowing!

The sudden change in the requirement, change in hiring plans, change in the interview schedules, change in the plan of joining etc. are how we recruiters experience change in our work life! Unfortunately, last week saw too many of such experiences and we could sense the energy drain in the team in their words, worries and their way of being and doing. So, we decided to discuss about “managing change” in the weekly mentoring session. In the discussion everyone expressed their ideas around this topic and we came up with the following steps/understanding – 1) Change is inevitable2) Acceptance of Change3) Move ahead with the next best action The conclusion of this finding then was we cannot manage change but we can only manage ourselves. And, Change is not a problem – but it is our reaction to the Change is what makes it to be the problem! We also discovered that the Quality of Acceptance then is the key to dissolving our reactions. Quality implies – no complaining, no blaming – accepting the change as if we have chosen it to be so. Such an acceptance is the source of right positive action. Without which the action one may take would be stressful and unfulfilling – like a movement of an overloaded vehicle! This seems to be a good concept applicable to other aspects of your life as well!

“Peace and Fulfillment” emerged as the best measure of success for most of people as per my recent LinkedIn poll result. And “Peace” seems to be state when the need to measure ends – think about it!

I was having this coaching conversation with one of my clients. He has an aspiration to move to a CXO level role in a very specific type of an organization within certain timelines. The client is very progressive. He is using Coaching conversation as an anchor to stay on track, talk it out, reflect and find out how to optimize the efforts and ensure that he has a best chance to make it to his goal. As a Coach, I find these sessions with him very inspiring. In one of our session’s, I was holding the space for him to explore the topic of the session by listening with intent, summarizing, sharing my observation, pausing and putting right questions to help him explore the topic. To one of the questions that I put there was a long silence and then a smile. He said, thank you for asking this question. I think I should not just prepare to meet the requirements of the job description (JD) as given but I should prepare for the JD as it would evolve in next few years. If I will relate my work experiences to the evolving JD (Dynamic) of the role then I will have a better chance for being considered for the role. This will make my preparation more solid – he smiled as he said this and went in to contemplative state. I let the silence prevail for the client to embody his insight. Is working towards a dynamic JD a good option? Not sure! The insights are always very unique to clients and what works for someone may not work for others. This is what makes Life Coaching such a powerful intervention. BTW, as recruiter – I am quite exited about this new term “Dynamic Job Description”! Will this give a competitive edge to career seekers? To set up an exploratory “What is Coaching?” conversation, please write to me at metobecoaching@gmail.com

One candidate who was supposed to join today did not show up, then there was no response and now the phone has been switched off. This is a familiar experience for me as a recruiter but still the emotions follow the same painful trajectory. This is a BIG problem for me! One must be wondering – How is this related to “Why I watch Television!”? Hmmm Everyday there is something you hear that shatter you – be it flood situation across country and various parts in the world, wild fires, landslides, the prevailing pandemic situation and now what we are witnessing in the world politics and many other. The magnitude of suffering that all of these events are causing to human is unimaginable. Suddenly then you are filled with gratitude for your privileges and you stay sane and grounded. This makes my seemingly BIG problems absolutely insignificant. Television is also a source of inspiration. The recently concluded Olympics or the ongoing Para Olympics is a great morale booster filled with stories of passion and grit of winners/participants and their humble demeanor. The stories of selfless service of various kinds by various individuals and communities during the pandemic and many more. Television is still an idiot box broadcasting a lot of stuff – but I guess you are alert to what you are sensitive to the most. For me I am alert to all that helps me stay grounded and inspired. This then for me is good source of resilience. What you are alert to is often a reflection of your core values and your core self. Think about it! If you are someone or you know someone who may be helped by a good listening. I am all ears! I offer pro-bono sessions for such individuals. Please feel free to connect with me on metobecoaching@gmail.com

One’s level of satisfaction can only be as much as their most trivial dis-satisfactions! While having coaching conversations, I often notice that the real issues of the clients emerge in the statement following “BUT”. I am doing well. BUT…I have no complains. BUT…I understand all of that. BUT…I know it is all destiny. BUT…I am satisfied with the results. BUT… You hear many more such statements all around you – this is often unconscious till one is able to observe this. And it is in this ability to observe that you also have an opportunity to evolve out of it. The process of coaching brings about awareness around the “BUT” statements and the implied challenges. The further exploration is the process of realizing one’s fullest potential. To set up an exploratory “What is Coaching?” conversation, please write to me at metobecoaching@gmail.com

One day I received this call little late in the evening. It was from a Founder CEO of an IT start-up company. He started by saying – Hi! you may not remember me; you have shared an email with me 12 months back offering your recruitment services. Of course, I was not remembering. He continued to say that there was something about your message that has connected with me and I have preserved it. I am reaching out to you now because there are some hiring needs now. The conversation continued and we decided to meet the immediate next day in the afternoon around 2.00 pm. The meeting started on time. He shared about his company, his background, the work that they do, and the way forward for them and also what he is expecting from us. Then I shared my background, our team, our approach, our clientele and our terms. Also, what support we may need from them and I also clarified few points about the requirement, selection process, budget, challenges etc. We concluded our meeting and agreed to work together. While we were concluding our session, client said I noticed one thing that you were not saying anything to sell your services, in fact you gave me all the reasons why I should not be working with you. I find that unusual, and you have been very straight, honest and practical – this really helps me rely on you and I am confident about our success. I guess I could sense this in the mail you shared one year back with me – and now I know why I remembered you. We have a fruitful work relationship till date and he has referred multiple clients to me since then. This experience reinforces in me the fact that how by being vulnerable you remain your authentic self which leads to a genuine partnerships and relationships. My mentors tell me that this is also a good coach like quality. Hmmm