Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Moods, Meaning & Wholeheartedness
Broader cultural currents always affect patterns in coaching.
Flush times tend to bring more work around career progression, with questions around how to get to the next level, how to lead more effectively, and how to have work/life balance amidst a flood of opportunities. Moods tend toward those of optimism and ambition, and there's a huge focus on how to manage all the things "happening out there."
Attention is on external events and interactions, as in a fast-moving game, where you must understand the rules, react to surprises, and work on doing things faster and better in order to win.
Economic downturns change everything. Moods become more serious and contemplative, and there's a new focus on what is personally meaningful. Questions turn to things like purpose and calling and how to live and work in more wholehearted ways. Attention shifts from the external to the internal.
The reason? When possibilities abound and we focus on external things, we can mobilize ourselves into action based on reacting to countless, often entertaining and sometimes maddeningly complex, stimuli. When possibilities narrow and there is less to react to, we have to find a new source of energy, which comes from being moved by what is meaningful internally.
I have coached many leaders who have been looking for meaning in all the wrong places, namely from good ideas (head) and have found themselves immobilized. The reality is that meaning comes from feelings (heart). In business and in academic institutions alike, though, we are encouraged to keep things "rational" and pay little attention to emotions.
Alas, only emotions have the power to touch us, to move us, to propel us in a new direction and to take new actions. And, when in doubt about how an opportunity really moves us, we can assess alignment through the body (gut), which acts like a veritable polygraph for feelings as well as facts.
We have a saying in coaching that "the body never lies." Turning to the body not only yields breakthroughs in stalled searches for meaning but also vastly shortens the process, a benefit that makes somatic elements of coaching enormously powerful for clients.
A downturn like this one offers the opportunity (forced or seized upon) to slow down, reconnect with what's important, and be moved into action from a more wholehearted and thus energized place.
And, if you're having trouble, contact me for a complimentary session to explore and align your own three centers of wisdom (head, heart, and gut).
Flush times tend to bring more work around career progression, with questions around how to get to the next level, how to lead more effectively, and how to have work/life balance amidst a flood of opportunities. Moods tend toward those of optimism and ambition, and there's a huge focus on how to manage all the things "happening out there."
Attention is on external events and interactions, as in a fast-moving game, where you must understand the rules, react to surprises, and work on doing things faster and better in order to win.
Economic downturns change everything. Moods become more serious and contemplative, and there's a new focus on what is personally meaningful. Questions turn to things like purpose and calling and how to live and work in more wholehearted ways. Attention shifts from the external to the internal.
The reason? When possibilities abound and we focus on external things, we can mobilize ourselves into action based on reacting to countless, often entertaining and sometimes maddeningly complex, stimuli. When possibilities narrow and there is less to react to, we have to find a new source of energy, which comes from being moved by what is meaningful internally.
I have coached many leaders who have been looking for meaning in all the wrong places, namely from good ideas (head) and have found themselves immobilized. The reality is that meaning comes from feelings (heart). In business and in academic institutions alike, though, we are encouraged to keep things "rational" and pay little attention to emotions.
Alas, only emotions have the power to touch us, to move us, to propel us in a new direction and to take new actions. And, when in doubt about how an opportunity really moves us, we can assess alignment through the body (gut), which acts like a veritable polygraph for feelings as well as facts.
We have a saying in coaching that "the body never lies." Turning to the body not only yields breakthroughs in stalled searches for meaning but also vastly shortens the process, a benefit that makes somatic elements of coaching enormously powerful for clients.
A downturn like this one offers the opportunity (forced or seized upon) to slow down, reconnect with what's important, and be moved into action from a more wholehearted and thus energized place.
And, if you're having trouble, contact me for a complimentary session to explore and align your own three centers of wisdom (head, heart, and gut).
# posted by Cindy Marteney @ 2:55 PM 
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