First things first

Regular readers of "To Be Clear..." will know that clarity is the first of the four pillars of my coaching practice - it's why this newsletter has the name it has. 

Clients often come to me stuck in the thickets of complex issues at work or in their business feeling as if they are lost in the woods, going around in circles having tried everything they can think of. As this previous issue of "To Be Clear..." discussed, much of my job involves walking alongside them on that journey. 

Indeed, just this week, someone with whom I am working and who has already achieved tremendous success and is on the brink of achieving even more, gave me as a thank you two beautiful notebooks and wrote in one of them, "Thank you for walking on this journey with me. I will be forever grateful." The gratitude goes both ways; I have learned a huge amount from working with her and watching her work hard in high profile leadership with humility, openness, curiosity and a deepening awareness of herself and her strengths - stealth and otherwise. 

Whether I'm working with a team, individual or an organisation, a key part of my role is to help them find their bearings. You might notice that I said find their bearings rather than mine or anyone else's - that is why I am, at heart and in practice, a coach rather than a mentor, advisor, counsellor, consultant or guru**. I have found that equipping people to find their own way rather than providing them with generic off-the-shelf solutions is what tends to work best when it comes to sustainable success.

Central to the design and effectiveness of ONION^® is that those using it are able to surface what works best for them and that involves identifying what matters most to them. 

A great example of how identifying what matters most makes all the difference comes in 1 Corinthians Chapter 15, part of a famous letter which the apostle Paul wrote in c. 53-54 AD to a church in Corinth, a city you can still visit in Southern Central Greece. 

The recipients of Paul's letter were dealing with the deaths of some of their fellow Christian brothers and sisters and this was causing a lack of clarity about the truth and meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection thirty years previously. Paul responded with a masterful and beautiful piece of writing reminding its first and subsequent readers of the truth and implications of Jesus' death and resurrection. 

He wants to remind them that, as a matter of first importance, historical fact and clear record, Jesus really has risen from the dead and why this matters. He doesn't try and comfort his readers with platitudes or vibes, instead he points them to the facts and evidence and then explains the deep relevance for their day-to-day lives and actions.

Beacuse Paul knew that a key tool to getting your bearings when you're lacking clarity is to remember the facts of what matters most to you, he begins his Easter message to the confused Corinthian Christians like this:

"For I delivered to you as of first importance* what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep."

He reminds his readers of the facts which their circumstances have briefly overshadowed but he also provides them with what my American readers might call "the receipts" of the resurrection, the proof - names, witnesses, people who are still alive who witnessed the resurrection of Jesus and to whom his readers can still speak. He tells them that these things are of first importance. 

In a similar vein, understanding what is of first importance to you and your business is key to gaining clarity and making progress towards success in your desired Outcomes. 

I can think of one client, about to start a new senior role after a lot of work to get there. He thanked me for my help in helping him to achieve his desired Outcome but also mentioned a fear that he would start his new role unable to shed a persistent bad habit which had caused him issues in his previous role. Given the higher scrutiny and greater expectations he would be under in his new role, he was keen to do things differently but didn't know how. He felt he had tried a range of approaches to no avail. 

I listened to him and then suggested that he approach the issue differently, not by trying to change his behaviour with sheer effort of will, but by considering what was of first importance to him. It was evident from all of our coaching sessions, from his 360 assessments from colleagues, from his psychometric reports as well as from a three-way coaching conversation I had conducted with him and his line manager what mattered most to him at work. My client was, at his heart, a people person - relationships with people were of first importance to him.

So when it came to this persistent bad habit which threatened to have real financial and operational implications for his new business if it continued, we began to look at it from the perspective of the people it would affect if he continued doing what he had always done. 

I reminded him of the facts and extensive evidence of how important people and relationships are to him and then we thought about the impact approaching it this way might have.

He decided that he would apply what was of first importance to him by immediately introducing himself to and getting to know the specific people who would be most affected if he kept up his previous habit. That way, when he was under pressure and tempted to fall back into old habits, he would think not of the impact on the finances and operations of his business (which didn't work) but of what was of first importance to him - the real people and relationships within the business who this would impact.

A year and a bit into his new role, I checked in with him as to how things were going; not only is he doing exceptionally on the deal side but he is pretty much free of the persistent bad habit which used to cause him so much internal angst and external issue at work. All this by taking time to consider what was of first importance to him and then living that out at work in a practical way.

What about you? As you hopefully enjoy some Easter break this weekend, is there an issue at work for you and your team in which you just can't see a clear way ahead? If so, why not return to your first principles and consider what matters most to you, perhaps by asking "What is of first importance to me/ us?". Don't just go with your feelings on this, try doing what Paul did for the Corinthians and what I did with my client - seek out and refer to the evidence and facts and then think through the implications for what you are facing. If others at work are unclear on a way forward, why not try helping them work through this process and see if it helps?

As always, feel free to get in touch if you want any help with this and do please let me know how it goes. 

Next up, some another key tool for clarity at work as well as some seasonal good wishes.

Owed to joy 

As I mentioned above, I spent some time this week with someone who is on the brink of achieving something truly monumental and consequential at work - watch this space as I hope to shout it from the rooftops if she achieves it. It will certainly be noted in the UK press! 

As we spoke together about how far she had come since we first started working together, how much important work she'd done so far and how she was going to prepare for the last remaining hurdle in achieving her desired Outcome, I noted the joy she evidently takes in doing what she does and how important that joy will be as she navigates these final stages of the journey. 

As we parted ways, she told me that this reminder of how much she enjoys what she does was the biggest takeaway from our conversation and would underpin her preparation in the weeks to come. 

One of the key questions that  ONION^® asks about desired Outcome is:

What most excites you about achieving this? It's something I try and get to the heart of with all my clients as they clarify their desired Outcome. I recently started a new organisational coaching project with a business who have engaged me to help them scale in new ways. In his first Town Hall, their new CEO mentioned that the challenge ahead was "complicated and difficult", and then he smiled and said, "Luckily, I happen to enjoy complicated and difficult!" Having worked with him at a previous organisation, I know that to be true, he definitely relishes he challenge!    

As I have worked with a number of clients, it has become more and more evident that joy in the anticipated Outcome but also identifying sources of enjoyment in the process make all the difference to achieving sustainable success.

This isn't fluffy, "Live, laugh, love" stuff, it makes all the difference to teams, individuals and organisations pushing through and breaking through especially when the going gets tough or you are stuck. 

So, as you face challenges and opportunities at work in the coming weeks and months, it might help you to ask yourself and your team, "What excites me/us about achieving what I/we are seeking to do?" and then "What gives us some level of enjoyment even as we try and get there?"

The concluding passages of Paul's letter to the Corinthians include these famous words:

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

 

As Paul explains the implications of the facts of Jesus' resurrection for those who trust him, he breaks out into a song of joy. It is joy in Jesus' conclusive victory over the finality and destructiveness of death for all who follow him. It is the resurrection joy which is at the heart of the Easter message.***

Whether or not resurrection joy is something in which you believe, I hope that you enjoy a joyous Good Friday and Easter weekend and that, even if you're working for some or all of it, you're able to get some rest and spend some time doing things you enjoy with people who give you joy and to enjoy more clarity and joy at work as a result.

Wishing you a clearer week ahead and a very Happy Easter!

As ever,

Ranti

* - My emphasis 

** - When it comes to guru status, my beard game continues to be weak

***- If you want to know more, I can heartily recommend reading any of Matthew, Luke or John's accounts of Jesus' death and resurrection. They are all short as is the wonderfully clear Easter - The Greatest News by trained journalist, Paul Williams (no relation). I have a couple of spare copies knocking about if you'd like one.