Stuck
My writing hit a fallow period a few months ago, possibly as I’d exhausted my academic capacity over the preceding two years with my endeavours at Hult Ashridge.
The simple fact is that I was stuck. And it’s really interesting to unpack how any of us reacts when we feel that way.
“There is no route forward.”
“I have run out of ideas.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“I am at a loss…”
It’s all just interference, isn’t it?
One of the joys of being a coach is that, when one remembers to, there exists the option of reverting to coaching techniques. Back to basics…what do you do when a coachee is stuck, or thinks they are? Two different things by the way.
As a first step, and this really is fundamental coaching/supervision thinking, be interested. Choose to find the ‘stuckness’ intriguing: what is it telling us? What can we learn or understand from it? Lean in, if you’ll forgive the cliché. Don’t shy away from it.
This is what I’m doing with this blog. I’m trying to be interested in the fact that I was struggling to find any inspiration for writing. And here I am…writing.
It strikes me that sharing some of the steps to unlock ‘stuckness’ might be useful for you. What does a coach do after being interested in the stuck situation?
Firstly, try to unleash the coachee’s thinking. Your/their ideas are the best ideas.
Secondly, use structured thinking to question the coachee in service of their objectives. The last time I did this the questions ran to twenty or more. Here are four as examples:
Have you run out of answers, or have you exhausted your supply of easy answers?
Can you think of someone who has overcome a similar obstacle? What did they do/what do you imagine they would do?
What exactly is coming between you and your goals?
If you only took one step in the direction to which you are aspiring, what would it be?
Some writers say “just write”. That’s what I decided to do. And here it is:
My latest blog.