Tenet

If such a thing is possible, my coaching practice has arguably, at times, been over-supervised over the last few years. It was certainly examined in depth and from every conceivable angle as I worked towards my coaching supervision qualification at the beginning of the decade.

In contrast, I realised a couple of years ago that it was a very long time since I had practised what I preach and worked with an executive coach. I was really rather excited to land upon this idea, albeit one which was literally staring me in the face, as the latest stage in my continuing professional development.

A coach being coached could mean even more supervision and so the coaching contract needed to be precisely formed. My choice of coach was going to be of paramount importance, not least as the person needed to be comfortable with the potential interference created by feeling scrutinised by a fellow coach – that needed to be an element of the contract too.

I chose well, based upon a recommendation. The first session was a remarkable thing – something in our chemistry led me to dive in really deeply and I think it’s fair to say that both of us were slightly stunned by how much progress we made in our first 75 minutes together. It was almost a dance between two seasoned coaches. An exhilarating one.

One of the ideas which emerged was based upon the fact that I was starting to feel unshackled by my age. Instead of fretting about my acceleration towards 60, I had already spotted that in some ways my age was liberating.

And so we set an intention, a guiding principle, a personal tenet* for the coming years. I would choose to be ‘carefree yet not careless’ in life and in how I run my company. This could become the leitmotif for the next phase in the evolution of my business.

There is something rather profound about stating an intent, in telling the universe what one desires. Being clear about it, keeping it simple, ensuring it, the intention, is unswervingly positive & realistic, and working so that it is a value, a guiding light, seems to me to be deeply developmental.

So it, being carefree, became a criterion against which I judged my every step. I was conscious about aligning decisions with it. It reinforced my already strong boundaries.

And, as someone who previously was maybe over-cautious in how he developed business and alert to maintaining an image which was, how can I put this, very ‘professional services’, I started to let Tony be Tony (so to speak).

Existing clients noticed it.

Some potential clients started to be intrigued.

One potential client, someone I already knew well, asked me over lunch how this maxim played out in my business life.  They laughed uproariously when I replied, with a twinkle in my eye, “it plays out like this: are you going to give me any business before one of us dies?” (As an aside, they have and, for the avoidance of doubt, this is not a challenge I plan on repeating. It was situationally appropriate.)

Most importantly I revitalised one of the key business objectives I identified when I first founded my company: “be happy!”

Two years on: I don't think I have ever felt so content professionally and I am carrying myself with less anxiety in life. I’ve also just turned in the best financial results in the history of my company. I appear to be in a liberated/unfettered phase of my career.

So, there’s a lesson here. It’s an interplay between ‘how powerful coaching can be’ plus ‘being intentional about a clear guiding principle’ plus ‘hold yourself to account for it’ plus ‘relaxing into a state of higher performance’ (regardless of how you define that word).

As for me, I’m about to embark on a carefree summer. May you have one of those too.

Tony

Note

* There are variations in the precise usage & definition of the word ‘tenet’. The definition which I prefer, and which works for me in this context, is “a core belief or principle which you hold dear and which guides your actions, reflects your values and helps shape your attitudes.”