Monday, July 1, 2019

The Overnight Failure Is As Fake As The Overnight Success

It's been said that there's no such thing as an overnight success. I tell my coaching clients there's no such thing as an overnight failure either.  The outward signs of "failure" -- like financial ruin, toxic relationships, business dissolution, or scandal -- can appear overnight.  However, typically there is a series of actions, in-actions, and decisions that lead to those overt outcomes.  Many times, drastically dreadful results come from continually crummy choices.  As a coach I guide people through a process of discovery. They discover how their decisions have led them to where they are. Additionally, we discuss actions and decisions that could help them get where they want to go.  

Here's one such process:  
Coach: "describe your current situation - something that's concerning you a -- good or bad."
Client: "I was recently promoted to supervisor at a tire manufacturer." Coach:  "Let's rewind 12 months.  What were you doing 12 months ago to prepare you for where you are now?"
Client: "I wasn't doing anything special.  I was just showing up to work and doing my job."
Coach:  "Did you tell anyone you wanted to be a supervisor?  Did your boss just come to you and offer you the position?"
Client:  "I told my boss during my last performance review that I was looking to get promoted.  He told me some areas I needed to work on to be considered for a management role."
Coach:  What did you do with that feedback?
Client:  "I took some training classes."
Coach:  "How did you apply what you learned?"
Client:  "I volunteered to take on a big project and offered to lead our team meetings."
Coach: "Great. Anything else you were doing a year ago?"
Client:  "I sought out a mentor."  
Coach:  "How did that work out for you?"
Client:  "Great.  She taught me a better way to handle conflict and build relationships."


The coach might then ask what the client was doing 6 months ago, and 3 months ago and so on.

You can usually backtrack and figure out some things you've done to contribute to a success you've had.  Likewise, you can backtrack and identify ways you've contributed to situations that didn't go well.  

If you can stay focused and be honest with  yourself, you can think through this process on your own.  If not, find an experienced, certified coach and start talking through your actions, their impacts and subsequent lessons.  They could help you find new behaviors that could lead to better results.