I just love being a coach and helping my clients gain a different perspective, especially when they are getting in their own way.
I’m working with a highly motivated corporate client who has engaged me to help her become a better leader. As is always the case, even when I’m engaged to help someone within a specific area, I coach the whole person, not just on the business aspects. After all, we are a whole person, not just the person who shows up for work.
A common theme is that she’s working so many hours, she doesn’t have time for the rest of her life. She has a young daughter who she believes that she’s short changing, not only by the number of hours she works but even when she’s home, her mind is still on the job. We’ve talked about ways she can leave work at work so she can enjoy being with her daughter, i.e., be fully present with her daughter. One tip to help you be fully present is to focus on one of your senses. Notice what you’re seeing, hearing, feeling or smelling in the moment and be grateful for that moment.
At any rate, my client feels as if she’s always behind on her emails in spite of the fact that she’s created systems to filter her incoming emails and created blocks of time to respond to them. (I’ve encouraged her to never check emails the first hour of the day. That’s responding to others’ issues and can zap you of energy to focus on your more strategic projects. Block out that first hour of the day and work on those initiatives that are most important (the “Big Rocks”) and then respond to emails.)
As we were talking, it became apparent that having her emails be well written and easily understood was very important to her and she was spending an inordinate amount of time making sure that they were “perfect”. I challenged her to define what “perfect” is and determine who gets to decide when that objective has been achieved.
Hmmm…..!
At the same time, I asked her if she knew of anyone who had been promoted because they wrote great emails. I think you know what the answer is.
We focused on her bigger vision for her life and the aspect of her job as a leader that she loves the most and guess what? Emails weren’t even on the list! She’s experimenting with different approaches so she can focus on what she loves the most which is mentoring and coaching her employees to be the best they can be. That’s the payoff for spending less time on her emails and more time on people development—a win win all around.
I’ll keep you posted on what’s showing up in her life in future blogs. I’ll also share some tips on creating more joy in your life by letting go of the need to be perfect in future blogs.
“The very worst thing in the world is to do very well what need not be done at all.”
– Peter Drucker
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