Untapped Potential

After we’ve all thrashed around a bit, I guess what we can all agree on is however much of our potential we are delivering, there is more to come. We all have a sense that we could be achieving more; giving more of ourselves and all the passion, enthusiasm and sheer depth of capability that we possess. The other thing we instinctively sense about our potential, is that we don’t need to tap into much more to give a step change – the sense that another 5% could transform our confidence, our skills, our performance, our achievements. We might be working as hard as we can, but we could probably all be working smarter. So what is stopping us?

When we are under pressure, the easy place to go to answer the question of what is stopping us deliver more of ourselves into our work, is to list the external factors that are holding us back. And these factors are of course very real on a day to day basis. However, when we get ourselves into a fixed belief that only when certain things happen outside of us will we be able to fulfil our potential, we have entered a dangerous zone.

9 times out of 10, when people come and ask us as their manager what they should do, they know the answer. They certainly know where to look for the answer, even if the solution is not obvious. How inefficient is that? Now I hear you saying that your people don’t just come and ask you. No they probably don’t – they are far too subtle for that, nevertheless they do know how to put you in a position where you will give them the answer.

So the real question is why do they come and ask?

Yes, you’ve guessed it – maybe it’s more to do with us than it is to do with them. The reality is that people come and ask because we reward that behaviour. It’s a habit they’ve learned. Maybe they are seeking reassurance, or maybe they’re fearful of getting it wrong, but why would that be the case? Unless of course their experience of us is that we can be predatory at times? Us? Surely not……

Our habits have created their habits. If we want them to develop new habits, we have to start with ourselves. Blaming them is easy and often quite enjoyable, but the answer is to look at the way we manage them. If we genuinely want our people using their initiative, thinking for themselves and solving their own problems then we need to change the way we manage them – we need to become genuine Coaches.

We must liberate ourselves from the belief that we know what is best for others; that we help people best by taking decisions for them, and that we care for them best by exercising responsibility on their behalf – paternalism may have noble motivations, but it creates dependent children not empowered adults.

Once we understand all this, we are freed from having to rely on our old habits, and we gain permission to behave as a Coach, however unskilled or clumsy we may be at it. The purpose of coaching is to realise people’s full potential whilst holding them accountable for results. The process of coaching is to help people to come to a position of total clarity and maximum commitment for what they need to do. The by-product of coaching is the transfer of your knowledge and experience in the process.

It may be daunting to think about starting to coach people. However if we think of coaching as simply a leadership intervention – a one off act that can make a real difference - we may just give it a try.