Last weekend I did my Level 1 coaching certification in a 3 day intensive. It was brutal and I am aware of just how much cramming information like that doesn't necessarily work to become well educated. However, with my desire to expand my repertoire professionally and also to align my knowledge with best practices, it seemed like the best option.
As a part of the journey over the 3 days, I was reminded that a coach is not a teacher but a mirror. Creating a safe space for an individual to share their truest emotions about their circumstance means relegating your own ego, suppressing your own ideas and allowing them to pursue their own.
In project management, this is my secret to managing stakeholders in a way to leverage their power in the project. When a PM primarily uses their own ideas to lead the team, they run the risk of alienating people working on the project. This is exactly the way I started my PM career. . .I worked as the idea generator and the fixer and I worked 100 hours a week, running circles around my team and alienating many of my stakeholders while wildly impressing others with my capacity. But, the end result had me burnt out and frustrated when all of the people on the project didn't see the work the way I did.
When I started out, I was leading and teaching my way through my projects instead of leveraging the gifts and skills of those around me to mirror and coach them. Coaching a team of stakeholders is a far better way to engage them as it naturally invites collaboration and that means ownership from others and less hours of my day spent running circles.
Are you coaching your team or teaching them? I’m learning that when I’m coaching in my projects, I have to REMEMBER THE ONLY IDEA SOMEONE LIKES MORE THAN your GREAT IDEA IS THEIR OWN IDEA!
Relegating my ego, day by day,
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