It’s About WHO You Are as Much as WHAT You Do

We set up Goals and Strategic Plans for our organisations (albeit at a department/team level depending on where we sit in the hierarchy) which is about accomplishing tasks and actions. It’s tangible and there should be a physical outcome which can be measured e.g. a new IT system, increased sales of products, new products or services or new clients/customers. However as a leader it’s important to not just look at WHAT you will do but WHO you are as a person and set up a development strategy for yourself.

Your body is literally the vehicle through which you can do the tasks and actions so be mindful of how you will keep yourself healthy, stress free and in a high performing state (like an athlete).

How to manage stress to enable you to come back to a calm, easy breathing, clear thinking centre is one of the key Leadership Coaching exercises to work on with clients. It is similar to a martial arts fighter who remains focused throughout the fight, whose ability to win is based on his/her ability to be knocked by their opponent but to quickly recover his/her balance.

WHAT the fighter does is simply react in the instance. He/she could spend all their time deciding what moves to make but they cannot predict what their opponent will do, so this will not help them much. Instead they focus on WHO they are in the moment and what emotional and physical state they are in. Are they calm or overly anxious or angry? Are they sure of their ability in the moment or are they plagued by an inner voice that is distracting them? Is their body strong, chest and airways open to receive maximum oxygen into their system?

Leadership in this market is about WHO you are, how ‘fit’ is your psychological and emotional self? How balanced are you? Then you know that once you are in a high performing state, WHAT you do and the decisions you make in response to the world around you will lead to the best outcomes for yourself, your team and ultimately your organisation.

Rebecca Watson specialises in Coaching in London. She has worked with a wide variety of coaching organisations and leaders to empower them to deliver through high performing teams.