A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Winston Churchill
I recently had a conversation with a CEO who was having difficulty with a member of a Board of Directors he sits on. He had been having this problem with the other board member for almost a year and it was causing him considerable angst. Consequently, he sought my coaching and advice.
Opportunity to make a difference
What you can do to “pay it forward”
Our call was lengthy and my client went into how angry he was, not only at the situation itself, but that he’d let it go on for such a long time without cleaning it up. He kept putting other important matters ahead of this, when all he was really doing was avoiding the task at hand. This is very common. We all have issues that we put at the back of the line because we just don’t want to deal with them.
At the conclusion of the call he said, “Do you realize what a rock star you are?” I thanked him and told him that I thrive on the “opportunity to make a difference” in the lives of my clients. I get the most wonderful feeling from knowing that I affected difference in another’s life and/or business (These 2 areas usually go hand in hand). And I’m not here to pat myself on the back. He’s the one who did the work. He’s the one who came away from a difficult conversation with the knowledge that he would be able to have a conversation with this other person and come out the other side with a huge weight lifted. He’s the one who has a plan for how to handle the conversation. He’s the one with the hard work in front of him.
As a consultant and coach, I provide the listening, questions, and insights. My clients are the truly brave ones. It takes chutzpah and commitment to ask for help with problems in business and life. It takes courage and time to look at what is not working and put together a plan (and work the plan) to change and transform yourself and how you do business. Life takes work.
What’s the good news about all this? When you get to the other side of the work, you won’t believe the difference.
