JANUARY 2009

Views from the Other Side of the Mountain
by Sue Kidd

As I look at the mountain, I see huge boulders and a rocky path with many switchbacks, BUT if I walk around to the other side of the mountain, often I can find another path. A path a bit more open, with smaller rocks and more resting places. It still may be steep but this path seems possible, especially if I am willing to make changes in my route to the top.  I may even need to “walk to the other side of the mountain” to discover a newer and easier path.  

We can use this metaphor as we think about creating a plan for the success of a project.  Often, we see our problems as mountains in front of us; tall, steep, and forbidding and the longer we look at our problems from this view, the more forbidding they become. If we step back, refocus, and walk to that other side of the mountain, we can often see things a bit more clearly. We may even find that there are MANY paths to our success, when at first we were focusing on only one.

Emily, an elementary school counselor, was in charge of implementing a new curriculum with resistant staff and without much support from the principals of her schools. The mountain of resistance just kept growing, looming ever larger and taller in front of her.

Instead of trying to scale the boulders and struggling to mount the steep cliffs of the mountain, she stopped and refocused.  Stepping back, she was able to see the mountain for what it was: a climbable obstacle with infinite pathways to the top. 

Using her positive coaching skills, Emily was able to build and coach a team of supporting members, a team that was able to overcome the resistance of others in her schools.

She found that, by identifying her allies and building her team around them, she could use that team to help get around the boulders.  And, using the team’s eyes, she could identify her obstacles so she and her team could make their trek to the top of the mountain with ease.  

If all this sounds easy, it really is … so long as we are willing to choose allies that have the same end-point goals as we do; so long as our selected team is able to step back and refocus; so long as our team can identify the obstacles that lie in the way; and so long as the team is willing to explore other ways of achieving the goals we all desire. 

The skills and attitudes learned through coaching training can support our lives and our work and make us the true leaders that we are.

Sue Kidd is a Leadership Coach for Coaching School Results with a focus on using coaching skills to build successful teams.  To read more about Sue and the other CSR coaches, go to www.coachingschool.com and click on “coaches.”

*Leaders can learn more about the coaching process and extend skills to implement coaching by attending one of our upcoming seminars. See details below.

 

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