Managing Change - Executive Coaching and Leadership Development
  • Home
  • Development
    • Executive Coaching
    • Leadership Coaching & Development
    • Psychometrics and 360 Feedback
    • Programmes >
      • Leadership Development Programmes
  • Transitions
    • Career Coaching
    • Parental Leave Coaching >
      • Maternity Coaching
      • Paternity Coaching
    • Outplacement >
      • The Programmes
  • Well-being
  • About Us
  • Our Clients
    • Testimonials
  • Contact Us
  • Our Posts

Can You Really Be Anything You Want to Be?

22/9/2014

0 Comments

 
I can’t get through a working day without receiving emails, tweets and advertising messages about ‘living your dream’, ‘be whatever you want to be’, ‘let nothing hold you back’ and so on.

Recently a sports coach who had suggested to one of his young football players that he would never be "equally great with both feet because he wasn't born with that talent", was severely criticised by another coach. Her position was that anything can be taught and achieved with the right support and coaching.

This whole notion of “be great at anything” is troubling and seems to be on the increase. It is an example of the self help industry hijacking bits from the positive psychology movement and taking it off into another dimension. Everything is possible, everything is positive and everything is achievable providing you have the right mindset. This is neither true nor a healthy approach. Its downside is that if you don’t achieve your impossible dreams you are at fault. [I am reminded of a story from the US in which a cancer sufferer had turned in desperation to a new age therapy in search of a cure, had ditched the conventional medical treatment as instructed, and subsequently died. In the furore that followed, her husband was told that the reason the new age treatment had failed was because she hadn't put enough faith into it...]

Even with the best coaching in the world I would never have beaten Serena Williams at tennis. I wasn’t born with the appropriate potential (physiology or base talent) which could be developed sufficiently to reach those particular heights. And that's fine; we are all different. When we overly fasten onto the ‘nurture’ side of the situation in this way we miss the fact that the ‘nature’ side is pretty critical too. We are all born with an inherited series of characteristics (such as our physiognomy, base IQ, etc) which give us certain potential. With the right support and development we can realise that potential and be the best we can be. That is what coaching is all about: effective coaching is built on uncovering and developing potential – not turning you into someone else or seducing you into thinking that with the right financial investment or effort you can be anything you choose. Our young football player may never be the best “two-footed” player but he can improve his feet skills and be the best he can be.

​It seems unpopular to say the least, but we simply can’t be anything we want and to suggest that we can, particularly to children and young adults, is unfair and misleading. A life just spent chasing impossible dreams of achievement or perfection is not a fulfilling one. To be clear, I am not saying don’t dream or don’t follow your dreams, I am saying add a middle piece – 'sense check' your dreams, get realistic by translating them into stretching, but not impossible, goals. Aim high, don’t aim impossible: and then work smartly to achieve those dreams…
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Anxiety
    Appraisal
    Authentic Leadership
    Breaking Through
    Career Coaching
    Careers
    Coaching Psychology
    Communication
    CVs
    Diversity And Inclusion
    Emotional Intelligence
    Employee Engagement
    EQ
    Executive Coaching
    Feedback
    Feedback Culture
    Imposter Syndrome
    Job Interviews
    Job Search
    Lawyer Survey
    Leadership
    Leadership Development
    Leadership Development Programme Model
    Learning And Development
    Management Development
    Managing Change
    Maternity Coaching
    Meetings
    Motivation
    Parental Leave
    Performance
    Positive Psychology
    Psychometrics
    Redundancy
    Resilience
    Returning To Work
    Strengths
    Stress
    Transactional Analysis
    Women Leaders
    Working Mums

    Archives

    May 2022
    February 2022
    October 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    RSS Feed

Picture


Managing Change (Cambridge) Limited

t: 07711 503382      e: enquiries@managingchange.org.uk

Copyright © 2016 - 2022 Managing Change (Cambridge) Limited. All Rights Reserved.

GDPR Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • Development
    • Executive Coaching
    • Leadership Coaching & Development
    • Psychometrics and 360 Feedback
    • Programmes >
      • Leadership Development Programmes
  • Transitions
    • Career Coaching
    • Parental Leave Coaching >
      • Maternity Coaching
      • Paternity Coaching
    • Outplacement >
      • The Programmes
  • Well-being
  • About Us
  • Our Clients
    • Testimonials
  • Contact Us
  • Our Posts