Watkinson Coaching

Watkinson Coaching List of Services: ?? In-House Performance Coaching (Fractional Services) ?? Career Development Programs ?? Mental Health Training ?? Mental Performance On-Line Program

Hey folks, stumbled upon this gem by Mike Watkinson on the fine line between training and coaching. It's a real eye-opener on how knowing when to apply each method can supercharge your goals or your team's goals! Love Mike's hybrid approach – it's all about empowering clients while keeping things practical. Definitely worth a read for anyone on the growth journey! Cheers! Agnes

The quote suggests that in our everyday experiences and observations, we tend to notice and remember instances of success more prominently than instances of failure.? Successes are often more visible and celebrated, whether in personal achievements or in the achievements of others, making them stand out in our minds.? As a result, we may develop a skewed perception of the likelihood of success, thus overestimating our own chances of succeeding or assuming that success is more common than it might actually be. Typically referred to as the “Survivorship Bias”, this cognitive heuristic can impact our decision-making and expectations, as we may be influenced by a more optimistic view of success due to its greater visibility and promotion. In Simon Sinek’s famous book Start with Why, he details numerous successful companies that have implemented a corporate vision - their “Why” - to motivate their team, and leaving us to believe that if we find our “Why”, we will share similar success. ?Survivorship Bias would require us to consider that for every example of success, there are countless others that have done the same activity and not seen any change.? How many companies have their purpose, vision statement, or corporate values written on an office wall; and yet, are unable to state them without looking? For the record, I believe that Simon’s message is great, it just misses a couple of key aspects! ?? So, how do we make progress and not “systematically overestimate our chances of succeeding”?? According to the quote’s author, Rolf Dobelli, we should revisit our previously unsuccessful projects and determine where the idea came from.? He admits it is “a sad walk”, but one worth making.? A strategy I’ve had success with is in assigning a “Devil’s Advocate”.? Imagine an innovation is put forward to the team (typically accompanied by anecdotal stories of how this innovation has worked for others, and not the times it failed). If everyone agrees to the new idea quickly, that should be a major red flag for us!? Asking someone to play Devil’s Advocate and poke holes in the suggestion can help to push back against Survivorship Bias.?Not to mention Authority Bias, Anchoring Bias, Availability Bias, Conformity Bias, amongst others!

Irvin Yalom is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist and has made significant contributions to the field of existential psychotherapy, an approach that focuses on exploring the fundamental aspects of human existence, including: freedom; responsibility; isolation; meaning; and, mortality.? With his quote, Dr. Yalom was referring to the existential concerns that greater self-awareness can bring:?questioning the meaning of life; facing the inevitability of death; and, analyzing the nature of existence as a whole. We can assume that anyone working to increase their level of self-awareness is doing so out of a desire for personal growth.? I love working with people like that, but when I do I like to ask the question: “Is there a downside to a continual pursuit of personal growth?”, with the most common answers being: - Never feeling good enough. - Not appreciating accomplishments. - Not being present, instead, always focusing on setting up the future. - Having to discover things about oneself that may be uncomfortable. Sure, there can be a downside to continual personal growth.?Let's take the so-called “Productivity Purgatory”, in which we do things solely to help us do more things in the future.? We go for walks in the morning not because we enjoy them, but so that we can get sunlight in our eyes, raise our dopamine levels, and reset our circadian rhythm.? Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate all that as well; but, sometimes doing the thing for the sake of doing the thing is enough, isn’t it? My personal answers to the question around continual personal growth are: - Introspection uncovers aspects of myself that are challenging and often uncomfortable.?My fears, biases, and the role my upbringing has played (plays) can weigh heavy. - Awareness of agency and the freedom to make choices is accompanied by the weight of responsibility. - The frustration when I fail to see improvement, or when I fall back to a previous undesirable behaviour that I thought I had overcome. ? So yes, self-awareness can “breed anxiety”, but what is the alternative?? Anxiety inducing or not, those in pursuit of greater self-awareness are doing the right thing for themselves, their future, and for those around them.?Seems like a worthy endeavour!?