Applying Coaching tips from Viktor Frankl’s book?

“Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl, The composer was an inhabitant of four different concentration camps throughout WWII, including Auschwitz, and went through some of the most dreadful experiences. Struggling to survive, he recorded some empowering philosophies, which were subsequently compiled into this book.

This book has given me few wonderful thoughts.

What are the few points we can use in our coaching discussion?

• We always retain the ability to choose our Attitude: In the context where the team and team members are performing, whatever may be the background, it is up to us how do we take it. Sometimes, we have excellent work, sometimes we get rough treatment, occasionally our condition is not so satisfactory, etc, it is up to us, how to choose the day. I have seen many team members have many complains, about the people, process, system, etc. We required to support the team members by explaining this concept.

Frankl - “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts, comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.“

• There will be Suffering – It’s how we React to Suffering that Counts: As a team member, we have many challenges, no doubt about it, every project has substantial or small challenges. We require to identify meaning from our work. We require to encourage and support each other for the bigger cause and purpose. Bad leader, Bad team members, Bad ambient, Traffic issue, so many issues we also bring into the work. We require to coach our team members to handle various suffering.

Frankl - “Even though conditions such as lack of sleep, insufficient food, and various mental stresses may suggest that the inmates were bound to react in certain ways, in the final analysis, it becomes clear that the sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner decision and not the result of camp influences alone. Fundamentally then, any man can, under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him – mentally and spiritually.”

• The Power of Purpose: Every team and team members have their own big purpose. We require to figure out what we work out and why we work? By determining what impact they are going to create to the whole of mankind.

Frankl “The prisoner who had lost faith in the future – his future – was doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold; he let himself decline and become subject to mental and physical decay.”

• The True Test of Our Character is Revealed in How we Act: It is how to choose the condition and action upon it will make or break us. Every day is a moment to become better as an individual, as a leader at the office or at home. Our Scrum Daily stand up event, we can demonstrate, Sprint demo event, etc, we can demonstrate as a leader.

Frankl: “We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life and instead think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answers to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”

• Individuals can adapt and get adopted to completely any condition. 

Charles Darwin said: “It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.”

We required to persevere and gain from the current situation. 

• Individuals can resist the influence of even the most toxic environments — our actions are our own: It is up to us to establish our script. We require to find a way and meaning out of all the action
• Laughing and having a sense of humor will change the way people look at their life. Optimism is the best way to look into life. Always looking into such a way where we are asking, what best is happening and what can we learn from it. Bringing a sense of humor to create ambient and fun and nice work with.

I have chosen many lessons and incorporated them into my coaching diary so that I can coach my team members. When I need self coaching I read this book again and again.

While talking to team members, we can share some of these comments and inspire them to achieve a better job.