Distinguished Wisdom
Stuart Foster
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Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to be a coach/mentor on an internal work class. The objective for the participants was to help them to develop a plan to reach senior technical leadership positions at IBM; a position called a “Distinguished Engineer”. It was a privilege to be a coach on the class particularly as I don’t hold the "Distinguished Engineer" title myself. My 30 years of workplace mentoring coupled with my most recent external coaching qualifications provided me the opportunity to shape different perspectives for the participants.
What struck me more than anything else was the value that space and time bring. Our instructor and personal friend, Jamie Wade, superbly created a safe place enabling the participants to explore new angles and personal viewpoints. And, in addition, just taking 2 days away from the stresses and deadlines of a typical work environment proved hugely beneficial for the participants to simply "put me first".
Over the course of the 2 days I observed different parts of people’s brains being ignited. I assert that most professionals working for a technology company have their “Left-Logical” brain engaged for the majority of their worktime As the 2 days progressed I was able to observe many of the participants firing up their “Right-cReative” brains as they re-imagined propositions and communication options. And, dare I say, in some examples, connections were made between right and left brain thinking to allow new wisdom to flourish. Rather than a typical "what's next on my to-do list" approach, I started to see a "what's the next wise step" way of thinking grow within the group. It was uplifting to see.
And, this is the power of the coach/coachee or mentee/mentor relationship. A skilled coach should create an environment of trust … of space and time, where the coachee can explore new thinking in a safe, logical and creative space, and where left and right brain get equal amounts of “brain time” for new wisdom to grow.
So, here’s my question.
When are you going to take time out with your mentor to find your new wisdom?
Senior Program Architect, Advisory Services, at Salesforce.com
5 年Nice one Stuart. I wish I had this kind of coaching 30 years ago. But 30 years ago it was all about left-brain.