The Power of Metaphors (and why I use them)

As an executive coach, I’ve spent nearly 20 years working with highly successful leaders who’ve hit a bump in the road. My job is to help them get over that bump by clarifying their goals and figuring out a way to reach them so that hopefully they can lead with a little more ease.?

I work with some of these leaders on my Harvard Business Review Presents Coaching Real Leaders podcast, where I take you behind the closed doors of real coaching sessions. I also host the Coaching Real Leaders Community, where I’m joined by an amazing group of leaders and coaches who come together to take a deeper dive into CRL episodes and their career issues.?

And in my Coaching Real Leaders newsletter, I share takeaways from the many coaching conversations I’ve had over the years. Whether you are a coach or a leader, my hope is that this will help you more easily navigate the challenges you and/or those you coach face.?

If you’ve caught any of my Coaching Real Leaders episodes, you may have noticed—I love to use metaphors when I coach. (If you haven’t listened yet, what are you waiting for? :) The specifics of the metaphors are less important than why I use them.

Take my recent coaching conversation with Charles, for example. (This is the How Do I Become An Intrapreneur? episode.) Charles is super ambitious and trying to figure out how to navigate what’s next in his career. But Charles can also really get ahead of himself and talk himself into circles. As a result, he finds it hard to break through the noise and get clear on what he really wants. And it creates a frenetic energy which gets in the way of clear thinking. So I thought—how can I create an anchor to simplify his thought process and move him from frenetic to focus. For Charles, the answer was metaphors.?

So why do I love a good metaphor? Sometimes when we’re so wrapped up in the details of our specific situations, it can be difficult to see the bigger picture and a way forward. Metaphors take us from our analytical brains that struggle to understand big concepts to something simple and concrete. They help simplify what feels like a daunting, complex issue. Check out Melissa Burkley’s article, Why Metaphors Are Important, in Psychology Today.

In Charles’ case, I used a music metaphor by asking him, “What is the soundtrack to your mindset?” His response: heavy metal. In that moment, he became aware of how he was getting in his own way, that he needed a more flexible, focused, deliberate, and even slower cadence to his career. It’s no wonder that when I asked him what soundtrack to his approach would be most helpful for him moving forward, he chose jazz. John Coltrane to be exact. The metaphor itself is not the gem here. It’s the metaphor’s ability to help Charles see a different way of approaching the issue, and therefore, move forward in a new way. That’s the power of the metaphor.?

But not all metaphors are helpful. Bill Taylor unpacks Why Sports Metaphors Are a Terrible Metaphor for Business in Harvard Business Review. He says, “The logic of competition and success are completely different,” arguing that, “ For one team to win, every other team must lose.” A successful business isn’t so preoccupied with the simplistic idea of winners and losers. Is it a garden? A journey? A musical composition? Getting more specific about what metaphor is right for you will help you gain better insight. Bottomline: choose your metaphors wisely.?

I often ask my coaching clients: If you had to come up with a metaphor for your leadership or career, what would it be?

• Is your career a garden to be cultivated or a battle to be won??
• What does the metaphor you choose say about how you approach your career, your life and those around you??
• Does your metaphor align with what you truly want for yourself moving forward??
• If not, what new metaphor do you choose??

I’m curious—how would you respond to these same questions? What metaphor most resonates with you and why? Share with me in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.?

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Can’t wait to connect with you again. Until then, be well.