“All men dream, but not all equally. Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake to find it was all vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, and make things happen.”
(T E Lawrence)
This was originally posted on www.YourChangingDirection.com in 2009
“Examine what is said, not who speaks”
(Arabian proverb)
While I was in London last week I took the opportunity to wander over to see a performance art project that is taking place on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square.
Originally built in 1841 the 4th plinth never had its intended statue insitue as funds ran out before the project was completed. Now it houses more temporary projects.
July 6thsaw the first of 2,400 people step onto that plinth as part of Antony Gormley’s 100 day living monument, “One & Other”. Trafalgar Square is probably better known as an area that is normally visited for its monuments to royalty and generals. This project allows a different person to take centre stage, so to speak, every hour 24 hours a day until 14th October.
As the project has gone on there have been many many different approaches to how those participating choose to spend their hour. There have been people campaigning for a cause that they believe passionately in, there havebeen those who entertained with readings, performance or interactive games of bingo with the surrounding crowd. One plinther dressed as a mime artist finished his hour with lots of tears and champagne after he proposed to his girlfriend and she said yes.
Topics have been emotional, passionate, entertaining and light hearted. Certainly from what I saw the project appears to be attracting attention from those passing by and had a small crowd who were watching and interacting. It’s also possible to watch via the internet. To see a live feed of the current occupant visit http://www.oneandother.co.uk/
Prior to their hour future “plinthers” have spent various amounts of time pondering how they were use their hour. In fact you can read some of their comments online and in various interviews.
So how would you spend your hour? The draw to be a plinther is now closed but if you had that opportunity, even if you found it scary, funny or just plain bizarre what would you do? If you had a message what would you want it to be?
Mahatma Gandhi when he was asked if he had a message for his people “My life is my message.”
If you were to take centre stage today and your life is your message what would it say?
I know that when I first heard that question there was lots of worthy things I’d have liked it to say. However, honestly, a more accurate message would have been; get close to getting opportunities then get scared and hide in the background for a bit longer.
This week I invite you to play with the question if your life was your message what would it be?
If it’s not what you would like it to be you could “beat yourself up about it” or you could bear in mind that firstly it helps with any communication if you first know what you want to communicate.
What would you like the message of your life to be?
If you’veever written a speech or some other form of communication it’s quite possible that you went through a few different versions with various tweaks and possibly major rewrites before you got a really clear message. So if you feel that your life doesn’t currently reflect what you want it to, you can always take action to get that message more aligned with what you want.
What is one huge step you could choose to take it closer to what you want?
What is one tiny tweak that would take you closer to what you want your life to be about?
Have a wonderful week
Love
Jen
“Do what I do, dear boy – amaze yourself with your own daring!”
(Sir Laurence Olivier)
“The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists.”
(Charles Dickens)
“The creation of a thousand forests is on one acorn.”
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
In this week’s guest post, Liz Scott returns to discuss a framework she utilises in her coaching.
By Liz Scott
My husband is a plant. Now that I know it makes it easier to communicate. I don’t mean that he’d look good in a herbaceous border and I don’t mean he’s some heavy duty machinery – no my husband is a plant of the ideas kind.
For those of you familiar with Belbin (a psychometric testing technique to determine team roles) then you’ve probably heard of some of the names of the 9 different team roles. Names like ‘plant,’ ‘shaper,’ or ‘specialist’ are to name a few. I discovered that I was a strong ‘implementer.’ In the world of Belbin this means I’m great at organising, scheduling and getting things done.
When we both went on the course to become Belbin facilitators we had no idea that our marriage would also benefit as we began to understand how and why we interact and behave in the way we do.
For example when we have a dinner party – I’ll write lists, write timings of what goes in which oven and generally plan how to get the house ready (typical traits of an ‘implementer’). Once this is done I feel I can switch off as it’s all under control. My husband by contrast will wake up in the morning and say something like, “I think I’ll make a Pavlova tonight,” (plants typically come up with spontaneous ideas) and he’ll nip out get the ingredients and whip up a meringue completely ignoring all the other things that have to be done that day.
Now when we have a dinner party I fully expect my husband to have some great last minute ideas and I’m quite relaxed about it. He might not be as great at organising and planning as I am– but he does have some great ideas… and his Pavlova’s are delicious!
Since Belbin we’re much more able to laugh at our differences rather than make an issue out of them. Indeed Belbin is very much about playing team members to their strengths rather than trying to get them to improve their weaknesses. If you’ve got a great goal keeper then you don’t need to play them as a striker to improve their goal-scoring skills. Keep in them in goal and appreciate what they bring to the team.
Indeed as a result of this Belbin training we’ve not only really begun to appreciate each others’ strengths but also those of people around us. This is an excellent philosophy to adapt to life. What would it be like if instead of focussing on someone’s weakness that we instead fully appreciated their strengths? And taking it a step further, what would it be like if instead of focussing on your own ‘faults’ you became clear on your own strengths?
As a coach it can be really helpful to utilise a framework like “Belbin” to help explain strengths and weaknesses to a client. When you work with a client using Belbin it can ensure the conversation is very non-threatening about potential vulnerabilities. It can also help clients to really understand and appreciate the strengths of others too.
About the Author/Further Resources
Liz Scott is the co-founder of Coaching Connect. Coaching Connect brings coaches together to share experience and expertise both on the web and at popular coaching events. Meet like minded coaches at the next Coaching Connect events Develop your Talents with Johnny Tenn and Coaching Connect Autumn
To read Liz’s previous guest post “Listening” click here.
“Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions.”
(Earl Gray Stevens)
“Put your future in good hands – your own.”
(anon)