The Seven Wisdoms - WISDOM FIVE By Fran Fisher, MCC The Launchpad - The Coaching Tools Company Blog

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The Seven
Wisdoms WISDOM FIVE | By
Fran Fisher, MCC
 July 5, 2019
 Reading Time: 2 min 50 sec
This week we continue a series of articles
by Fran Fisher MCC, based on her book,
"Calling Forth Greatness, Seven Coaching
Wisdoms for Transforming Your Life".
Fran is a Master Certi ed Coach, Author,
Speaker, and Champion for Learning,
Growth and Transformation. In this
series, Fran shares her passion for
bringing the empowerment philosophy
and principles of coaching into everyday
living. Her vision is a world where the
coaching approach is woven into our
fabric of life!
WISDOM FIVE - Be
Committed to
Transformation
/
 Feed a man a sh and he
eats for a day. Teach a man to
sh and he eats for a lifetime.
Maimonides
The goal of the coaching process is a
transformational experience for the
client, not just to ' x' their presenting
issue. This is based on the ' shing
principle' that Maimonides shared with
us thousands of years ago.
Typically, a client will bring an issue to be
explored or resolved. Coaches know that
the presenting 'issue' is rarely the real or
underlying problem. And coaches also
know that exploring for that deeper issue
will provide a greater possibility for a
transformation of the 'eating for a
lifetime' kind vs. problem solving at the
surface level and helping our clients 'eat
for a day'.
"Transformation" in the coaching context
means that the client has shifted their
relationship to their issue. For example,
they now see the problem from a
di erent perspective or they've accessed
a capacity that frees up their ability to
move forward. Most often this shift is
from a victim relationship with their issue
to an empowered relationship with their
issue.
In this context transformation =
empowerment: teaching clients to learn
how to sh for themselves vs. giving
them a sh.
/
 The ultimate goal of a
coaching conversation is to
assist the client in accessing
their innate wisdom and
building their capacities for
resolving their own issues going
forward. Fran Fisher
A Coaching Example
To illustrate this point, let's say that my
executive client, Robert, is having an
ongoing problem at work causing him a
great deal of stress and impacting his job
performance.
I ask him to relate his feelings about the
situation in a metaphor. He indicates the
situation feels like he is on the deck of
the Titanic, and he's aware that the ship
is sinking. He feels compelled to
rearrange the deck chairs, but he keeps
getting pulled away to help with the
lifeboats. I explore the metaphor further
with him. So we imagine I am standing
on the deck of that sinking ship with him,
and he indicates that rearranging the
deck chairs is his immediate priority.
Dealing with the presenting issue
If I align with him at this presenting or
'surface level' of his issue, then together
we roll up our sleeves and rearrange the
deck chairs to his satisfaction. The chairs
are lined up in the number of rows and
at the angles he desires. The nished
product is aesthetically pleasing for him.
We have done a piece of work together
and we have accomplished a result. My
client is feeling a sense of
accomplishment and satisfaction - shortterm.
But what about long-term?
/
That's right. There is, of course, an
underlying issue that has not been
addressed. The ship is still going down.
And we don't know what is driving his
need to rearrange those chairs rather
than helping with the lifeboats.
Exploring underneath the issue
So, committed to supporting my client in
shifting his relationship to his problem at
work, I invite him to explore underneath
his presenting issue.
Now my client will have the opportunity
for shifting his point of view, raising his
self-awareness, learning more about
himself and building on capacities that
will positively impact all areas of his life not just the presenting situation.
How speci cally might I do that?
I ask Robert, "What's important to you
about rearranging the deck chairs?"
Let's imagine he says, "What's important
to me is having orderliness." Then I ask,
"If you had that orderliness, how would
your life be di erent?" And he responds,
"I would experience freedom from
distractions and less stress."
In a real-life coaching conversation, we
would now step out of the metaphor and
I would invite him to explore how this
awareness connects with his current
work situation, and what he can learn
about himself. Now we are addressing
the deeper 'want' - the underlying 'issue'.
/
 Bless those who challenge
us to grow, to stretch, to move
beyond the knowable, to come
back home to our elemental
and essential nature. Bless
those who challenge us, for
they remind us of doors we
have closed and doors we have
yet to open. Navajo saying
So, how can you explore
underneath the issue?
An e ective way coaches can help clients
achieve a deeper, more lasting change is
by inviting them to explore for the
importance, meaning, or motivation for
what they want. This opens up access to
their essential self and to greater selfawareness. Clients begin to feel a sense
of freedom to make more empowering
choices rather than feeling restricted,
stuck, powerless, or a victim of their
circumstances.
The deepest "wants" my clients then
reveal to themselves are often core
values, such as organization in Robert's
case. Core values could also be integrity,
partnership, freedom, clarity, inner
peace, well-being, harmony, fairness,
trust, etc.
Then from this level of awareness we can
explore how to honor those values more
fully. The opportunity is now for the
client to empower themselves forward.
 "Do you know that you are
a more e cacious voice for
transformation in the world
than any book, teaching,
philosophy or religion? In fact,
you are the only dynamic point
of transformation that exists!"
Paul Tuttle
/
Wrap-up
Being a catalyst for transformation starts
with your commitment to living true to
who you are at your essence.
And being a catalyst for transformation
in your relationships calls for 1) a
commitment to being an empowering
in uence and 2) being authentically
curious vs. being judgmental.
Learn to ask curious questions like,
"What's important to you about that?" or
"What does X mean for you?". This helps
the other person access their deeper
want, and raise their self-awareness of
what is driving their choices or
behaviour.
How to Bene t from this
Wisdom:
As you read each of The Seven Wisdoms
in this article series, you'll be asked to
re ect on how you can apply these
principles in your own life or work.
Choose one way that works for you, and
apply it to each principle. You could keep
a speci c notebook for this process or
simply use your journal.
Here are a few ways you can
bene t more deeply from this
wisdom:
Your Calling Forth Greatness
Inquiry: "How am I contributing
to profound, long-lasting positive
change for myself and others?"
Re ect on this Calling Forth
Greatness Inquiry for a day or a
week. Notice what shows up; notice
the impact; notice what you learn.
Visualize how your life and the lives
of others around you could be
empowered using this Coaching
Wisdom.
Using this Coaching Wisdom as your
focus; Journal around your learning
/
or design your own inquiries to
deepen your learning.
Work with a support buddy; share
your challenges, progress, and
learning; celebrate your results!
"There can be no more important task in
our life than to get in touch with our own
inner self, the source of all Being. The
deepest self within each of us is the Self of
the whole universe, and it's also the source
of all healing and transformation." Deepak
Chopra, MD
Watch for Fran's Next Monthly Article,
WISDOM SIX: "Call Forth Greatness"
© 2019 Fran Fisher, MCC
Contributing Author: Fran
Fisher, Master Certi ed Coach, MCC. is a
champion for the power of coaching and
its transformational impact in the world.
She is one of the pioneers of the
coaching profession and a founding
executive board member of the ICF. She
specializes in mentoring coaches for the
MCC Level. Connect with Fran on
LinkedIn
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/fran sher),
Facebook
(https://www.facebook.com/fran shercoach/)
and check out her free teleclasses
(https://fran shercoach.com/teleclasses/).
If this article resonates with you, get the
whole book: Calling Forth Greatness, Seven
Coaching Wisdoms for Transforming Your
Life, available here on Amazon
(https://www.amazon.com/CallingForth-Greatness-CoachingTransformingebook/dp/B06XRKHYMY) in both Kindle
and Paperback formats.
/
If you liked this article on Fran Fisher's
Seven Wisdoms, you may also like:
The Seven Wisdoms - WISDOM
FOUR
(https://www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com/theseven-wisdoms-wisdom-fourspeak-empowering-language-byfran- sher-mcc/) - Speak
Empowering Language by Fran
Fisher, MCC
Aha! Moments - Exercise 1
(https://www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com/ahamoments-exercise-1-workingwith-imagery-to-go-deeper-witha-client-by-marcy-nelsongarrison/) - Working with Imagery
to Access Intuition & Go Deeper
with Clients by Marcy NelsonGarrison
Sample Values List!
(https://www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com/products/samplevalues-list-coaching-tool/) (Free
Tool)
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(https://www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com/category/coachingelements/motivation/), Raising Awareness
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