A favorite coaching client wondered recently why she can’t be content with her job. She works for a good company, enjoys her coworkers, has an accommodating schedule. Sounds great, right?
She wondered why she is so restless. So bored. Why can’t she just buckle down and be happy. Particularly in this shitty economy.
Listening to her, I was reminded of a lovely man I once dated. He was a great guy, but he wasn’t the right one. I tried to ignore that little whisper of discontent for a long, long time; tried to will myself to be happy. (No, this was not my husband.)
My client’s current role feels like the wrong guy.
She can continue to try to ignore that whisper that she should be doing something else. Maybe the whisper will eventually give up and be quiet. We wondered what would happen if she listened to that whisper instead.
Her coaching homework: to find out the application deadline for a professional certification in a completely different field that she has thought about for years, but never followed through on.
She decided to start listening to the whisper.
Maximize Your Career in Your Current Organization
From a University of Washington Professional and Continuing Education webinar: Prospective clients sometimes ask me how I have the credibility to coach senior executives in industries I know nothing about. Challenging question, right? So I have a choice here: I can answer in a way that risks sounding defensive, talking about my experience and my degrees. I like to do something really unexpected instead.
I like to talk about knots.
