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 Andrea
Novakowski
Master Certified
Coach
Coaching for Executives, Small
Business Owners, Professionals
and
Managers
QUOTE
OF THE WEEK
"One kernel is felt in a
hogshead; one drop of water helps to swell the
ocean; a spark of fire helps to give light to the world.
None are too small, too feeble, too poor to be of
service. Think of this and act."
-
-Hannah More
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Become a True Agent
of Change |
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by Carla Kimball
Become a True Agent of Change by Asking
How You Can Be of Service Rather than How You Can
Demonstrate Your Expertise
I recently attended the Shambhala Institute
Authentic Leadership Conference and had a
conversation with another participant, Steve Ryman.
This past March, Steve spent time at Kufunda, a
small village in Zimbabwe. This country is in the midst
of a significant eroding of the social and economic
structures that hold a country together, including
the reality of an economy with an inflation rate of
1,200% in the last year, 70% unemployment and
30% of the population living with HIV/AIDs. In the
midst of this catastrophic social and cultural
devastation, Marianne Knuth, founder of the Kufunda
village, has a vision of creating a sustainable, thriving
village in which local human capital and natural
resources are used to create an extended community
of support.
Steve attended a two week "learning journey" to
immerse himself in the life of the village and then
continued on in a coaching capacity to provide the
community with some assistance in solving some of
their many seemingly insurmountable problems. New
to coaching, Steve found himself at a loss for how he
could be of assistance in the face of such
monumental crises.
Early one morning, Steve climbed a small hill near the
village to watch the sunrise. He was desperately
looking for answers to what he could possibly do to
help this community survive, thrive and become a
model for other sustainable "villages" in the world. As
the sun came up over the horizon Steve became
acutely aware of his place on the planet and realized
that he was just one "inadequate" human being
hoping to be of some small service to a village, a
country and a planet facing catastrophic odds. In
this moment, he realized that while he had very little
expertise, he did have a desire and an opportunity.
That morning he returned to the community with the
humble recognition that all he could do was to be of
service. Before others had awoken, he swept out the
kitchen floor and began to peel potatoes. His
contributions to the community in the subsequent
two weeks became invaluable.
The moment Steve moved from feeling like he had to
be an expert to looking for ways to be of service, he
became a profound agent of change. As speakers,
we often get caught up in the misconception that
the most important thing we can do is to
demonstrate our expertise. And, yes, the audience
comes because they recognize that we might have
some information and knowledge about the topic at
hand. But, if we present ourselves as the expert, we
then create a wall of separation that can throw us
into the paralyzing fear that so many people feel
about speaking in public. I refer to this self-absorbed
concern as the "arrows in" position. We are so
concerned about looking good and being perfect that
we isolate ourselves from the audience.
If instead, we focus our attention on how can we,
despite all our "inadequacies", simply be of service to
our audience, we drop into our humanity and humbly
connect with the human beings in our audience. I call
this position of connection our "arrows out" position.
And from this position, we can deeply affect our
audience and become powerful agents of
change.
Next time you have a presentation, ask
yourself: “How can I be of service to my audience?”
Rather than, “How can I demonstrate my expertise?”
©Carla Kimball, 2006, All rights reserved. As a
Public Speaking Coach, Carla Kimball offers classes,
workshops and coaching services focusing on
presence, confidence and authenticity.
www.riverways.com
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Coaching Call To
Action |
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Carla has a great reminder that expands beyond
speaking to audiences. Shifting our focus to
the "arrows out" position on a regular basis has many
benefits - connection to others, sharing our selves
and intimacy to name a few. This week look for
opportunities to be of service to your audience
whether you are speaking at a meeting in your
company or to people outside of your company. See
what happens.
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Community
Involvement |
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November 6, 2006
Discovering Your Path to Success at The
International Association of Administrative
Professionals (IAAP)
Andrea will provide her program for developing an
effective system to navigate professional and
personal growth to the Greater Boston Chapter of
the IAAP -- the world's leading organization
promoting the education and recognition of the office
professional. http://w
ww.greaterbostoniaap.com
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About Andrea
Novakowski |
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Coach Andrea's Coaching Tip of the Week is
brought to you by Andrea Novakowski, Master
Certified Coach who provides Business and Personal
Coaching to Executives, Small Business Owners,
Professionals and Managers. Andrea is a professional
coach who partners with people to set goals and
create momentum to produce effective results in
their business and/or personal lives. Andrea is
available for individual coaching. If you are
serious about reaching your goals and living with
greater fulfillment and satisfaction, consider using a
coach. To schedule a COMPLIMENTARY initial
consultation, send an e-mail to Andrea at
andrea@coachandrea.com.
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Pass It
On |
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Please feel free to pass on Coach Andrea's
Coaching Tip of the Week to your friends and
colleagues. If you need to get in contact with us
directly for any reason, send an e-mail to
andrea@coachandrea.com. Coach
Andrea
Focusing
your vision, achieving results
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