How do We Hold Steady and Remain Objective?
Organizational consultants and executive coaches require anchoring points to resort to when they must hold steady for leaders and organizations who need to thrive in change.
We work with consultants and coaches to understand their anchor points. What anchors them as they carry out the work of accompanying an organization and its leaders through re-orientation or transformative change? I am surprised at how many anchor themselves in their ‘client organization’ or in other words, they anchor themselves in their assignment. For example, when I check with them on what they are anchoring themselves in, their anchors distill to:
- The scope of work in the contract.
- The desire of the leaders, even if this goes contrary to what the consultant or coach knows to be the right thing to do.
- The toolbox, and knowing that they can pull activities and tools from it as needed.
- A theory of change management that has been learned and considered ‘evidence based’.
I have experienced that consultants and coaches focus totally on their clients during times of change and seem to forget about other anchor points in their lives that they might normally have. So, what happens when the chosen anchor points are parts of the organization that the consultant or coach is assisting and needs to be at arm’s length from for objectivity? I will leave the answer to your imagination.
We encourage anchor points for consultants and coaches that are also the anchor points for their lives, so that there is no difference. These can then be the ‘go to’ anchor points no matter what is happening and assist a consultant and coach to hold much steadier and thus to be of more useful service to the client. Anchor points could include:
- Personal values-based ‘givens’ that are not to be compromised even if it means losing the contract.
- Faith in a higher power.
- A belief that wisdom lies within people involved in any situation to find their solution.
- A chosen operating platform for performance as a consultant or coach.
If you are a consultant or coach, and if you have taken even one Genuine Contact program workshop in the past, please do consider joining us for our upcoming on-line workshop on Consulting the Genuine Contact Way as a way to develop an operating platform and anchoring points for your work. Dates are May 8,9, and 10 from 9am-12 noon daily. Registration information can be found here.
I was about to compromise one of my given’s the other day. The assignment didn’t feel exactly right and until I talked it out with my mentor I realized the problem was that it went against one of my givens. It is especially difficult sometimes to remember your anchor points in “the heat of the moment.” This is why I think anchoring points need to be deep in meaning, simply articulated and probably few in number so that they are easy to find in stormy seas.
If a man wishes to thrive in modern times, he should be able to tackle the competition around him, by minimizing the damage caused to the environment. Chemical engineering involves research and development in most fields, including medicine, environment, and technology.