One of my coaching clients recently accepted a secondment – from GM of Marketing to GM of Engineering – quite a stretch, and well outside his comfort zone.
It took us a couple of sessions before he agreed to do it. He likened his expertise to holding onto the side of the pool. He knows it’s solid, and it wont let him down unless he lets go. And he didn’t know if he could swim without holding onto it – he’d never tried.
“You’ve told me for ages that you have to stop being the person who knows the smart answer and start being the person who asks the smart question, but I just didn’t get what you meant!”
As Marshall Goldsmith famously put it – ‘what got you here won’t get you there’.
It’s not until we let go of our skills as an expert and rely exclusively on our skills as a leader that we can truly embrace what that means.
Have your say: Do you struggle to let go of your expertise?
PS when you’re ready, here are 4 ways that I can help you start doing business differently:
- I mentor Human Resources leaders
- I’m a Leadership confidence Coach
- I facilitate Change conversations large and small
- I advise Talent & HR suppliers
