The 3-step blogs
Here is blog post two in the 3-step coaching method focusing on motivators and blockers to changing up and breaking through. Let me know if you would like to follow this up.
Permission Ability Will
PERMISSION from yourself or others
Who has the authority? So often, particularly in traditional organisations or established bodies, there are all sorts of rules and regulations that have amassed over time to both rightly safeguard on the one hand and wrongly restrict healthy movements of change on the other. In my experience, a lot of the latter are actually more perception than reality but play into the hands of those who are frightened of change and prefer the safety of “we are not allowed to do that.” It is not too difficult to find out if something is allowed or not allowed and, even then, it is not unreasonable to question it if it is blocking a reasonable way forward. Rules and regulations often get reviewed and changed and this may be an opportunity to find a tangent off the cycle of the past to help discover a better future. But, probably bigger than real or perceived organisational permission, is ‘self-permission’ - giving yourself permission to make a change and take a radical, life-changing move that will probably mean giving up your current way of doing your life and taking up a new one. All sorts of reasons can be amassed to assure you that it is much more reasonable and safer to stay as you are and where you are. But, what if you did realise you had permission from yourself to move forward despite your history or your own fear of change?
ABILITY to make the necessary changes
Have you got the required skills in you to do this? Do you need to invest in some new training or programme to help you gain new skills or understand new methods of bringing the change about? For teams this is usually a helpful motivation for engaging in the change journey as it can re-assess the skills and abilities in the team and apply them more effectively as well as re-strengthen the team through some new team training together. Combined with some coaching to help individuals and the team gain the confidence to make the change, tackling the issue of abilities and skills is a powerful catalyst for change.
WILL you do it?
Once you’ve tackled the issues of permission and ability, it comes down to your resolve. Will you do it? Ultimately all change journeys come down to whether or not you actually decide to do it. You can get all the permission you like, invest in all the training and resources you can, write down visions, strategies and plans … but it all amounts to nothing unless you actually walk the talk. Often in a coaching session, the question is turned around and asked as “What will happen if you don’t …?” Taking the first step is the hardest. Try signing up for a parachute jump! You will have the permission and get the training and get ‘help’ to make the step out! Will you do it?
If you find this post helpful you may like to book an individual coaching session with me to explore how you might find a way off the circle of stuckness! Or, if you are a team leader in an organisation or part of an organisation, ask about a ‘Tangent Jump’ workshop.