Als je blijvend succesvol wilt zijn in een commerciële rol, dan is authenticiteit van essentieel belang. Daarom kijk ik in training en coaching altijd naar iemands talenten. Die nutten we uit, in plaats van dat we de nadruk leggen op datgene wat niet goed is.
Messi
Een mooi voorbeeld is Lionel Messi. Hij is linksbenig. Stel je voor als je Messi had moeten coachen toen hij nog heel jong was. Zou je dan aandacht besteden aan hem leren om met rechts te schieten? Dit is immers zijn 'zwakke' been. Of zou je hem leren hoe hij rendement kan halen uit zijn? Ik denk dat je voor het laatste zult kiezen. Mijn vrouw, Judith kwam laatst met een mooi verhaal, gevonden op internet.
Ik vind het, in het kader van bovenstaande visie op leren, een inspirerend stuk om te delen.
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The
misplaced eagle
…Once upon a time, an eagle’s egg was found
by a farmer and mistaken for a chicken egg. The egg was placed with the other
eggs in the incubator at the hen house…
…Some weeks later that egg hatched. The
baby eagle was raised as a chicken with the other chicks. Along with his
chicken peers, he was taught to peck and scratch. He was made to scurry along
the ground like the other chickens. He was sternly warned against flying,
because chickens don’t really fly, they flutter and fall…
…This eagle made a miserable chicken. He
didn’t peck well. He hated scurrying because he was always feeling clumsy and
falling. He was constantly hungry and irritable, because the chicken feed just
couldn’t seem to satisfy him. The other chickens found him disruptive and odd…
…After years of struggling to be a normal
chicken, this poor eagle’s self esteem was pretty low. He hated himself. “Why
am I so big, awkward and different?” he often wondered, “Why can’t I be happy
like all the other chickens here?”…
…“Is this all there is to life?” he
agonized, “Where’s the thrill? Where’s the flow?”…
…He began to do more and more disruptive
things just to get a little hit of excitement. He was starved for action and
adventure – he desperately craved in his heart that feeling of soaring – only
he didn’t even know what that was – so he tried to compensate by making his own
thrills around the chicken coop, causing drama and disturbances. Other chickens
called him selfish, disordered and a troublemaker. The poor eagle took it all
to heart, believed them and became depressed…
…One day, high overhead the young eagle saw
another eagle soaring in the sky. It took his breath away. For a moment he felt
a surge of recognition. He felt something inside him stir. He felt more alive than
he had ever felt before…
…In his excitement he told his family of
chickens what he saw and how he wanted to fly like that too. They scoffed at
him. “Are you nuts?!” “You’re dreaming.” “Get real. Chickens don’t fly.” “You
are being totally impractical.” “You can’t even cluck and scratch – and now you
think you can fly someday!?” the chickens chided. “When will you grow up and
join the pecking order of this chicken coop. Why can’t you be more like your
peers? What’s wrong with you?!”…
…The young eagle was shamed and
disheartened. He felt hopeless and alone as he fell to sleep at night…
…Days later, to his delight, he spotted the
soaring bird and this time it let out the cry of an eagle. The moment the young
eagle raised by chickens heard this cry something unexpected happened. His body
lurched uncontrollably – his entire being responded automatically to that
eagle’s majestic cry with a powerful eagle cry of his own. He was astonished.
“What just happened?!… Did that glorious sound come from me? Chickens don’t
make that sound! Only eagles do… Wait… Only eagles do!”…
…The young eagle, finally aware of what he
truly was, for the first time stretched out his wings and flew. Before he knew
it he was soaring. He was no longer imprisoned by the chicken coop, because he
was no longer imprisoned by the idea that he had to be a chicken. Nothing could
contain him anymore…
…A chicken coop can only coop up chickens;
it cannot stop an eagle from soaring – especially once they hear their call…
