How Coaching Helped Overcome “Me Becoming The Roadblock To My Success”
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When I wore the hat of an employee, I used to daydream becoming “My boss and have nobody to report to”. This fantasy got fulfilled, when I decided to become an entrepreneur. I was now free to do what I want and how I want.
Like every other start-up, my goal too is ‘To become successful in the business venture and the measure of success for me; amounts to money, fame, and attracting talent.’ I too dream to be in the shoes of people like Verghese Kurien, JRD Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, etc.
I knew nurturing a business is no easy job. But to realize the status of a ‘successful entrepreneur’ was demanding loads of sacrifices, and it was taking a toll on my time; causing a lot of stress and frustration.
I was spending sleepless nights trying to figure out innovations to retain my customers and also attract new one, handle substantial increase in competition, arrange funds to pay the salaries, coming to the agreement that I will not get a paycheck for some more time, and wondering ‘what-if’ there was a fall-out with my business partner(s).
The optimistic me kept reminding myself – Don’t Give Up!
Even most iconic entrepreneurs were forced to face exceedingly difficult times when they were trying to climb the ladder of success.
Though taking care of the business was making me more meticulous, determined, committed and punctual. A corner of my brain was constantly haunted by this question – Can I meet “the expectations of my individual self, customers, partners, investors, employees, family and friends?”
“I had this strange notion that if Iam a business leader, I can’t show vulnerability” But a discussion with a friend of mine, who is a business coach, got me thinking “How can I lead my team if I don’t have a sound mind?
And I realized…I Was Hiding Behind the ‘Sham it Till I Make It’ Approach
This fear of failure caused my emotional turbulence. To deal with this fear, I was focusing all my energy on dealing with the crisis. I forgot to eat and sleep. Loaded with work, health was the last thing I was concerned about. The yoga routine I have set in my daily personal schedule helped, but eventually health took a toll on me since my body refused to co-operate.
And How Coaching Is Helping Me Deal With It
The leadership coaching program is aiding me stay grounded and focused, by discovering myself and come up with innovative solutions to overcome some of my self-sabotaging behaviors. I have learned how to be a Penta lateral thinker – a whole brain thinker.
It’s given me some powerful leadership tools and techniques, which is helping me
- To be transparent with my expectations from my team and set clear guidelines and goals.
- To communicate and provide feedback better to ensure all parties involved with my business, including service providers, are aligned with the goals.
- Let my team know what is working, and direct them to continue those behaviors.
- The self-coaching methodologies are helping me in continually improving my leadership competencies at work and home.
The New Belief System – Positive Mindset Matters
My new mantra/ belief system is:
- The sky is the limit, especially when aiming for manageable and reachable stages.
- Having control over my work schedule means that I can choose when to take time off and work the schedule that suits me best, and
- Why waste time on the concept of failure?
I now consider each failure as an experience and a rather important one. Now I know what ‘not to do’ while trying to do a particular activity, and is helping me set new best practices.
I have realized; the most successful as well as the most cost effective way of dealing with stress is – I don’t hide my feelings from my team, family and friends. I discuss everything with them, and if necessary, take the help of my business coach / mentor. I am trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating and sleeping on time and continuing with yoga.
Look forward to your learning from your experience on how you deal with your stressors.
Innovatus Marketers Touchpoint LLP is a customer experience, marketing, service design, design thinking and business innovation consulting firm, based in India. We offer go-to-market and digital strategy consulting and help our clients rethink and redesign customer and employee value in the digital era. We offer design thinking workshops and consulting, tailored to enable, accelarete or transform your business. We are laser-focused on the problem at hand and your opportunity space, and optimize process to make design thinking and service design principles accessible to your employees who’ve never done it before or stuck-up, and provide “just adequate” theory to help you get moving and achieve outcomes.
You may reach out to Vidya Priya Rao @ +918080015500 or email @ vidyapriya.rao@marketerstouchpoint.com
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