"Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open” Alexander Graham Bell, Inventor, 1847-1922.
I was coaching a client a few days ago. It was clear from the moment he began to talk that there was a lot going in his life and that he was beginning to feel overwhelmed and disheartened by his current work circumstances. He hopped from thought to thought and outpoured his frustrations and worries. I wasn’t too sure where the conversation was going or indeed where he wanted it to go and I too began to feel a little overwhelmed. I then remembered something another coach shared with me many years ago: “the client does the work”. With these words resonating in my ears I asked my client “what is it that you want?”. A look of shock took hold of my client’s face followed by a deafening silence. This question stopped him completely dead in his tracks. He went to speak then stopped and repeated this several more times before a huge smile swept across his face almost as quickly as the shocked first appeared. It was as if if he had just found something precious. In fact he had. He had just discovered what it was he wanted and started to share that with me. From this point onwards the client acted like a liberated man with resources aplenty and bursting with enthusiasm. He was no longer staring at the closing door.
