David’s Commix
they should not prejudge. It was the expression of ‘I was wrong’ on their faces that I notice every time.
A week ago I co-facilitated an Open Space event. The participants included homeless individuals and couples, those with mental health issues, some recovering addicts and a number of people from the community who operate in a support function for these people. The day was designed for everyone to contribute their thoughts and opinions on how they could all work better together and to identify both common purpose and priorities.
This was no forced event. This was about choice. Everyone there had volunteered their time to contribute to putting something back into the community. Everyone wanted to participate in making things better. Everyone treated everyone else as an equal. There were no ego’s here, no levels of authority prominent. People just got together and got the job done. I found that inspirational! That people can come together, some suffering serious social hardships and/or feeling ostracised by society, give their time freely while expecting nothing in return and happily offer to return to make things better, I find inspiring.
In the coaching and mentoring world we are often challenged by clients who want or need to be inspired (Inspirational Coaching, incidentally, has about 1.2 million hits in Google). Rather than asking the usual suspects list of questions, perhaps it would be useful to explore with them what inspiration looks and feels like for them. What are the thoughts, emotions and behaviours associated with it? You may also wish to explore if and how different personality types interpret inspiration in different ways. Or you could foster a discussion about how the situation influences an individual’s desire or need to be inspired. How many people, for example, have been inspired by an event that they were not expecting to happen? How many people have been inspired to take action as a result of an occurrence?
On the other side of the fence is the inference to be inspirational, either in your coaching, mentoring, consultancy or training delivery. Knowing your audience is the key. There is no panacea, no ‘one size fits all’ approach. To be truly inspirational and to truly inspire those we work with requires effort and hard work. It can be challenging but the rewards are great.
I invite you to go back to my opening questions and to answer them as honestly and as deeply as you can. You may wish to challenge some of your beliefs and opinions by asking yourself ‘why’? You may wish to reflect on your career to date and identify what has inspired you or how you have inspired others. You may want to consider how long inspiration lasts! As Socrates said, ‘Know Thyself’.
Whatever path you choose, when it comes to inspiration it is an internal driver. You may not be able to see what inspires, but you may see the outcomes of an inspired individual. Whether that is inspiration or motivation is a topic for another day.
Thank you for reading.
David
David Monro-Jones AFC ASM
IIC&M Managing Director
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