Ways of seeing with coaching

How can coaching open your eyes to new ways of seeing?

I have been asked to deliver a keynote speech at the annual dinner hosted by Abbotts Medical Optics as part of the European Society of Retina Specialists conference. This global conference is the biggest event for eye surgeons. As an art student in the 1980s I read John Berger’s classic 'Ways of Seeing' as part of my art education. Its' principle aim was to start a process of questioning about how we look, interpret and judge images. It really opened my eyes to seeing and interpreting pictures with new insight and perception. And interestingly, that is what happens in the coaching conversation. So that is what I'm going to talk about at the conference dinner next month. I think the following factors are critical in supporting people to see things differently.

Time - Exploration - Ease - Honesty

• Time - Committing time to think through what and how you are doing things is time well spent. It's a valuable commodity and something few medics are rich in, but it's an investment that will pay back over time. 
• Exploration - Describing what has happened, how you performed and what you feel is how most coaching conversations start. Often, talking it over can be enough to see things differently, but crucially, this is only really effective when the listener is non-judgemental and impartial. 
• Ease - The pace of modern life is frantic and so taking time out to pause and reflect is important. The 'ease' of the coaching environment plays a big part in creating an atmosphere where people can relax and think things through properly.
• Honesty - In a coaching conversation honesty is vital. If you continue to do and see things the way you have always done, you will get the same results. If you are honest with yourself and are prepared to ask yourself challenging questions, then you can make the change you want to see. 

After all, the true seeing is within."

George Eliot, Middlemarch. If you would like to talk over a change you would like to make, call me on 0754 0593476 or email me at alexishutson@yahoo.com   Subscribe to these blogs..