It is either fate or chance or maybe blind luck, but the other day two events came together in strange synchrony. A new client walked into our VIM Executive Coaching offices with a unique problem.
She was the youngest of three sisters. The oldest sister is a renown orthopedic surgeon; the middle sister is the VP of Finance for a biotech organization and my new client is a marketing manager for a software company. I must admit to having been impressed. The sisters were 36, 32 and 28 years-old respectively. They were all well on their ways to successful careers. Strange she would give the following assessment of herself:
“I’m a total loser,” confided my new client. “I admit I may be a bit impatient, but at this rate I’ll never keep up with my family members and my dream of retiring young. What can I do to speed things up?”
Executive Leadership and the Race
First, the synchrony part. Not long after that first meeting, I had the privilege of seeing the iconic opera, Porgy and Bess live-streamed from the Metropolitan Opera. As I watched, totally enthralled, I must admit that I thought of the new client when I listened to the song: It Takes a Long Pull to Get There.
As the VIM Executive Coaching philosophy calls upon many influences to help coaching clients, in my daily meditation the next morning, I allowed myself the luxury to explore why the connection came up between the client and the song. The answer became clear and beautiful.
In its context (the story of a fisherman heading off to the banks in a storm), the song itself is much deeper than at first might be imagined. The song talks of “spirituality,” struggle, optimism and hard work. Executive leaders face the same challenges every day. The fisherman understood the daily scrap of reality versus fantasy.
Our VIM Executive Coaching client, at only age 28, saw herself as a failure because she had not climbed to the highest executive leadership ranks within her organization and was (in her mind) lagging behind her siblings.
She was focused on the fantasy of winning a kind of race rather than being present. Obviously, executive leadership coaching is not the same thing as psychotherapy. It is not our role to interpret the age-old challenges of sibling rivalry!
However, the long pull of corporate life, and all of its struggles, is much closer to the reality that our executive leadership client must deal with if she is to be successful.
To go from an entry-level professional through to middle then senior management and on to a “C-level” position is a journey; it is a long pull to climb to the highest levels. There are lessons that must be learned on that journey that build upon each other.
No Givens
The struggle to succeed is not so much a race but a path to mindfulness and authenticity. When we set out to accomplish a task, be it to better relate to the employees who report to us or to roll out a new product line or adjust to change during a merger, the executive leader must be mindful and authentic. It is a process where the executive must transform to an executive leader.
When our new client asked us “What can I do to speed things up?” My initial answer was to ask her to consider slowing things down; to take the time to be more mindful.
By responding in the moment to the opportunities and challenges in front of her, rather than worrying about quick and sometimes indecisive or capricious reactions, she is well on her way to executive leadership.