VIM Executive Coaching took a break from business coaching the other day, and decided to hit the gym for a brief cardio session. Unfortunately, the televisions on the entire row of recumbent bikes could not find a signal. Well, we’re not being completely accurate. Other than the extensive channel directory, the only channel that was actually in working order was a bass fishing competition. Several gym goers had to settle for bass fishing and lure commercials.
While we are not ones who judge, had anything else been on we would have immediately switched, and that includes programming featuring reality TV brides shopping for wedding dresses and those endless infomercials for robotic vacuums.
So (and whether intended or not), one of the fishing contestants decided the big 5-pounders were among the piers that jutted out from restaurants. Lo and behold, he caught a monster-sized bass near the pier of a well-known fish house. The scene caused laughter up and down the row of recumbent bikes.
“Now, that’s one dumb (blanking) fish!” exclaimed a guy two bikes over.
Naturally, kind readers
Naturally, our kind VIM blog readers, thinking about the bass contest fishing scene and the funny comment, caused a lot of thought about a recent coaching client.
The client posed an all-too-common executive coaching question as part of the conversation.
“Why does it always seem as though I land up in the same situation I leave?”
The client explained she either found her way to narcissistic managers or to companies that (please forgive) lured employees into false promises or unresponsive leadership circumstances. It was as if the danger signs were all around her but she wound up begging to be hooked (sorry again) into an organization that was adept at creating disappointment and chaos, forcing good people to leave.
Before, extending the analogy too much further, we have learned to understand the bass competitions don’t catch the fish in order to provide dinners. The fish are weighed, measured and ostensibly released. However, we have heard that getting hooked is both painful and unpleasant for the fish, which makes a lot of sense.
We can commiserate
Turning serious, we fully understand the disappointment of being made promises that are far from the reality or promise. This gap includes everything from toxic workplaces to workplaces that falsify financials or product/service performance and competitive advantage.
While a 5-pound bass “is,” and has no knowledge that a fish ‘n chips joint is right under the pier where it swims, a candidate for a position should be on much firmer grounding when it comes to finding a new position.
Though we humans, admittedly, have lost a lot a lot of preservation instinct over the years we should possess a sense of mindfulness over our work environments. Unlike a fish that might avoid a polluted environment, far too often, executives have entered work places that are toxic – and actually knowing or sensing it beforehand. Executives can be downright stubborn in overriding what they sense or feel about a noxious environment. Almost mantra-like, potential employees might spout:
“They have instituted new policies.”
“The management is more committed to ethics than in the past.”
“They have a new mission statement that specifies inclusion (or tolerance or equity)”
Our advice is to approach any new employment situation with mindfulness, instead of overruling doubts. When mindfulness takes precedence over self-judgment (“I might as well settle because I’m not worthy of something better”) the results will invariably be the same.
The process of finding a new position, whether entry level or executive leader, should be accomplished with an eyes-wide open attitude. What is seen, what is heard, what is felt, what is known and discussed and ultimately celebrated?
While can certainly commiserate with a mistake caused by a lack of mindfulness, a repetition of that mistake over and over a career, often signals a flaw deeper within. Fortunately, mindfulness can be taught and honed.