Coaching by Stillwater Blog

What’s your level of practice?

I had the good fortune to participate in a Minnesota Coaches Association teleseminar. Richard Strozzi-Heckler, of the Strozzi Institute (http://www.strozziinstitute.com/) shared an insight that finally sunk in after several days.

“One can only perform to their level of practice.”

The Pianist

A friend of my daughter was visiting and played a piano piece she is going to perform in concert. Wow!

This talented, young piano major in her second year of college has studied piano since she was 5. Even with all her talent and skills, the beauty of her music would not have emerged without endless hours of practice.

She practices between 6 and 8 hours a day, every day of the week and has been rehearsing this specific piece for the last three months. She’s is “hoping to be ready” to perform when she goes on tour next month and says she has to practice enough to perform flawlessly in front of audiences of several hundred people.

She can only perform to the level of her practice. Her level of practice is to prepare her to be consistently concert performance ready.

Flat on My Back!

A number of years ago I took martial arts. I was intent on learning and did well for my belt level. There were even trophies!

Then came a job change and we moved. My practice temporarily stopped and soon I wasn’t exercising, stretching or practicing. I decided I would start again, so I picked a new school that taught full contact kick-boxing.

Even though I had learned the basics well, it became apparent I had never actually practiced using this “skill” to defend myself.

Within a minute of my first match in a boxing ring, I wound up flat on my back dazed and wondering what happened. Thank goodness I didn’t have to defend myself on the streets.

I performed to the level of my practice and paid the price.

My practice had not prepared me to perform at a level I needed to actually defend myself.

What’s Your Level of Practice?

Are you practicing what’s important?

Will that practice take you to the level of performance you truly need?

Maybe you need to practice giving feedback, setting goals, preparing and delivering a presentation, interacting with senior management, making a sales call, writing a report, or simply leaving an effective voice-mail.

I’ve noticed that most people In business resist practice. They want to go right at it. The only time they actually use the skill is when they need to perform it optimally.

How many sales teams do their call planning and “rehearsal” on the walk between the car and the lobby of that key customer? They’re not clear on what is going to happen, let alone what role each person will play.

How many aspiring managers throw together the last few Power-Point slides minutes before presenting to their peers or leaders? They may “get by” but did they perform at the level really needed to make the desired impact?

Most people want to skip role plays in training sessions. You might make a mistake in front of your peers. Then, because you didn’t practice during training, you never practice. Then an ideal situation comes up where you should use the new skill but you don’t because you haven’t practiced.

• Where’s the accountability?
• Who are you going to practice with?
• When are you going to practice?
• At what level are you going to practice?

Development Coaching

A development coach is ideal. The coach there to support you in a non-judgmental way, and they are a perfect resource to help you practice. Coaching sessions are safe and open environments that allow you to try new things, explore, dig deep, practice and develop.

Want to give practice with a development coach a try? Send me an e-mail to set up an appointment.   

The Request Grenade

“My days are torn apart by meetings, phone calls, voicemail, and e-mail upon e-mail. Then, my boss walks by.” She described having enjoyed the challenges of her career, but now things had gone so far over the edge that she was contemplating leaving her company.

She felt like she was drowning. The work of her own projects was mounting. Then her manager would walk by and lob a simple 5 word “request grenade” into her office which exploded into incredible complexity. She'd have to reprioritize all projects yet again to respond to this latest "simple request."

The grenades kept landing.

Her frustration was mounting.

“Overwhelmed” might be the simplest way to describe her view, but adding to work stress were the stresses with family, kids, activities, the house … need I say more?

“Trapped” might be a better name for how she was looking at the situation.

This story is a composite of many people I’ve known and worked with in the corporate environment. Stress can certainly be an excellent catalyst causing us to look at how we are living our lives and our values. Unfortunately, too often, people make life changing decisions from the perspective of “trapped” because they can’t see anything else. They only see a limited set of choices … quit or …

Recently, I’ve worked with a number of clients who have felt stuck, trapped, overwhelmed, or stressed. A powerful, fast exercise lets them see and even experiment their "stuckness" from as many as 5 or 6 different angles. They get the opportunity to choose how they want to look at the issue and make productive choices that serve them best.

One client couldn’t see her way out of her dilemma. With this process, we explored 6 different ways of looking it. We discovered an approach that let her take control of her time and move forward in an effective, empowering way.

Another felt he was paralyzed because he couldn’t get traction on a major project. After looking at just three perspectives, found one that really worked. It broke the log-jam that had been keeping him stuck in “inactivity” for days.

Learn more about how to looking at issues from multiple angles.

If you want to experience what it's like, give me a call. We can do a quick 15 minute "round the wheel" exercise to see how it works for you.