Storytelling
This article is all about Storytelling
Early this year, Sync looked over the first year of its work, and especially at the coaching side of things.
At that time, one of our Sync 20 members described Sync Coaching like being 'repeatedly pinched by a beetle.'
As Henry Thomas Buckle once said Every new truth has for a time caused, mischief and discomfort.
It's true that changing how we do things and the way we do them is not always easy. Many of you have told us that Sync Coaching ideas and suggestions have been useful.
They have allowed us to re-think and re-shape our patterns and behaviours, particularly those that are not particularly helpful.
The 3 elements of Choice, Belief and Identity (from IHD - Institute of Human Development 7 elements) have surfaced continually and many of us have noted how they influence
- the stories we tell ourselves about our lives and how this shapes the choices we make
- what we believe we are capable of and why
- how we see ourselves and how others see us
Into the Waves
Many of us have been making more controlled choices about how we feel about what happens at work: practicing the idea that we can all be active in this, rather than passive. This for some of us has been groundbreaking.
'I found that choosing to feel differently around not getting a job, saved me hours of painful reflection, it was wonderful'
'Just choosing not to take what happened so personally but see it in the bigger scheme of things - made it feel smaller and less significant'
So how might we all take this developing skill a bit further here.
When the sun shines and we hit the beach, what happens to us when we see the sea in front of us. Do we rip off our clothes and rush in, or do we sit on the sand with a big Mr Whippy cursing the jellyfish?
Perhaps this only matters depending on what happens next. How do we then feel?
- desperate that we have yet again failed to conquer our fear?
- happy with our decision because it's the right one for us?
Dragged Under?
If it's desperation we are feeling, then perhaps we are not telling useful stories about what the water holds for us?
Decisions like this are of course to do with what we have experienced in the past and what we have been told or tell ourselves. Next time, try asking yourself, is it really true that you don't have the strength to manage the undertow or wrestle the sealife?
If we were to consider these beliefs as stories, might we find new ways to think about them, adding different plots and arriving at a sense of being able to do things differently?
The feedback we got from those in Sync 20, our intensive pilot showed us how the coaching process had enabled people to mentally, and sometimes physically, move beyond unhelpful storytelling. A good coach will also be curious as to the:
- beliefs behind the story and whether those beliefs are useful
- roots of the story and whether they are relevant to the here and now
- the coachee's ability to tell better stories, to create a sense of movement and possibility beyond the current Jackanory!
Story Endings and New Waves
In Managing Transition by William Bridges, the author says
'Transition is not the outcome of change, but the ending you must make to leave the old situation behind'
This is an interesting way to think when saying goodbye to our old patterns and worn out stories.
The Cultural Leadership Programme (CLP) has allowed us to develop Sync further so we can build the diversity of our membership, run Sync Placements and run a new set of Sync Intensives based on the Sync 20 model so that some of you can explore a more in depth engagement with leadership development and coaching.
We still have so many more of your experiences, shifts and syncopations to explore, share and journey with you.
Sarah Pickthall, Sync Coaching
