As mentors and Leadership Coaches, we are frequently asked to help others solve problems. I would like to share an effective exercise that is designed to help us drill down to gain clarity. It is taken from the book From Intuition to Entrepreneurship: A Women’s Guide to Following Her Dreams, by Barbara Schwarck and William Weil. I have participated in a workshop led by Barbara, and her work is fascinating. She is a respected neuro-emotional coach, the founder of Clear Intentions, Inc., and a recipient of Pittsburgh’s Business Women First, 2012 Women in Business award.
Ask the following sequence of questions and repeat the cycle until you get the same answer to question #3 at least twice:
- What do you want?
- How could you get it?
- What experience are you looking for?
For example:
What do you want? I want people to think I am making a difference in their lives.
How could you get it? I could teach them something.
What experience are you looking for? Being a respected teacher.
What do you want? To be a respected teacher.
How could you get it? By writing a book about teaching.
What experience are you looking for? To have other people benefit from my experience.
What do you want? To have other people benefit from my experience.
How could you get it? By volunteering.
What experience are you looking for? To make a contribution by helping others.
What do you want? To make a contribution by helping others.
How could you get it? By becoming a mentor.
What experience are you looking for? To make a contribution by helping others.
Think of a challenge and try using this exercise to resolve it. Let me know it if helps by submitting your comments and questions to AskSue(at)SWSG.org.
“Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.” – Sally Koch