Why is signature presence so critical for coaches?
Dealing with organizational change and dilemmas is not for the faint-hearted.
The business arena contains risks, opportunities, dangers, and dead-ends:
all can make a leader flinch. Coaches are colleagues to leaders at exactly
those times when they may flinch … or fight back, or dig in, or
any number of responses. Coaches show up in the executive's office when
the leader is most likely to act from an automatic less effective response.
A coach has to bring her own presence in order to be a contributing
partner.
Presence means bringing yourself when you coach -- your values, passion,
creativity, emotion, and discerning judgment -- to any given moment
with a client. You bring your resourcefulness and authenticity to your
work. You develop a balance between two activities: the courage to speak
and command attention, and when needed, the ability to become an invisible
part of the background.
Presence means developing and increasing your tolerance for a
host of situations many people actively avoid: ambiguity, daunting challenge,
others' anxiety or disapproval, and your own stress. Presence stands
in the midst of any of these reactions, does not shut them out, and
acts anyway. In the face of internal or external resistance, you refuse
to back away from the moment at hand. Signature presence
is moving through these moments in a way unique to you, making the most
of your own strengths, interests, and eccentricities.