From:
David A Gammon, Sixth Sense
Date:
June, 2023
To:
Directors and Managers
CC:
Managing Directors
CEO’s
Leaders need to be confident that no matter what is thrown at them, they can effectively overcome any obstacle or opportunity to move towards the goals they are pursuing.
My coaching primarily helps by allowing you to calibrate/challenge your thinking. So how do we do that when every situation encountered is unique, as are the perspectives of everyone involved.
For years I had no frickin idea how it worked. But I kept thinking it through until it a pattern began to emerge. There was a framework of six seemingly simple questions. I tested and refined(1) it to get to this point.
They are the key to unlocking any opportunity and confronting any challenge. If you don’t believe me, give it a go with your hairiest and thorniest current challenge. Here are the six questions in all their glory and a few reflections on why the answers are not as simple as they look.
Who are you?
The story you tell yourself about who you are is a structure of beliefs, narratives, biases and protection mechanisms you’ve constructed to keep yourself safe. This is not the actual you. The authentic you is more powerful and resourceful than you think.
What do you want?
Most of what you think you want is what others (parents, peers and advertising executives amongst them) have told you that you want. Hooking into what you actually want (and its equally powerful opposite, what don’t you want?) unlocks powerful intrinsic motivation you didn’t know you had.
What’s going on out there?
You only see a limited slice of what is happening at any moment. You create a highly personalised sense of what situations mean to you and your outcomes. You are missing, or misinterpreting situations that might move you closer to or that threaten your desired outcome.
Who’s on the bus?
Any meaningful outcome requires inspiring, influencing, instructing, collaborating, and learning from others. The degree to which your outcomes align with theirs dictates the support you will get. So this question is about who is on the bus and the extent to which they are on the bus.
What do we need to do?
What is the most direct and efficient sequence of conversations, tasks, decisions and ideas that must be completed to achieve our desired outcomes? Equally, what do we need to stop doing to liberate the time we need to get done what needs to be done?
Is it working?
Life is a contact sport, and our best endeavours to stay on track and achieve our goals are subject to the ever-changing and shifting landscape. So are we doing everything we committed to do, and is it delivering the results and outcomes and experiences we hoped it would?
The six questions all seem simple, but that is an illusion.
To answer each question fully and honestly requires a shift in our understanding of what it means to be our authentic selves, connect meaningfully with others, and turn our intentions into action. That’s where the deep coaching and personal development begins.
Understanding and applying the six questions to yourself, your company, your team and all domains of your life is necessary before any other training, coaching or skill acquisition. It’s the bedrock.
As I move forward, you will hear more about these questions (I’m writing the book now).
Of course, you could always invest in a conversation with me to understand how this approach will give you, your leadership team and your company the breakthrough you’ve been looking for.
1 And no doubt this is a process that will continue
