I was coaching a group of leaders within a large multi national mining company and I was speaking with one of the up and coming Supervisors on the job.
Being a mining company, and standing in the mining pit, there were plenty of rocks and stones around us.
This specific supervisor was seeking guidance on how to be a better leader and he knew the role I was playing with his boss.
Developing and coaching indigenous people needs to be relative, so I used the resources around me to help him understand how he can grow in his career as a leader.
I asked the person to walk from one point to another along the tops of the rocks (it was safe, and we were only 10cm above the ground at the time).
When he first did it, he thought he needed to look at me and found it difficult to remain steady and fell from the rocks.
I asked him to do it a second time but this time to focus on staying on the rocks.
He was looking carefully at where he should stand next to ensure he did not fall, and that the next rock was stable and secure.
Being a successful leader is no different to walking across the rocks.
If we do not focus on our next step, we lose stability and may fall.
Falling as a leader may mean a lack of focus, being fearful others may know more than us, fearful of losing your job, not focused on your people, failing to coach and develop your people, etc.
To be a quality coach you need to use all the available resources around you to make the learning experience relevant, and this was an example of a simple, yet extremely effective lesson for this young supervisor that he later shared with others in the company.
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