Don’t Diminish

I try to take my own medicine, and so I receive coaching for my own personal growth. There are always things that a good coach can see that are beyond one’s own perception, blindspots to be illuminated by an external point of view to help facilitate growth and progress.

In a recent session, I described working with a client who comes at me with a lot of words and a lot of energy. Given the different farm animals, this client described himself as an enormous workhorse with much force and power to get things done. While we have had good sessions, I felt like something was off.

As I described this to my coach, he said he could feel me diminish as I spoke about this client. Knowing my skills and abilities, he said that there was no reason for me to diminish; my client needed what I had to offer. He painted a picture by continuing the metaphor, saying that my client does not need me to show up as a stronger workhorse who can overpower him and turn him in a different direction but rather as a livestock trailer that is big enough to contain this energy and help him arrive where he wants to go. Without knowing it, I had diminished in the presence of this client’s strength instead of becoming the guiding force he was asking of me. Holding to this metaphor, I was able to be a much better asset to this client in our following session, as evidenced by a longer than normal pause followed by the phrase, “There is more there, isn’t there…”

We all navigate many relationships, and these relationships will benefit from our full presence, not a lesser version of ourselves. If you want to learn more about becoming a fuller version of yourself without diminishing, please Contact Us.