Be Powerful With Authenticity, Not With Attack
You don't need to be vulgar, contrary or controversial to make an impact.
Just be real! The vulgar and judgmental headline yelled at me from my RSS news reader.
It was the opening line of a blog post authored by a coach.
It was an obvious effort to be provocative and make me curious enough to read the article.
I did.
There were some good ideas, and a generous helping of blame and judgment in an in-your-face style.
I recognize that today's marketplace is full of noise and it is harder and harder to be heard.
It is tempting to try to cut through the noise by being outrageous, especially when it seems others are doing so successfully.
But, there is an effect to everything we do.
I frequently remind my coaching students, "You are always teaching something, the question is what.
" What was being taught in the vulgar headline and the attack and judgments? That it is OK or even cool to talk to people that way? Or, that judgment has no affect or repercussions? Or that great coaches get in your face and call you names? Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude and I am far from perfect.
But I don't want to teach those things.
As a coach and human attempting to be conscious, I want to teach understanding, compassion love and respect.
How about you? What are you up to teaching today? You don't need to go there.
You don't need to be vulgar, contrary or controversial to make an impact.
I used to think so when I was a kid, swearing profusely in the belief I would be more like a man.
Just be real! You can be very powerful and influence people in a positive way by being transparently authentically yourself.
For example, "As I write this, I am somewhat anxious and I am concerned that I may be judging the author of that article.
A part of me wants to scrap what I am writing and tell myself it is just my ego being righteous.
But there is another part of me that says, you have to speak out to be in integrity.
" Have you ever been caught between speaking out or holding back? What to do? What I am doing is: I am not judging the person who wrote the article and I'm not endorsing the style either.
What I am doing is taking a risk and saying to anyone who will listen: Please don't contaminate minds and hearts with judgments and attack.
What goes around, comes around, for all of us.
Teach goodness in the world.
You may not make quite so obvious a splash, but your act of love will ripple through the world.
Just be real! The vulgar and judgmental headline yelled at me from my RSS news reader.
It was the opening line of a blog post authored by a coach.
It was an obvious effort to be provocative and make me curious enough to read the article.
I did.
There were some good ideas, and a generous helping of blame and judgment in an in-your-face style.
I recognize that today's marketplace is full of noise and it is harder and harder to be heard.
It is tempting to try to cut through the noise by being outrageous, especially when it seems others are doing so successfully.
But, there is an effect to everything we do.
I frequently remind my coaching students, "You are always teaching something, the question is what.
" What was being taught in the vulgar headline and the attack and judgments? That it is OK or even cool to talk to people that way? Or, that judgment has no affect or repercussions? Or that great coaches get in your face and call you names? Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude and I am far from perfect.
But I don't want to teach those things.
As a coach and human attempting to be conscious, I want to teach understanding, compassion love and respect.
How about you? What are you up to teaching today? You don't need to go there.
You don't need to be vulgar, contrary or controversial to make an impact.
I used to think so when I was a kid, swearing profusely in the belief I would be more like a man.
Just be real! You can be very powerful and influence people in a positive way by being transparently authentically yourself.
For example, "As I write this, I am somewhat anxious and I am concerned that I may be judging the author of that article.
A part of me wants to scrap what I am writing and tell myself it is just my ego being righteous.
But there is another part of me that says, you have to speak out to be in integrity.
" Have you ever been caught between speaking out or holding back? What to do? What I am doing is: I am not judging the person who wrote the article and I'm not endorsing the style either.
What I am doing is taking a risk and saying to anyone who will listen: Please don't contaminate minds and hearts with judgments and attack.
What goes around, comes around, for all of us.
Teach goodness in the world.
You may not make quite so obvious a splash, but your act of love will ripple through the world.
Source...