by Divya Parekh (USA)
‘Ready! Fire! Aim’
No, the above is not a typo. We have all seen countless movies or TV shows to know the correct expression when shooting something is ‘Ready…Aim…Fire!’ After all, it would be pointless aiming when the shot has already gone off. In my work, helping other coaches improve their businesses, that is exactly what I encountered. I was not surprised because I found myself doing the same thing when I started out, which led me to a self-evaluation process any coach should go through as they analyse their business. It comes in two parts.
The first part has to do with figuring out your values. These are the non-negotiable tenants that guide you in everything you do in your life. It does not matter if you are doing something with your business or some volunteer work. These principles are the compass that keeps you true to your journey in life. Your values factor into all your decisions and form the foundation of your behaviour.
If you have never taken the time to figure out and write down your values, it is an exercise worth doing. It might take some time and a great deal of refinement on your part. A good practice is when you make a decision based on your values, ask yourself, ‘How does the decision make me feel?’ If it feels right, you are on the right track. Your values might adjust and develop over time as you grow, and as your life’s circumstances change. For example, when you go from being a single 21-year old to starting a family, you will most likely change some of your values.
The second part of the process is to take your values and apply them to nine separate relationships that are important to your life. Notice that I did not say, ‘Important to your business.’ I believe that we should live life as an organic whole. If we act one way in our personal lives, and another in business, then we are not true to ourselves. What that occurs, then nothing is going to work out the way we would like in our life.
Source: iCN Issue 29 (Business Coaching: Building your Organisation); pages 29-31
About Divya Parekh
Divya is a global business relationship and leadership mentor, coach, and speaker. She helps clients cultivate power partnerships that lead to high performance. As a speaker, she connects the audience with their inner leaders.
She works in close collaboration with corporate leaders, coaches, and entrepreneurs who are ready for evidence-based strategies that shape and improve their personal and business culture.
She has an enormous love of people, fierce passion for coaching, commitment to building leaders, and unbridled desire to create a better world. Divya would love to bring her talent and experience to any person, company, or organisation that she can help or support.
