What's required here
Where do you need to focus? Photo by Andre Furtado on Unsplash
Some of the wisest advice and questions have deceptive simplicity. Dr Gordon Spence was the Program Director of my Masters of Business Coaching Program. Very early on during the program, he shared with us a question that he keeps in mind during coaching. As part of your teams, it’s one that I encourage you to keep in mind…
What’s required here?
It seems so simple and so obvious and yet it is the essence of operating best in teams.
I often describe questions as a camera lens. We can use them to take vast panoramic snapshots that give us the lay of the landscape that is in front of us. We can also use camera lenses to focus on the smallest detail in that landscape - like the leg of an insect. The beauty of this question is that we can use it to focus anywhere along that continuum.
At one end of the spectrum, asking “what’s required here” can help you to consider what is necessary in the context of organisational, national or global systems. It can help you to consider what is being asked of your teams in the context of this point in history as technology and society make shifts that we haven’t seen before.
At the other end of the spectrum, asking “what’s required here” can help you to consider what is the best use of your energy, attention and time at this very moment. Do you need to send an email or pick up the phone? Do you need to focus on the task or the people? What does your team need from you at this time?
One question for you to consider this week - in three ways:
What's required here? In the context of all that is happening in the world at the moment.
What's required here? In the context of helping your team's performance over the next month.
What's required here? In the context of identifying your most useful action in this very moment.