Inspired Coaching

Last week I went on a 2-day seminar on leadership.  One concept stood out for me in particular and has changed my awareness around the way I make decisions.

“Inspired Leaders make decisions based on 70% of the facts.” Sharon Pearson

Even if we are not leaders in our professions, we are leaders and champions of our lives.  We are captains of our ship.  When the sea is calm it is easy to make the right decisions and just steer steadily towards our goals.  However, when the sea gets rough and storms of obstacles rip through our sails, we get the opportunity to show our true strengths: to make decisions in the face of turmoil and the unknown, without fear of making mistakes.

“I have learned throughout my life as a composer chiefly through my mistakes and pursuits of false assumptions, not by my exposure to fountains of wisdom and knowledge.”Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Inspired leaders don’t have time to gather all the evidence.  Imagine weighing up all the pros and cons of how to steer the ship in a massive storm: all men would be overboard by the time you’d finally concluded your analysis.

“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” James Joyce

Think about how you make decisions: Do you sometimes say to yourself: “Oh, it wasn’t that important anyway.” - “There will be another opportunity.” - “It doesn’t really matter.” - I wasn’t ready for it anyway.” “I need more time.”?  All these sentences indicate a missed opportunity.

“Yes, but what if it was the wrong decision?” Don’t we all make mistakes anyway?  Mistakes are built into life, it’s how we learn and grow.

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” Elbert Hubbarb.