What is top end performance? Simply a genius who has his act together in that transitory moment in time.
At the top end of the spectrum I mean that you have a unnatural gift from the gods for this subject or area, you have an intuition, an instinct that is rare, uncanny and accurate most time. It is more than just gut feel it is god (think of it as Kant's a priori knowledge if you will). You were put on this earth to do this. You know you have had this gift since you were able to think for yourself (say age 7 or so).
It is more than being precocious or a child prodigy it is something you take with you into adulthood and where it reaches its full apogee but it was always there, always be there. It is more than a sixth sense, it is your first sense to your sixth sense imbued, soaked with your inheritance with your destiny (should you choose to accept it).
Many know they have the gift but deny it is there, they deny its existence because to acknowledge it is to accept a life filled with the mechanics of embodying and being the gift and secondly with creating the work that naturally comes from being the gift.
The gift I am referring is not experiential, empirical in nature. The gift I mean is one that is fully formed and developed at the moment of birth. There is no need for experience or additional knowledge it is there adult as born.
Age doesn't change it, doesn't improve it, doesn't enhance it, it is already there when you're born brilliant shining, with age there is the realisation that it is you (and that takes some adjustment to understand the genius inside you almost beside you overtaking you overwhelming you) with the knowledge of your mortality, it just highlights and accentuates the impermanence of the gift.
Hence the urgency to use it. I have elsewhere quoted and written about my father Raymond and his series of articles in Le Mauricien (a Mauritian newspaper) in the 1960s entitled 'Permanences' I think this is in a way what he was trying to say/do/be. For example in the issue of Le Mauricien dated 19th March 1966 he says - 'Je suis vivant, donc suspect. Le diable me guette et souvent me rejoint'.
Towards this end of the spectrum, building the platform for this work grow is not really as necessary as it would be if you were less gifted but even so to be able to handle the gift in full V8 mode you need a modicum of preparation both physical and mental. This I have written about in great detail on this web site.
The gift always lives, always lurks in the shadows of insanity of depression of paranoia, but it thrives on more certainty it is perhaps more powerful in its unadulterated form but then you have less control over it. Better to reduce the intensity of the gift so as to have more control of the gift and yourself really that is what I am getting at.
The more extravagant the gift the close the holder to insanity, there is no real difference between insanity and the moments when you lose yourself to the gift to the art and just produce that is as close as most people get to insanity.
It is inevitable unavoidable that a philosophy of life drips from life coaching writing. This as it should be and as it is and the more so given the subject we are dealing with, life coaching has many servants many slaves many called but few masters. As a result the philosophy of life coaching has still to be written, is still being written, daily with stories fresh from the battle field of life.
Fresh from experiences from the field of evidence and clinical experience but primarily the field is being developed advanced taken in different directions by those who have the gift of life coaching, for life coaching and who have troubled themselves to write about it. To push the state of knowledge you need to have insights that is not available or clear from the empirical data or evidence otherwise we could say life coaching is that area or subject bounded by these fences and it is this or that. But that is not so. It is more than just evidence no matter what the psychologists say (who are statistics bound anyway and not all of it accurate or even honest).
The best in the field write brilliantly about the subject, are original (extremely difficult to be when this subject is so popular right now), write of some things that are not experiential (only a genius can do that and still make absolute sense to the most practical and pragmatic person) and whose flashes can take the area/subject just about anywhere. The thing about these flashes is that, if they are really in the ballpark, they are simple to understand and possibly to follow as a coach and as a client of a coach.
Gilbert Labour is a Six Sigma consultant, a process improvement expert, a project management practitioner and published author in this field, a Life Coach, an IT professional and an Executive Coach with 30 years experience working in modern organisations in Australia so is brilliantly and uniquely placed to observe the current malaise in modern organisations riven by the demands of the global economy and fuelled by poor, non-existent leadership.
He also owns and runs one of the world's most popular web sites dealing with Life and Executive Coaching. This web site provides comprehensive coverage of life coaching together with a wide array of tips and techniques for life coaches and the clients.
He say never in the last 30 years have Executive Coaches been in so much demand and never have their role been so poorly understood. The best Executive Coaches have 20-30 years experience in corporate environments so this is a given but it is not their role to usurp the decision making capability of the EXEC (though they can and should/do assist), it is to support them so that they are in a position to make the very best decision, make the best recommendation that they are capable of.
For example in an organisation undergoing/requiring radical change (in today's world which aren't) they are not babysitters for the organisation or for the EXEC, their role primarily is to assist, support and coach the chosen EXEC to driven fundamental changes to the footprint of the business. It is to be their friend, their guide, their support in this incredibly difficult and challenging role.
This role can break most EXECs, especially when it involves wholesale head count reductions that may potentially destroy families, lives and lifestyle. It is the role of the Executive Coach to make sure that doesn't happen by providing constructive advice during this phase and support the EXEC emotionally during these difficult times. This is where an Executive Coach with 30 years experience can provide insights into the process and mindset of change.
About Gilbert Labour. Gilbert Labour is an Executive Coach and Life Coach practicing in Sydney Australia but with a world wide interest in coaching with one of the world's leading life and executive coaching web sites. He has 30 years corporate experience in legal, government, telecommunication, banking & finance, insurance, accounting, IT and transportation industries. He is also a process improvement (Six Sigma, Lean) expert and an IT infra-structure and development professional within those industries. During these 30 years he has seen many examples of poor leaders and managers but doesn't recall a time quite like the present when there are so many poor leaders in industry and politics. He is available to consult and support on any aspect of executive coaching as it assists organisations in the midst of radical and fundamental change including process improvement efforts preceding large retrenchment programs. He is also a project management professional able to execute Six Sigma based projects. He believes that organisational change begins with fundamental even radical personal change, for the better, in attitude and approach hence his insistent but balanced emphasis on life coaching in the context of the Executive Coaching Retreat (ECR) in Mauritius in June, 05.
Life Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 69
Making sure you perform at your best on the night or the day as the case may be
How can you guarantee you will be at your sparkling brilliant best at that all important job interview,
when presenting a new business proposal to potential business partners, when doing an important presentation
for your work, when presenting a paper to an international conference in your chosen field, on your wedding day?
There is no guarantee you will be at your very best especially at the very moment when your performance
is under the most scrutiny but there are some things you can do to put yourself into the most advantageous position
to extract the best possible performance from yourself on the day (not necessarily the best you're capable of).
The key to great performance is great preparation, your work getting to this point must shine through the work.
It must show (gracefully and with great subtlety) that you have put in the hard yards to get to this point.
If you believe you're the best in your field, now is the time to show it. Confidence is all timidity loses the battle.
Stay in between those. Over confidence is fatal. Learn how to be, how to act with robust, muscular subtlety.
Involve you key advisor in everything you do. This is not someone you love or who loves you, this is not someone
whose friendship you value, this is not someone whose opinion you value in all things, this is someone who is adept and
an expert in the field and methods you are employing on the day. This can also be a coach or a mentor. If you want to be
the best work with the best (see below).
Use the analytical techniques and any other arts at your disposal to ensure that what you are presenting (you, your
work, your approach, your art, your skills) is empirically sound and makes logical sense. If it doesn't make sense to you,
it won't make sense to your advisor and it certainly won't make sense to your intended audience.
Fine tune your mind for the day. For me, reading Kant and trying to understand the difference between phenomena and noumena
works for me that's like a 5k run. Also boning up on say Consititutional Law is very muscular and is like working out with weights for
15 minutes.
Work out before the event. Ideally be very fit and do something extra the day before or the morning before. That will keep you
really pumped for the event.
Practice and practice untile you get better at whatever it is you are doing, whether it is going for job interviews, presenting business
proposals, writing and delivering learned papers or meeting with leaders in various fields.
Take away the things that worked in your big moment, what didn't. Don't get discouraged if you failed to get the job or convince people to
take up your services or failed to convince people to become your business partners. If you take the attitude that this is a purely learning exercise
and good in its own right regardless of the result you will improve and perform better next time.
Take the stress out of the performance and situation by meditating beforehand. Learn how to get control your nervous tension and harness it for the good
especially learn relaxation techniques.
Gilbert Labour is a Six Sigma consultant, a process improvement expert, a project management practitioner and published author in this field, a Life Coach, an IT professional and an Executive Coach with 30 years experience working in modern organisations in Australia so is brilliantly and uniquely placed to observe the current malaise in modern organisations riven by the demands of the global economy and fuelled by poor, non-existent leadership.
He also owns and runs one of the world's most popular web sites dealing with Life and Executive Coaching. This web site provides comprehensive coverage of life coaching together with a wide array of tips and techniques for life coaches and the clients.
He say never in the last 30 years have Executive Coaches been in so much demand and never have their role been so poorly understood. The best Executive Coaches have 20-30 years experience in corporate environments so this is a given but it is not their role to usurp the decision making capability of the EXEC (though they can and should/do assist), it is to support them so that they are in a position to make the very best decision, make the best recommendation that they are capable of.
For example in an organisation undergoing/requiring radical change (in today's world which aren't) they are not babysitters for the organisation or for the EXEC, their role primarily is to assist, support and coach the chosen EXEC to driven fundamental changes to the footprint of the business. It is to be their friend, their guide, their support in this incredibly difficult and challenging role.
This role can break most EXECs, especially when it involves wholesale head count reductions that may potentially destroy families, lives and lifestyle. It is the role of the Executive Coach to make sure that doesn't happen by providing constructive advice during this phase and support the EXEC emotionally during these difficult times. This is where an Executive Coach with 30 years experience can provide insights into the process and mindset of change.
About Gilbert Labour. Gilbert Labour is an Executive Coach and Life Coach practicing in Sydney Australia but with a world wide interest in coaching with one of the world's leading life and executive coaching web sites. He has 30 years corporate experience in legal, government, telecommunication, banking & finance, insurance, accounting, IT and transportation industries. He is also a process improvement (Six Sigma, Lean) expert and an IT infra-structure and development professional within those industries. During these 30 years he has seen many examples of poor leaders and managers but doesn't recall a time quite like the present when there are so many poor leaders in industry and politics. He is available to consult and support on any aspect of executive coaching as it assists organisations in the midst of radical and fundamental change including process improvement efforts preceding large retrenchment programs. He is also a project management professional able to execute Six Sigma based projects. He believes that organisational change begins with fundamental even radical personal change, for the better, in attitude and approach hence his insistent but balanced emphasis on life coaching in the context of the Executive Coaching Retreat (ECR) in Mauritius in June, 05.
Life Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 68
Being one of the best
An excursion into the realm of excellence reached by beauty, truth and hard work
How do you know you're one of the best. Perhaps not the best of the best but still very good exceptional even? Can you do anything to increase the likelihood you will one day be one of the best.
Increase the gap between the energy, drive and effort you have and the work you have to do.
If you're always tired it means that your capacity is less than the work you have to do. Increase your capacity by developing a platform for performance.
People who have breakdowns are those that have no shut-off point when it comes to work so that no matter how much they increase their capacity, it will never be enough for the work/demands they will inevitably overwhelm inundate it annihilate it with.
Wherever possible reduce your workload reduce your strain by working cleverly. If you have an IT bent develop systems for yourself that will make it easier to work. If you have people responsibilities at work, learn to be a coach and mentor, they make the best managers.
If you're energised it means that your capacity is greater than the work you have to do. Keep doing what you're doing to keep the capacity high, whether by exercise, coaching, meditation, medication or a combination of them.
If your capacity is the same as the work demands made against it, try to increase your capacity (never increase your work).
Always increase your capacity before you increase your work/effort required or demanded against it. After you train for 4 years before you run 100 metres race so similarly prepare yourself before taking on something which is BIG it could be bigger than you.
Always keep a reserve capacity just in case something goes wrong and you need that extra capacity to keep your sanity, your calm and to react coolly to whatever is going on and respond in the most appropriate way possible.
If you believe there is a genius lurking inside you but don't know how to get in touch with that muse, start with something anything and by trial and error get closer and closer to what it is you are born to do. Every person on this earth is great at something you just need to give yourself time to find it. Some people, sadly, never do and waste a god given talent.
Qualities of one of the best
Incredibly smart and politically astute operator. You live, breathe politics. But just as you live by politics you die by politics.
You have a style as a individual and as a leader that makes you attractive to people. It could be looks, it could be charm, but it mustn't be superficial, it must have a believable and believing substance and core to it. Can it be manufactured, created? No but it can fool some of the people some of the time.
Be in tune with your muse be in touch with your creative urge, your creative instinct. Essentially follow the wild horses when they decide to stampede. You never know when it will stop so take advantage of the good times and create while it lasts.
When the muse strikes just do whatever it is you do - write music, write a novel, create fabulous business proposal, design and create fabulous pieces of art, setup great businesses, take over other businesses , do your mergers and acquisitions brilliantly, whatever it is you do, do it and do it well. This is your time, there will be no other time like it and it will stop, hopefully to restart again soon.
Are great leaders made or born? My view is that there are born natural leaders. But experience can refine it, enhance it and distribute it more but the innate skills have to be there. There is nothing worse to watch than an uncomfortable leader, someone who is not happy inside the skin of a leader.
You're not easily distracted or lose focus readily.
You don't lose the plot often. You tend to have strong methods and techniques to stay on track.
Influence it rather power it along. If you're a corporate warrior, you understand that there is an ebb and flow with working in large organisations and you go with it, you don't swim against it. You don't try and push something along or insist on it no matter how much your power, it will happen in its own good time, just be there to sponsor it, support it and talk it up every opportunity you get.
You have built a great mechanism inside you that deals with when you need to scream that allows you to scream without being heard, in essence you have built a sound proof booth inside you that silences the screams or at least muffles them whilst giving you time to deal with whatever is going on.
That is, there is a safety valve but it is hidden and well constructed. That is the sign of a great leader and a great person. Being able to handle the enormous stress and pressure yet still deal magnanimously, serenely with what is going on outside yet still help others amidst your internal 'chaos'. If they only knew!
They pick the best, they chose to work with the best or the best their company can afford (there is a big difference).
You're pro-active meaning you have a hunger for opportunity or new information or new ideas or new proposals.
You're not easily discouraged, you don't give up especially with an idea you really believe in.
You understand what is required to move your idea from the bright spark stage to a venture, to a project with definitive shape, timing and scope.
You back your ideas with your resources, with your time, with your effort, with your money.
You have so managed the machinery of your personal life that it is there to serve you and provide you with the support you need to excel externally.
You don't let personal or family problems (there will always be those) interfere with your goal/mission.
You work very very hard but do so within a framework of intelligence & intellect
You have passion.
You work extremely well with people.
You are physically extremely fit (like an athlete) and you work out daily.
You're driven by a mix of things, with none dominating, there isn't a preponderance of one over another, such as money, position, revenge, fame, reward, to excel, to show someone who didn't believe in you.
You can be driven by both positive and negative motives and emotions - both can drive you far very far but only one will allow you to look back with satisfaction and pleasure when the ride is over.
You have capacity to burn - you have put yourself in a position where you have so increased your capability and aptitude for work that it far exceeds what it needed to do the work currently on your plate (in fact you can easily take more on but you won't because as you know you need a reserve).
You have increased your capacity by developing a strong and stable platform for performance.
You get things done you execute.
You find people are behind you you're ahead of them .
You're thinking 5 years ahead planning 5 years ahead.
People seek you out for your advice and support.
You don't overly rely on others (who else will have your energy, drive, mission and will to complete?).
There is something inside you that compels you, forces you, places an imperative on you, a compulsion on you to create great work. You are like a Beethoven with the music flowing out of him, great work flows out of you endlessly you just need to sit down and tap into it (almost). You are willing to pay the price for this facility, for this gift.
You're very good at what you do, come to think of it, you're one of the world's best. You have to be to excel in today's global market.
You understand the economic powerhouses of China and India and how best to place your business, your employer's business, your family business, your personal business to best take advantage of those economies.
Great patience to wait for the right time for opportunities to crystallise once you have set the wheels in motion by creating the opportunity in the first place.
Qualities of one of those who are not currently one of the best
Becoming one of the best means to start on a journey of excellence filled with hard work initiated by your intellect. This may not be the journey for you.
Don't have the supporting intellect. A monkey inside a luxury sports car has no idea where he is and what it is to be used for. He will relieve himself on the leather seat because he knows no other form or framework. You cannot be one of the best if you do not have the intellect required. This is something one is born with or not as the case may be.
May have the powerful intellect but have not worked it, exercised it, given it muscles and strong tendons.
Inability to emotionally become an agent for change. Most people hate change, to be one of the best it is not sufficient to allow yourself to be carried along on the tide of change, you must become change yourself. Those that can't do that are not yet ready for being one of the best.
Inability to deliver, can't deliver, doesn't know how to deliver.
Try too hard.
Poor people person, poor or no productive relationships generally.
Bogged down in emotional, sociopathic, paranoia, depression related problems.
High level talent but no streetwise low level graft and nous.
No focus, diffused focus, focus on the wrong things, wrong tasks at the wrong time.
Inability to create the climate for opportunities in the first place.
Politically naive, unable to comprehend where the power lies and how best to broker it, curry favour with it.
Wrong priorities, unable to prioritise according to a plan/some plan/any plan.
Spent time wasting, wasting time. Doing the wrong kind of waiting (waiting for others to kick start your career). Waiting for the phone to ring (it won't) or fabulous offers to come in via e-mail (they won't).
Effort but no intellect/smarts driven direction.
No effort, insufficient effort.
Lack of application.
Poor physical fitness resulting in lack of energy, drive, motivation, ambition and the will to succeed.
Poor choice of partner, partner does not provide the required level of support.
Personal/family life (possibly in crisis) is not supportive of your aims in fact it is probably the opposite and hostile and destructive of your aims.
About Gilbert Labour. If you feel you have what it takes to be one of the best then he can help you reach your target, whatever that may be sooner that you could by yourself. He can teach you fast so you can change faster. He is an Executive Coach and Life Coach practicing in Sydney Australia but with a world wide interest in coaching with one of the world's leading life and executive coaching web sites. He has 30 years corporate experience in legal, government, telecommunication, banking & finance, insurance, accounting, IT and transportation industries. He is also a process improvement (Six Sigma, Lean) expert and an IT infra-structure and development professional within those industries. During these 30 years he has seen many examples of poor leaders and managers but doesn't recall a time quite like the present when there are so many poor leaders in industry and politics. He is available to consult and support on any aspect of executive coaching as it assists organisations in the midst of radical and fundamental change including process improvement efforts preceding large retrenchment programs. He is also a project management professional able to execute Six Sigma based projects. He believes that organisational change begins with fundamental even radical personal change, for the better, in attitude and approach hence his insistent but balanced emphasis on life coaching in the context of the Executive Coaching Retreat (ECR) in Mauritius in June, 05.
Life Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 67
What are you waiting for?
Good waiting v Bad Waiting
What is the right type of waiting? There are no real good types of waiting, waiting is generally bad there are just degrees of bad waiting, of wasting time, of time wasting.
The benefit of waiting of patience of waiting for the right opportunity versus the opportunity lost waiting. When is waiting right just right (you have waited exactly long enough) and when is waiting dithering, wasting time, not striking whilst the iron is hot (you have waited a moment too long)?
What is the right type of waiting? That is difficult to answer but generally speaking the correct type of waiting is where you have kicked off some project or event in your life and you are awaiting others to provide products or services or support or advice to move to the next step. At least with this waiting you are moving forward, probably not at the pace you would like but still it is in the right direction.
Good Waiting
You're not waiting on yourself but on others to do something (but that has its own special issues too).
Where the waiting has been planned by you in the overall scheme of things and you are just executing the plan and waiting is part of the plan just like a planned pause in music.
When you need time to recover, to heal from a crisis, from the aftermath of a disaster. This can be also bad waiting but it is good waiting if during and after the healing period and process a new start is proposed, suggested, intimated and then made.
Where the waiting is part of an action plan, where it could be a strategy or tactic.
Good waiting is happy, good natured, kind, serene, hopeful, open not shouting down the phone line or raging because someone has let you down. The only person who has let you down is you.
Bad Waiting
Where you are waiting on yourself to make a decision. A key a major decision a life changing decision. The problem is that an element of fear has crept into the decision process fear of the regret for the decision not even made yet. Feeling the whip at the crack before it hits bare flesh.
There is no magic Deus Ex Machina that will magically occur that will solve all your problems. Someone will not come along who knows you intimately as well as you know yourself and express and fulfil your wishes a moment before you feel them. That is a fantasy and clinging to it is bad waiting.
Not having started anything, waiting for someone else (or something or some event) to kick start something along before you get yourself into gear (it will never happen unless you personally do it).
Waiting on some chance event to occur. I will do this when I win the lottery, when I meet the right person, when I reach 30 years of age, when I have lost 20 kilos, when I have more self-confidence, when when when. This type of waiting is really wishful thinking masquerading as a waiting problem.
Waiting for someone to give you approval to proceed with something you do not need anybody's approval to do, in other words fabricating a sign-off process when there is no one who will or can sign-off and there is no process per se. This is especially prevalent where someone is very dependent on a parent and that parent passes away and they are still waiting for that parent to approve all their plans/moves. Their future is on hold till the dead parent can approve. In other words their future is hostage to the past, to a past person or event even.
Waiting for a spark, for an idea, for an innovation to get you going. It will never happen spontaneously unless you rush out and create all the pre-conditions necessary for your spark of genius. You must work, you must sit down, stand up and work and work until (if you have the spark of creation in you) the work/creativity crystallises into something more than the sum of the parts. This will only work for a very few. We are not all geniuses.
Waiting for the right season. You can't do something in summer because it is too hot but then winter is also too cold os you wait till summer. There is no season for doing, doing is for now not for later. Later is part of current planning.
Waiting for the economy to improve, for business conditions to get better, for government and countries to enact legislation favourable to you and your position. Stop wasting your time. Develop strategies that avoid waiting for some nebulous body.
Overplanning is akin to bad waiting. How much planning is required to get on with what needs doing?
Being risk averse is also similar to bad waiting. Waiting till all the pre-conditions are right, till all the risks are identified (they never will), waiting till all the identified risks are mitigated (They never will either) and waiting till the risk climate changes it never will because it is not the climate that needs to change it is you.
Putting an absurd or nonsensical pre-condition before you will actually do something. This is especially prevalent with people who are absolutely petrified of change and who think the most ingenious reasons for avoiding change in their lives. These reasons are transparent and on analysis patently empty.
When you deliberately place an impediment in front of yourself so you will not have to do something, face something or someone or move on in your life. These include getting ill at the appropriate times in your life then defer the decisions required around that time or putting on lots of weight and making yourself insulating yourself in fat from a broken/breaking/about to be broken/entering into a relationship where your heart could be broken. Food is a great insulator for the cold heart of rejection and heartbreak.
If you have a major body image problem or issues with how you look or how you are then you will tend to exacerbate this situation by positively taking physical steps to avoid situations where your body image problem will be imperilled, where your defensive strategy will be exposed. In actual everybody around you knows you have a body image problem having seen you struggle inside that body of yours so it is no secret or mystery. It is only a secret or mystery to yourself.
How to turn bad waiting into good
Recognise your bad waiting for what it is - avoidance of life, avoiding making decisions that may go against you. Being risk averse is really being life averse.
Understand what has led you to use the strategies of bad waiting, of avoidance. Face the fears, face the rejection. If you are considered by society as ungainly, ugly, overweight and as a result you have developed those avoidance strategies (well after all it's not your fault really) undo the avoidance strategies by loving yourself more and loving things less.
Weeping is no solution and don't enter into the materialistic domain to solve these problems. You cannot resolve and dissolve avoidance strategies by tears and body image problems by a bigger house, car, boat.
Recognise where and when you need help and seek it. This is fundamental to moving on (not forward that's too far advanced at this stage).
If you feel embarrassed at seeking help, you're not ready to begin resolving your problems. Take your time, you have all the time in the world waiting for that moment.
About Gilbert Labour. He is an Executive Coach and Life Coach practicing in Sydney Australia but with a world wide interest in coaching with one of the world's leading life and executive coaching web sites. He has 30 years corporate experience in legal, government, telecommunication, banking & finance, insurance, accounting, IT and transportation industries. He is also a process improvement (Six Sigma, Lean) expert and an IT infra-structure and development professional within those industries. During these 30 years he has seen many examples of poor leaders and managers but doesn't recall a time quite like the present when there are so many poor leaders in industry and politics. He is available to consult and support on any aspect of executive coaching as it assists organisations in the midst of radical and fundamental change including process improvement efforts preceding large retrenchment programs. He is also a project management professional able to execute Six Sigma based projects. He believes that organisational change begins with fundamental even radical personal change, for the better, in attitude and approach hence his insistent but balanced emphasis on life coaching in the context of the Executive Coaching Retreat (ECR) in Mauritius in June, 05.
Life Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 66
Finding an unusual person to assist and support you - finding someone of uncommon intelligence and regard for you is a miracle
This article was inspired by a comment made by Madame de Stael regarding Fouche 'a transcendental intelligence in matters revolutionary' and also by the thought that everybody needs someone brilliant (but kind and caring) in their lives. Most of the interesting people in life have somewhat diametrically opposed qualities seemingly in opposition to each other but taken as a whole sublime in its beauty of form and content. Poet/engineers or superbly metaphysical but yet prosaic down to earth.
Over the years I have met and been invigorated by a number of people (not a huge number). These people include my father and a couple of dear friends that meant a lot to me. The sample size is not large to be able to make some general quantitative extrapolations about the nature of these very special people but the experience of being with them is distinctive enough and striking enough for any effort, aimed at coming up with reasons why these work so well, meaningful. It is not a matter of quantity but quality.
What makes the people and the relationships with them so special. I have in mind something that is extra dimensional about these people. The first thing I can say about the three I have in mind (my Dad Raymond, Rajesh now in Africa, Carl) is that they all combined brilliant intellectual achievements expressed in visible and invisible capabilities with kindness and care for their fellow human being.
You will meet brilliant people in your life. Not many but they will be there. Probably less than 3. Now of those that are kind and will take the time to be with you to teach you to mentor you to coach and advise you as an equal they are very few and far between.
Let's face reality most brilliant people do not have time to spend with you on a regular basis. They are too busy forging glittering careers in politics or the professions or creating new businesses or creating new products categories or developing new markets. These aren't the people you should be looking for. The people who are outstanding yet able to help you are hidden from you. So it takes some investigative skills to discover them (until they discover you).
The purpose of having this person in your life is not for you to drain them with your needs and wants but to be able to learn from them in such a way that you will be able repay as you're being advised or some time in the future to be them with someone else to repay the kindness if you will.
They combined strong logical approaches to problem solving and objective approaches to life generally with an artistic sensibility. Feeling, temperament, sensitivity and logic is a powerful unusual combination. This combination sometimes sits uneasily with those who possess it. That is one way to recognise these creatures.
Talking to anyone of them you never knew how the conversation started and where it might end. It was pleasurable from start to finish. In other words, the range of subjects covered the depth broached and the intensity felt was blistering.
Carl introduced me to George Bataille, my Dad to Nietzsche and Rajesh, a former medical student who was not able to complete his medical studies in Zimbabwe due to political problems and emigrated to Australia via RSA, introduced me to a level of gentleness married with an impossibly smart regard, his power of expressions was remarkable, the tone of his voice was doctor like soothing but crystal in its certainty and confidence.
Carl was a musician who also was an IT expert and programmer. He was the perfect example of the type combing supreme artistic skills (he played a jazz guitar on his last day at work as a farewell concert unbelievable) and he had a few potential partners fighting over him. I'm not surprised.
What do you do when you find someone like that around your periphery but not yet in your orbit? Watch from afar and admire if you know what it is you are seeing. The question is how to get them into you orbit. Evince a strong interest in whatever it is they are most interested in.
Generally speaking for every one hundred persons you meet you will meet one exceptional person who falls in this category of artist, mystic, sage, scribe and scientist and most importantly wants to commune with you. In some ways there is nothing you can do about bringing that person to you, they come to you, you don't go to them.
My Dad had a remarkable facility for everything. How was that? I don't know just pure genius I think, there is no other explanation for it. He combined both what Carl and Rajesh had but in a supremely intellectual package that spoke of generations, slavery, french culture and its collision with negritude, his vision of Mascareigne literature and so many other things. Yet he was also approachable, charming and someone you could connect with quite easily being virtually all connectors himself.
About Gilbert Labour. He is an Executive Coach and Life Coach practicing in Sydney Australia but with a world wide interest in coaching with one of the world's leading life and executive coaching web sites. He has 30 years corporate experience in legal, government, telecommunication, banking & finance, insurance, accounting, IT and transportation industries. He is also a process improvement (Six Sigma, Lean) expert and an IT infra-structure and development professional within those industries. During these 30 years he has seen many examples of poor leaders and managers but doesn't recall a time quite like the present when there are so many poor leaders in industry and politics. He is available to consult and support on any aspect of executive coaching as it assists organisations in the midst of radical and fundamental change including process improvement efforts preceding large retrenchment programs. He is also a project management professional able to execute Six Sigma based projects. He believes that organisational change begins with fundamental even radical personal change, for the better, in attitude and approach hence his insistent but balanced emphasis on life coaching in the context of the Executive Coaching Retreat (ECR) in Mauritius in June, 05.
Life Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 10
Obesity and the roller coaster ride from nadir to zenith and back
There are five journeys in obesity, which one are you on now?
Why are there obese people when there are people starving in the world? Is obesity a medical problem rather than
one of lack of self-control or perhaps even one using food for sexual/sensual gratification for masking (?) the real problems?
How successful is someone who is 250 kilos at 'masking' or hiding the problem?
The five journeys is obesity are -
Getting there becoming obese, this is the easiest journey of all and happens almost without you knowing. This journey is on the road to death.
Staying there at a steady weight, this is a hard journey because the tendency is to put on more weight not less. This journey is a slow death.
The next journey is one into hell and that is on the road to putting on more and more weight. This is the last journey these people even embark on.
This journey ends in death.
The penultimate journey and the one with the most difficulty starting is the road back away from obesity. The enormous journey back is not the problem
but the first step back, the first gram lost. This journey is not a journey of weight loss but a journey to lose the fears and problems that the weight gain had
temporarily put on the back burner. This second last journey is the life coaching journey and has much less to do with weight loss, exercise and fitness and more to do with
facing problems in their real intensity and fury perhaps for the first time since the decision taken to embark on the first journey.
The last journey and that is to keep the weight at the target weight after the massive task of weight loss because again the tendency is to put the weight back on
even faster than before and much much faster than it was lost. For every gram lost a kilo is put on.
Work with a life coach who understands your weight problem is not a weight problem but a personal problem posing, impersonating a weight problem. Someone who knows which
journey you are on and can make sure you either move to the next healthy journey or stay at the healthy journey you're on.
New Life Coaching Service Model - All Inclusive Platinum Service
Product Features
One new low totally all inclusive monthly fee ($400 AUS) - currently this is $500 AUS. Saving $100 AUS per month.
No contracts whatsoever, pay as you go month by month. Start when you want, stop when you want. No questions asked.
No need to furnish more than your first name. No notes taken during any sessions and no personal identifying details asked for, required or noted down.
Coaching can take place exclusively by phone and/or internet but it is preferred that an initial one on one session take place but this is not essential.
All inclusive, no exclusions, all services available (as per below).
Paid once a month at the beginning of the month (non refundable if cancelled during month).
Entitled to the full range of services (one on one, SMS, Mobile, Phone, ICQ, MSN Messenger, MS Netmeeting) on an as required basis. But does not
include CD and video conferencing products.
Use as much of the service as you require but please note as coaching is a relationship which requires and places responsibility on you to complete
agreed upon tasks, there will be regular scheduled feedback and catchup sessions. These are usually by phone or ICQ.
Clearly articulated and set goals such as embarking on a new career, changing careers, developing new small business, creating small business growth,
preparation for retirement, developing additional income in/for retirement.
These services include small business development coaching, product development and promotion, and press release preparation.
Payment and services commences in the calendar month of first payment and lasts till the end of the next month, then regular monthy payments commence on the 1st of each month thereafter (for example) ---
Paid 1 month on 15th of July - $400
Payment due on 1st August - Nil
Payment due on 1st September - $400
Payment and services terminates at the end of the calendar month of the last payment as follows (for example) ---
Payment made on 1st October - $400
Decision to cancel made 4th October and notice to do so received on that day or any day within the month
No refund policy but services available until 31st October if required
No further payments then required due to cancellation
The Platinum Life Coaching Product is now the only life coaching product available aside from
tailored programs and the featured programs.
50% Discount for bona fide students. The fee for students is $200 per month.
You will receive an exceptional level of service and care from one of the best life coaches practicing today.
Coaching Programs
555 Program
The 555 Program is complementary to the 333 Program and is part of a family of programs called The Numbered Series, a simplification of a plethora of products, services and programs into
a number of specifically targeted set of programs that target a very specific audience with a limited amount of time and resources to devote to a life and executive coaching program. The programs
covers a set of goals over a set period for a specific (one time only) fee.
The key goals of the 555 Program is to be able to run 5k in 5 months, to solve 5 life coaching issues or problems in 5 months and to investigate and resolve 5 executive coaching problems
in 5 months.
Life Coaching Portal Programs
Beyond the existing Diamond program being run on the portal, a series of additional programs are being developed to be run for specific audiences and which have very clear targets and goals.
These include the following.
The 555 Program
Gilbert Labour, will personally run this program. It will probably take in the region of 10 suitable people and run for 5 months. The program is multi-faceted and covers three main streams a fitness stream, a life coaching stream
dealing with personal issues and an executive stream to supercharge your work, business and corporate environment.
The first stream is a fitness element. The goal is to be able to run 5k (non stop) in five months and be able to lose 5 kilos in the process. This is a modest achievement and is considered a healthy approach to fitness generally.
I am a former fitness instructor and dance teacher and can provide guidance in this area. You will need a clearance from your doctor if you're over 45.
The second stream is a life coaching element. The goal of the life coaching is to investigate a number of current personal issues and focus on 5 for resolution in 5 months. One to be resolved or at least worked on each month.
The third stream is an executive coaching element. The goal of this element is to come up with five goals or issues to be dealt with in the 5 months of the program. These could involve working towards a promotion, changing jobs, changing careers,
leaving the corporate environment and developing a small business. For the hard core executives and other corporate thrivers and survivors there will be a number of areas that include executive interview training and executive decision making that can be covered.
There are many others and these can be chosen based on your current goals. The aim of this stream is canvass all the possibilities and focus on only 5 and work through each one.
The cost of the program varies. To take part on a one-on-one basis with Gilbert Labour will cost $5000. To take part in a group setting will cost $2000. Individual programs can start at anytime considered suitable.
To provide this program on a company wide basis (more than 10 people), please call Gilbert Labour for a quote.
Please call Gilbert Labour on 0409 223 436 if you would like to take part. Further information on the 555 Program is available from the portal.
General Information
I also do a small amount of pro-bono work in the area of life coaching. I belong to the Life Coaching Pro Bono Group (LCPBG), a group of life coaches I am putting together to do this type of work for people in need but who may not be able to afford the services of a full fee life coach. We make allowances for your circumstances and also on the understanding that once you're back on your
feet, your capacity to contribute to your life coaching will also improve.
Generally speaking, we will set clear goals, we will put in place plans to attain those goals, we will execute the plan effectively. We will monitor and survey the results and ensure our goals are met. In most cases, we will envelope what we are trying to achieve into a coaching programme.
I operate flexibly taking into account the needs of the client as we progress with the programme.
Please call me on my mobile (0409 223 436) for a confidential discussion to begin the journey of self discovery.
Linking to My Site - send me details of your URL. Please note I will only link to your site if your site appears on the search engines already. When you send details of your site, please advise
which search engines the site appears on. If you do not follow this rule, I will delete your request immediately. Please also no "home business" or no content web sites or those that use those robotised
link lists.
