Empowering Manager News November 2006
leadership through partnership
In this issue
Beginner's Mind
Habits
Where do you stand?
More information
Tell Me Something I Don’t Know
BEGINNER'S MIND
In a Tai Chi class recently, I asked everyone to try doing our Tai Chi Form together with a 'Beginner's Mind'. To start with, one student said it made him feel more anxious and 'in his head', and this is sometimes the way it feels to be a beginner - worried about getting it wrong, making a mistake. However, there is another way to be a beginner, and once I had explained it properly, everyone was able to relax and go with the flow much more easily. I found that the Tai Chi Form I first learned 1979 was completely new and fresh all over again, and as I turned to my left at one point, I noticed all sorts of detail about the wall that I'd never noticed before. Everything seemed more alive and enjoyable, I was having more fun.
The idea of Beginner's Mind is to approach what you are doing as if you have never done it before, with no preconceptions, surprised by everything, wide open and curious about what will happen next. In this way, we can focus on the present moment fully, allowing ourselves to engage completely with the task in hand.
I find this especially useful when I'm listening to someone talking about a topic I already know a lot about. It is so tempting to think 'Huh! I know a lot more than this person!' and simply stop listening. Whenever I catch myself going down this road, I try to change my perspective. I make a decision to move out of the 'Know it All' place and stand in the Beginner's Mind place. As if I know nothing about the topic and this person has new valuable information for me. My deliberately choosing to listen, to take a genuine interest in the person spe aking, connects the two of us powerfully. Every single time I do this, I find new insights, new information and new ways to look at what I already know. And it simply makes life more interesting and enjoyable.
If you want more inspiration about how great it feels to come into the present moment, take a look at Nic Askew's short film about Morgan Fisher (Nic's Monday 9am Film of the Week for the week 20th November).
HABITS
The 'Know it All' place is not a good or bad place, just another habit. As Vladimir Vasiliev says in his guidebook to the Russian martial art Systema:
'Any habit is a problem. If you live with habits, you're living the way of the soldier. If you live without them, you live the way of a king. ..... a soldier must follow but a king doesn't. ... He doesn't take orders. .... He is not a worrier. He is relaxed and without restraint.'
In Systema, the aim is to have very natural movement, letting go of habits of movement so that one can be completely present with what is happening, now, and respond to that instinctively.
To check whether you have physical habits, just take a look at which foot you lead with walking upstairs or which hand usually goes forward to push a door open. You may find it fun to experiment with the other side.
As well as physical habits, we can have habits about just about everything we do, especially in our thoughts. How we see ourselves, other people, our lives, what is possible, what is not possible, what will happen, what won't happen.
A book that really helped me own up to my habits of perception of myself and others is 'Leadership and Self Deception'.
WHERE DO YOU STAND?
So how about choosing to stand in a different place next time you find yourself stuck in a habit or thinking 'OK, so tell me something I don't know'? My hot tips to help you change your perspective:
- physically change your body position at the same time. If possible, discretely move to stand in a different place, so you are literally looking from a different perspective, or
- change something about your body posture, either to match something about the posture of the person you are with, or to make your own posture more open.
And I love to know that great masters of their craft also enjoy taking the Beginner's Mind perspective, still wide open to new learning. In May 2005, I saw Tim Gallwey, one of the founding fathers of modern coaching, do just this at the European International Coach Federation Conference. He listened attentively to talks, attended many workshops participating enthusiastically, and asked deep questions with wonderful childlike curiosity. His attitude had a powerful impact on me.
Very best wishes for an awesome autumn.
Alison Smith CPCC
Empowering Manager
leadership through partnership
‘One who thinks he knows not, knows;
One who thinks he knows, knows not.’
Shri Guru Gita Sanskrit text
See Tai Chi for Everyone for information about Tai Chi and recommended reading.
See Nic Askew's short film 'Train to Kyoto' about Morgan Fisher
More information about Systema, the Soviet Special Forces Training at www.russianmartialart.com
See Julio Ollala's CD talk 'Ontological Coaching' for a great explanation of how important and powerful it is to be open to new ways of seeing the world.
Arbinger Institute
More about Tim Gallwey at www.theinnergame.com
STRESS UPDATE
See Stress Busting for Teachers by Chris Kyriacou for a great book packed with ideas, research and practical support to help teachers cope with stress, and take action on the causes of stress.
