Snow, Listening, and Not Knowing

These past two weeks I discovered that snow makes noise. Yes, it does fall silently except when in a blizzard. Yet, the far reaching effects can be noisy ... not the kind one hears with one's ears ... just the noise consequences.

There is a reality to our dependence on electronic communication ... I ought to know since it's how I make a living. When I was a skier without a business like coaching, snow meant only "hey, let's hit the slopes!" and nothing more. This was my relationship to snow for 25 years. And I miss it.

So what do I mean?

Well, when a client cannot call, go to work, use the Internet ... when my assistant cannot do any of these things ... because the snowfall is so deep and consequential ... then snow isn't softly calling to me, it is weather I listen to with both ears and eyes fastened to The Weather Channel. Snow is now noisy and interfering with making a living. Oh yes!

In coaching we listen differently to each client and situation. Just as I have begun to listen to snow differently and to take in what it means (which is a bit more than just weather that happens) so also must I never forget to listen to each client with an open mindset and a willingness to "not know." Whatever is new must have a place to show up. Even listening to snow differently.

'Not knowing' is far from a simple state of being when one is a "know it all" who wants to help out. 'Not knowing' is a gift to a person who must figure out how to work through a situation or problem and it's the gift of the coach who is there to explore and discover with the client what that might be.

I like to think of the great explorers: Magellan, Hillary, Armstrong and so many more who took the ultimate chance, risked it all, and fortunately came back to tell us about it. These inspiring, courageous explorers might like to know that coaches also dare to explore with our clients inside the possibility of discovery always being present.

"I will study and get ready and someday my chance will come." ... Abraham Lincoln