TRACEY PITTS, PCC

I thought that I would take a moment to extend a heart felt thank you to all of my clients, past and present who were instrumental in supporting my recent credentialing through the International Coach Federation. I just received official confirmation of the approval of my PCC application, Professional Certified Coach credential, the second of three possible credentials I can achieve in my profession through the International Coach Federation. My heart is filled with absolute gratitude for every hour you’ve entrusted me with, with every goal, problem and scenario you’ve allowed me to coach you through. You’ve taught me patience, compassion, leadership, love and commitment. I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, without you this credential would not have been possible.

I’ve been learning a lot about Social Media lately. The way I learn is to participate, you know… read, respond, research, click “like”, and add things to my social media toolkit. In reading about an interesting Twitter Tornado that transpired over privacy issues and DM’s (direct messages)and prompted a debate regarding privacy issues it reminded me of a draft blog post on some issues I’d been pondering and sitting on. My post doesn’t immediately answer questions raised regarding Privacy Issues, I think of Privacy Issues as merely the symptom of deeper rooted issues. I may not be an expert on Social Media but I do feel comfortable commenting from my experience (46 Years) as a human being and (8 Years) studying human behaviour as a Coach. So here goes and please feel free to comment back.

First of all, let me set the context for what is to follow. Here is how I define two words relevant to this post – Authenticity: The quality of being genuine (free from pretense, affectation, or hypocrisy; sincere. Transparency – Easily seen through, recognized or detected.

I post based on who I am, not what I’m supposed to be for marketing purposes. I’ve often been told I’m an open book. Awesome! I take that as a compliment. I’ve also been hired because I write exactly as I speak and be in the world. Sometimes I post funny things that I’ve done like answer my calculator as though it were my Blackberry. Come on, who hasn’t done something like that on a busy day?? I am completely comfortable in my own skin and enjoy the hilarity of what it is to be human, especially this human and I don’t mind sharing. Frankly I’m tired of pretense. Get ready for my rant… have your Social Media reflect the real you so that when I meet you, I don’t fall out of my chair when I realize the disconnect! If you swear a lot and that’s the “real you”, then you might look at that behaviour or deal with the consequences (good and bad) of the market that you will capture and lose with those kinds of posts. And then own it! If you get photographed doing things you wouldn’t want us to know then once again apply the same as mentioned above. Then own it! If you say things to others about others that you wouldn’t say to them directly, you’ll want to do the same as above and then read the next paragraph.

As for you, the general public, “post” readers, do I need to remind you that judging and stereotyping and/or engaging in gossip is an expression of your own insecurities and is totally fear based? That trend in business went out with disco!

Social Media is cutting edge in that it provides multiple platforms of relationship building opportunities that allow us to “meet” our potential business associates in ways we never imagined possible before. The use of Social Media is the ultimate test in authenticity; an amazing opportunity for our world to cut through damaging interpretation and fear mongering to get to the facts for ourselves. Real people in real time.

I found the Times Colonist article – “Workplace Stress Climbing” by Derek Sankey interesting this morning. In my self employed, out-of-my-home-office world my notion of workplace stress is the cat tripping me as I walk down the hall to fill up my coffee cup.  What can I say??? I’m blessed.  That doesn’t mean to say that I haven’t experienced the type of stress the article is relating to. I’ve held corporate jobs and been in the situation where the prevalent, silent understanding was that taking vacation time was frowned upon.  Listen up business owners, push your people out the door!  A healthy, happy employee equals a healthy, happy work environment which…. wait for it – equals A HEALTHY, HAPPY BOTTOM LINE.

We often relate to corporate perks in organizations as financial &/or the amount of vacation time available. However, there is a tremendous amount of value in approaching corporate perks using a more global approach. More and more organizations are seeing the benefit of creating work environments that encourage balance and investment in all aspects of well being including Emotional, Intellectual, Spiritual, Physical, and Financial. Yahoo!

Setting up a “Well Being Perk System” might incorporate flexible time, tele commuting, day care, space to meditate and/or an on site place to take a nap. Come on…. you know what I’m talking about all you 3PM dozers.  And what about laughter? I worked in an office where we spent a ton of time laughing AND working hard. The files we were involved in were emotionally taxing, the laughter enjoyed in the environment made it one of the best jobs I’ve ever had.  Another thing to consider is office participation in a combined activity. I heard of an office in California that encourages surfing.  When the  “surf’s up” they are out! What an awesome concept and what I love about this example is that it busts the myth that work has to look a certain way.

I can hear you now arguing that customers/clients would never go for that, business would suffer. Really? What if you taking your own well being seriously inspired them to take care of their own well being? We all want happy clients/customers right?

If you are interested in further discussion about how your organization can set up its own “Well Being Perk System” you know where to find me… tripping over the cat.

What do you think of when you read the word “responsibility”? Do you wince, groan, moan and complain? Do you squirm in your chair? Do you associate it with added burden to your already burdened schedule? Well RELAX would ya! I’d like to shift your relationship to that word. As many of my clients will attest, I associate that word with access to POWER. Oh yeah baby… you heard me right and let me explain…

“People who operate in the context of responsibility declare that they are accountable for their interpretations and behaviour. Caring mainly about the ultimate SUCCESS of their projects and relationships, they are oriented to ACTION and correction rather than explanation and self-protection.”

Wait, there’s more!

“Real responsibility is not to be confused with blame, credit, obligation or duty. Acting from a context of responsibility, one is concerned with the facts only as they bear on the next appropriate action. There is no concern about whether the facts seem to give credit or blame. When one operates out of a stand of responsibility, one is EMPOWERED by being the source of one’s own results not intimidated or weighed down by that.”

Excerpts taken from “Responsibility – At Cause”, Accomplishment Coaching

If you were holding your breath while reading this post please exhale now, you’re old habits are safe for now. I’m just simply raising your awareness of potential power leaks in your way of being. So now I’ve provided you with a new twist on an old word and an opportunity to shift your context. For the next couple of days notice when you are acting from a stand of responsibility and when you are not. When you notice that you are making excuses, blaming and going for “looking good”, knock it off and focus on action and correction. Feel the power surge? Shhhh… don’t tell BC Hydro!

As most of you know I am a triathlete and recently I’ve fallen in love. With my bike! Lol, there’s that sense of humour of mine. It is true though, I’m in love with riding and I’ve discovered a lot about myself as I ride my bike in a group or paleton that reinforces one of my favourite sayings, “how you do anything is how you do everything”.

For example, the other day I was riding with a group of experienced riders and I noticed how comfortable they were with riding tightly together. In the moment I was less confident and I discovered what was in the way was trust. Me trusting ME and me trusting THEM. Because I wanted to push my limits (surprise, surprise) I CHOSE to trust them. I trusted their ability to stay off their brakes, make the right choices and so I surrendered to their collective, experienced instincts. I also CHOSE to trust me, I trusted that I had the legs to stay the pace, I trusted that I had everything that it took to be in that lead group. What resulted was an amazing pull along a challenging stretch of roadway and an overall incredible ride. I had this massive experience of oneness and in the moment I realized a parallel with how I was doing self-employment. Separate and alone! Egads!! And what was in my way was TRUST. What I realized was that if I trusted others to contribute to me and my business and I trusted that I was good enough, loveable enough, capable enough to allow that contribution I would preserve energy and most likely accomplish goals with much more velocity than I would have on my own.

What I also learned on that ride was how I achieved things based on my level of COMMITMENT and that I created an impact on the group when I was hesitant and/or unsure of my actions. Several times I had the opportunity to cut through the pack and participate in pulling the group along. When I fully committed I was decisive in my body language, my energy shifted powerfully and an unspoken communication with the group occurred. (Very cool.) The group worked with me and the effort flowed smoothly. When I wasn’t fully committed trouble brewed, flow was lost, the energy of the group shifted dramatically and I didn’t experience the group working with me. In fact, it got downright confusing. On came ah ha number two… this is how I’ve been relating to several projects I have on the go right now. I am feeling half in/half out and therefore people that are involved in those projects do not know how to respond nor take action, there is hesitancy, confusion and there is no cohesive flow. What there is to do is discover what’s in the way of me fully committing and address it head on. I have already identified one thing in my way and that is fear. What I can count on is that I usually get what I create. I’ve created a busy, thriving coaching practice and what I’m afraid of are all the disempowering stories I tell myself about what that level of commitment will require of me. (I even use the… “you wont see your bike for a while story”). I’m ready to give that story up. What about you… spot any parallels for yourself here?

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back– Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.” Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe