A Different Kind of Training

A different kind of training than the one you do at the gym, but pursuing the same goals: well-being and confidence in your potential. We have innate abilities and abilities that we acquire throughout life by practice and willpower. Their maintenance and development, no matter what category we are talking about, is done through training.

Short description

Vlad, 34 years old, employee of a multinational company. Loyal, conscientious. High-performance stress. His department manager is due to be promoted in less than six months. Vlad sharpens all his senses and focuses on obtaining the position that will be released. His palms sweat just mentioning this and his daily fears: not to make a mistake right now, not to do things that will cast a shadow on him, not to make some inappropriate decision, not to say, not to say, not to do… So it’s better not to. ”I’m waiting”.

Cause-Effect Principle

This ballast, carried day by day, did not go unnoticed. His boss was upset by the change in Vlad’s attitude. Vlad put all the cards on the table. Good move. The answer of his superior came: I support you, but prove that you are suitable for this position. And the vicious circle of turmoil began again: oh, not to make a mistake right now, not to… We try together an analysis according to the dictionary:

SUITABLE – that has characteristics in common with someone else or something else, that harmonizes with someone or something. Appropriate (for the intended purpose).

I put together, maybe a little unnatural, but with a precise purpose, the fears expressed by Vlad, the explanations of the dictionary, and Vlad’s knowledge about what is a good manager. We look at the picture together and turn it on all sides. In the string of fears earlier we find no common feature with the image of a good manager. No match. Is time for a therapeutic metaphor. – Let’s put aside everything we talked about today. Are we taking a story break? He’s just being polite, but I don’t give him time to change his mind. -Look to the farthest corner of the room, somewhere at the intersection of the ceiling and the walls. (I’m lucky, it’s a very tall hall).  Imagine that you would like to get there. What do you think you should do?

You Can Handle This Training

”I think I should train to get up there. I mean to prepare somehow. To train my muscles, and my body. To have the necessary physical condition and then to find the most suitable devices to use for the ascent: ropes, ice axes, harnesses… I don’t know. I could get there if I climbed on someone’s shoulders. But what if he moves a little or wants to leave? Am I crashing to the ground?” I listen to him and encourage him to continue. He builds the images better than I would. That’s how it should happen in therapy. At the end of the story, I feel that I have “matched”, like in the game of Jenga, every piece. Now we are going to remove one at a time. I try a comparison between his story and the premise created on the job. What does training mean in this situation? What “muscles” need to be trained? What does the training consist of? What would make a good coach? What type of equipment does he need? Between the answers, at some point, the word “attitude” slips in.

Manager’s Attitude Matters

The attitude that is not earned the day you land the coveted position. The attitude that propels you. It’s not an effect, it’s a condition. “Put on some muscle for the move I want to do, huh? I mean to put some attitude…” — Practice the attitude of the manager you want to become. What does your first training in this direction look like? When have you been in a position to practice an attitude that then became part of your psychic construction? ”At the beginning, at the very beginning. When I came to the company. I was… a lion!” – What were you doing differently than now? ”I wasn’t afraid of changes. I was receiving them and managing them on the fly. Now I’m stuck.” — In other words, could the first component of the new training be to re-express your openness to stepping out of your comfort zone? -” Yes. I like the translation.” — Openness that you hid behind “not to make a mistake”. What usually happens if you are wrong? ” I was doing something. Anything. I immediately act in the direction of remediation. I was talking with my colleagues, with my manager, with the beneficiaries. We fix it…” With the two rediscovered components, the willingness to leave the comfort zone and, deriving naturally from this, the orientation towards action, Vlad, the future manager, left my office. The prospect of changing roles can be overwhelming. Identifying, recognizing, and then trusting one’s resources is fundamental. It results in self-confidence and a proactive attitude, which becomes part of a contagious attitude. The best thing about attitude is that we can control it. It’s a choice. According to Viktor E. Frankl, “Our greatest freedom is the freedom to choose our attitude.” Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand that it is not what happens to you that determines your attitude, but how you decide to respond to it.