Leadership & Perfection

Welcome to my first blog! I'm going to write about issues that I encounter with my clients with the intent of giving you some things to think about and I'm interested in hearing your comments. In coaching, we ask people about their beliefs because beliefs form the basis for actions and in coaching we're trying to help people perform and behave in ways that are going to help them achieve their goals. Just recently, three highly successful clients talked about their beliefs about perfection in three different ways. The first doesn't believe perfection is attainable but believes it's imperative to strive for it. The second, who faced a disability early in life, learned through experience that not being perfect doesn't get in the way of succeeding and believes one should "never be a perfectionist." The third used to believe in striving for perfection until she had two kids. Now she believes in "being good enough." When she's trying to determine whether to work two more hours on something, she'll ask herself: "Is what I have good enough to have the conversation I need with my client?" If it's not good enough to engage the client in the right way she knows she needs to work on it more. Being able to make the right distinction about when something has the necessary quality to achieve your goals is key. Successful leaders make good distinctions.