What Makes Life Worthwhile? Good People Made Better

Once in a while you get news that makes your life worthwhile.

Last week a colleague sent me a text with the phone number of a former client: “He wants to speak with you.”

I called the new mobile number right away and learned that Vlad has been promoted to the top position at an oil production (E&P) company. For a professional, this is an incredible achievement!

Needless to say, I have been waiting for this news for quite some time because I have been sure in his potential since the day we met.

Actually, he is not my first client who has landed the top job over the last 3 years, but the other two have not been looking for my new number though. Rather, one of them would vehemently deny any impact he might have had from coaching. And that’s fine because the feedback of his direct reports was the best praise: “What have you done to our boss?”

But with Vlad, it was different from day one. Indeed, during one of our first conversations, he said, “I want to improve myself, and through that, I will improve my organization’s business performance.” How often do you hear an unsolicited statement like that?

His vision and deep understanding of the coach-coachee relationship and its benefits struck a chord with me because it fit my approach to coaching: make good people better.

Obviously, it worked. And I would add: It worked well for both of us.

We discussed his new challenges and immediate goals. One of them is to move his family to a new location. Luckily, his wife is extremely supportive and his lovely baby daughter is not expected to complain yet. He plans to dedicate himself entirely to the new job – and excel in it, as always.

“Will you be able to work with me again?” he asked. Of course, I’d love to. We have never stopped working together, have we?

… I realized that we have been chatting for 30 minutes already. “Sorry, man, my call is becoming very expensive to your company! I know you big guys are always busy…”

He interrupted me right away, “There’s no such thing as ‘busy.’ It is only a matter of priorities. Was it not you who taught me?”

True, that was me, five years ago.

Once in a while you get news that makes your life worthwhile.

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Share the good story with your network if you like it.  For obvious reasons, I am not linking my coachees’ profiles to the article.