I started coaching because I thought I could help people be better leaders.

And I do help. But in a very different way than I thought.

At first, I would instruct. I would teach. I would give clients frameworks and content and (dare I say) “wisdom.”

My clients seemed to appreciate what I was offering.

Then a curious thing started happening. I’d say something, and then a client would excitedly share something with me.

That had nothing to do with what I had been talking about!

My clients were having insights, but they were having insights IN SPITE of what I was saying.

I was getting in the way!

I started experimenting with saying less. With seeing how little I could talk.

And they started having MORE insights!

Sure, I might ask an occasional question, to clarify their experience. But most of the time I was silent.

There is something about simply creating a space for insight that is better than any thinking I can offer.

While that’s humbling, it’s also magic. Because everyone already knows what to do. They just need someone to pull it out of them. To help with the fear that shows up when they see they really can be who they want to be.

Would you like to experience that? DM me. Let’s have some fun.

My client had come to me to help her manage a difficult boss. There had been a lot of changes in a business that she had helped start and lead, including the death of the founder.

From a business perspective, things were good. They were scaling, and my client was doing very well financially. But it was exhausting, and no longer inspiring her.

Her goal was, in her words, “To find a way to make it ten more years so I can retire and do what I want.”

She wanted passion. She wanted meaning. But the paycheck was holding her back.

What if she could have both, I asked. Money and meaning? A purpose she believed in? People she loved working with?

Suddenly she lit up.

“That could happen, couldn’t it?”

Is it worth a try?

Sometimes just knowing that something is possible is enough.

Ten months later she had a new job, making more money, plus an equity stake, at a firm whose purpose she really connected to.

Two years after that her new employer went public.

The insight she had was virtually priceless.

What are you not seeing? What’s really possible for you?

My client felt stuck. Her company was growing rapidly, and she had come to me wanting strategies for time management and “staying on top of things.”

As the founder, she was feeling like she needed to do it all. Because she always had. True, she had help. More than ever. But it was more and more people doing what she told them to do.

It was exhausting.

I asked her what she was best at.

“I love working with clients to get really clear on their vision.”

And what are you not good at?

“All the financial stuff. Budgeting, accounts receivable, project management. But my name’s on the door, so I feel like I have to be involved.”

Even though there are other people who are better at it?

Her demeanor suddenly shifted. Her shoulders slumped. Her voice softened. And it that moment, she and I both had a realization.

“I’m getting in the way, aren’t I?”

In that moment, I learned what true leadership looks like. Yes, you do the thing you love to do. You exercise your superpower.

You find other people to do everything else.

Everything.

In only a few weeks, everything changed for her. She went from overwhelm to ease and focus and joy.

She remembered why she founded her company.

To serve.