The Boardroom Beat #38 - Coaching is... White Space.

Part 1 Of the a Five-Part Series “Coaching is…..”

Coaching is a white space place. White space was the topic of Board Room Beat #19 posted February 2023. Here’s a quick take from that article:
1.    White space is valuable. But…
2.    White space is elusive. So…
3.    White Space tips.
Now, two years later, comes this revelation:

White Space is Hidden in Plain Sight!

Last week it took two hands to count the number of clients who arrived at their sessions with palpable relief, expressing gratitude for the “me time” their coaching provided. It was a precious sliver of time carved out on calendar to pause, breathe, and push back from constant execution — time for strategy, and for self. Why is it so daunting to dedicate time to these essentials?

The Inherent Challenge

Typically it takes white space to recognize the need for white space —talk about a chicken-and-egg conundrum. That’s cruel irony. I have yet to have a client set the intention to “honor and leverage white space” as a coaching objective from the onset. Instead, this insight emerges over time — the “X factor” of coaching. Layers peel back, and self discovery unfolds. (See Board Room Beat #36 “My Client is an Ogre”) As the cadence of coaching becomes more concrete, a budding realization takes root: the creation and effective utilization of white space is either;
-    foundational to original objectives, and/or,
-    the key to more expansive objectives.

The Subliminal Messaging Challenge

We are bombarded with subliminal messages that glorify busyness and convince us that we must always be doing something to be productive, valuable, and successful. These messages come at us from all directions—workplace cultures that celebrate long hours, social media influencers who elevate hustle culture, and self-help channels that relentlessly reinforce the idea that “busy = important.”

Some leaders with exceptional emotional intelligence begin coaching with the awareness that they have tied “being busy” to their identity. Stepping back from the trenches of day-to-day execution requires a significant mindset shift. As one client aptly shared, the transition from “managing the work” to “managing the teams that manage the work” felt deeply unnatural. Another client, recently promoted to a dream role designing and launching internal development programs, experienced a shift from a reactive to a proactive workload. For someone whose career had been shaped by a rhythm of meetings, tasks, more meetings, and more tasks, having space for ideation and creation presented an unfamiliar scenario.

The Doing vs. Being Challenge

While white space benefits individuals at any stage of their career, career advancement make it even more essential to dedicate time to strategic thinking. It reminds me of a quirky blog I posted in 2020 “Being vs. Doing.” (Follow the link, and, yes that is a bearded dragon perched on my head.) 
        
We are often pushed to choose within a paradigm of absolutes.  
-    Breathe…..center..…BE?    
-    Go…..accomplish..…DO? 
In fact, BEING and DOING co-exist synergistically. The art of BEING magnifies the science of DOING. White space is the accelerator. 

Coaching Is…..

Coaching is White Space. If you are fortunate enough to work in an organization that offers coaching programs, seize the opportunity — take the time for yourself.  As when traveling alongside children (or when leading teams)…you must secure your own oxygen mask first.