Some time ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a seminar hosted by Verne Harnish - The Growth Guru.
It was a full day seminar that provided information on how businesses can grow, and strategies for increasing turn over.
As a student of public speaking, I was astounded by the manner in which Verne gave his presentation; his ability to hold the attention of the room for 8 hours was like nothing I had seen before. Despite being 1 in a room of 100 people, Verne made it feel like a personal experience.
There was a point where Verne spoke about the need for executives to have a coach; someone to mentor them and ensure that they are on the right track. To illustrate this, he used the example of Tiger Woods. Tiger, the greatest golfer ever, was at one stage in his career without a coach. This was a personal choice of his as he thought his abilities had come to a point where he could go on improving on his own with no outside help.
Tiger’s results during this period showed he was wrong. With no one to point out irregularities in his swing or to assist with his mental focus, Tiger experienced his greatest form slump. Then as if by magic, when he hired his next coach he regained his stranglehold over world golf.
I thought that this was a brilliant illustration of the need for an outside perspective. When things are going well and we feel on top of the world, there is always a tendency to think we can go it alone. But with no one “checking our swing”, things can easily go off the rails.
With this inspiring example in the back of my mind for a while, I enthusiastically took advantage of the opportunity to have my very own Project Management mentor to “check my swing”. Starting in November last year we have been meeting fortnightly for an hour to discuss areas for improvement and any recent issues.
This experience has enriched my knowledge in my craft no end as I now have someone who’s not involved in my organization to bounce ideas off (always obeying client confidentiality requirements of course). I’m feeling a lot more confident in my career and increasingly less daunted by tasks I previously would have thought beyond my abilities.
Is there someone that you can engage with as your Project Management coach or mentor?
