On May 13th and 14th I was in London for the kick off of a new experiment with one of our closest clients (Thornton’s Budgens). They are a mid-sized, independent supermarket in North London owned by a fellow visionary (Andrew Thornton) who for many years now has put HUMAN POTENTIAL development at the center of their vision and operational strategy. He sees his store as a lab where he / we can experiment and test out all of these human-centric approaches and really measure the impact it has on business performance. As the experiment unfolds, so does the story that can be told to other retailers / businesses. This is proving to be a brilliant way to open doors and inspire others to go on similar journeys. The latest experiment involved bringing in 10 coaches from the Being at Full Potential network to coach the key people of influence in the store over a period of 6 months.
For me personally this is another dream come true. So far Being at Full Potential has been quite successful at opening doors with organizations using our unique assessment and discovery workshops, but understandably, it has been more difficult to inspire people on the follow through (harnessing phase) where the insights get implemented in the day-to-day work. This is really the most difficult piece (as many change agents in organizations will recognize). It is normal to encounter more resistance at this stage because this is where the work gets real and letting go of what we know and feel safe with can be very scary and painful. I have a lot of compassion for this but at the same time know that this is the next frontier for the work we do.
The invitation to come into the store with a group of coaches for a period of 6 months is therefore an amazing step in that direction. On my way home last night I was sharing all of this with some of the coaches and one of them (thank you Mirjana) reminded me of the connection between the inner and outer worlds. She pointed out that the opportunities to support organizations more deeply in their culture change process would naturally come when I was ready for it.
When I got off the plane and turned on my phone I saw a message from one of our US clients giving the go ahead on a follow up coaching project that had been on hold for the past 6 months. At this point of course I could feel the incredible flow of the universe and how interconnected we all are. The kick off of the coaching program in London had set a lot more in motion than I could imagine. I am so grateful for these moments flow and I’m now even more confident that everything is unfolding exactly as it should:-)