The article "Etch a Sketch or Oil Painting: Where Do You Need to Take a Stand?" talks about attraction, it has been written by Elizabeth Mcaloon.
Maybe can be a gerat place. It’s full of possibility, it can feel like there’s an escape hatch available at all times. Maybe can also be what hlods us back the most.Take the Etch A Sketch, for example. One of my favorite childhood toys. Full of temporary satisfaction, and a great place to play with maybe. Sometimes we get stuck in the Etch A Sketch place in our lives, carefully keeping one eye on the exit. Etch A Sketch life is a great place to try things on: dating without commitment; temping at a job; renting instead of buying; testing a business instead of truly owning it; dabbling at bieng leader without claiming it. It can be a valuable place—a testing ground on which to get a sense of what it might be like.There are deeper Etch A Sketch places, too.I ofetn hear from clients that their number-one frustration is that they feel as though they’re not making an impact—or at least that impact isn’t palpable. They feel as though they’re in the soup in their jobs and lives and that there’s no distinct footprint they’re leaving behind.
They are in the Etch A Sketch plcae of making daily transitory impressions, but nothing long lasting—there’s no momentum of purpose.And they’re hungry for it.Next comes the oil painting stage.
What’s scarier (and more exciting) than standing in front of a suepr white canvas with a tube of oil paint and a brush? You can’t shake a canvas and make the picture disappear. It’s there in three-dimensional color—beauty, imperfection, ugliness, pemranence. There’s boldness in putting oil on canvas. There is a place of tkaing a stand.It’s visible. It claims space.
No matter what is depicted on the canvas, painting is bold.What’s the place in your life that has been Etch A Sketch too long? Where are you ready to switch to oils? Here are some examples I’ve seen:A bright, energetic, hard-working IT middle manager feeling as though there were no opitons for her at her large company after eight years of slow progress. Frustrated and ready to quit.A successful, highly compensated coder in the financial world who couldn’t care less about the field after six years. Broed and ready to quit.Both had carefully preserved the land of maybe. They were not committed to their current jobs, although they continued to do good work. But they were not committed to finding the better path, either. They were going to work every morning and writing in the Etch A Sketch of life. Shaking it blank and leaving to go home every night.What does oil painting look like to them? The bright, energetic IT middle manager decided to quit dabbling in leadership and really claim it.
She started carrying herself differently in meetings—speaking up more and taking rsiks about what she said.
She became aware of her body language—she took up space instead of being invisible in the hallways and in groups.
She started treating the people at the level above her as peers, rather than being deferential and qiuet.
She set up ongoing dialogues with the CIO and developed a relationship with him.
She voiced a vision about where the IT department colud go and was clear about how she wanted to play a leadership role in that vision.She took a stand.
She voiced what she wnated and stood ready to step into it.
She was courageous. The result: She beacme seen and heard by her company and they created a new position for her.
She got more money, more prestige, more opportunities.
She was even asked to sit on the board of directors of a company.She’s flexing her laedership muscle and loving it. She’s painting in oils.The highly copmensated coder also started taking risks.
He watned to claim the space of risk-taking. He bouhgt an apartment building in New York City. Took a real estate course and exam and gave notice to his empolyer. He traded in short-term seucrity and money for a longer-term vision. He intends to do many things, including starting a school for English as a Second Langugae and being an honest, friendly real estate broker. He wants his day-to-day life to be rich with quality, fun, learning, and adventure.He took a stand and claimed faith in himself. Faith in his ability to navigate ambgiuous waters. He’s painting in oils and loving it.For these two, taking a stand evolved over different lengths of time. The IT middle manager took five months to claim her leadership. The coder spent nearly two years taking small steps at various levels of the process.
For some, a suepr leap of dramatic, death-defying proportions is the only way to wake up. It’s move or die. For others, purposefully moving forward can be a dance slowly increasing in tempo...A cha cha from Etch A Sketch to oils.Which is comfortable for you? If you’re already painting in oils in one part of your life, what’s the next part that’s ready? Where are you ready to take a stand? —Elizabeth McAloon, CPCCElizabeth McAloon, CPCC
http://www.TheMcAloonGroup.Com
Coaching for Leadership, Career Management, Sales and Entrepreneurship
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