A Little Behind the Game

I am about half way through my peer coaching sessions and my coach let me on a little secret…I am supposed to be journaling about my classes in order to prepare for my self-assessment. I am glad to have found out about this sooner than she did as she is scrambling to get all her experience written down. I am going to try to ‘catch up’ over the next two weeks before I start taking classes again after the New Year.

One of the first classes I took was the Power Tools class - Responding vs. Reacting. I took the two courses on Monday, October 30, 2006 and Monday, November 6, 2006. I found this to be a great class to hurtle me into the coaching world. As we discussed responding vs. reacting I was encouraged by such a small revelation. When I started to evaluate my own life and look at whether I respond more or react more I was encouraged to realize that most often I responded responsibly to situations. I was also able to realize that I would much rather be a responder than a reactor. When looking at the character qualities that define responding and comparing them to character qualities of one who reacts from an emotion place it solidified my resolve to want to respond responsibility.

I was also encouraged as I used this basic tool in my coaching sessions. Even the simple use of the word RESPOND evoked a more responsible outlook and focus to the situation that was occurring. I will be able to use the concept of responding vs. reacting often in my coaching sessions as it can be directly related to perspective, but that will be a later entry. In general people want to develop good character qualities and when they evaluate the difference between responding and reacting they like the person they see when they look at responding responsibly rather than reacting out of emotion.