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On Being Enterprising
Before I became a life coach, I had spent most of my career firstly in the Civil Service and then in politics, ending up as Chief of Staff to Iain Duncan Smith, at that time Leader of the Conservative Party.
The Basis of Coaching
From politics to coaching sounds like a fairly dramatic change of direction and, on one level at least, it certainly was. But I like to think that the values that attracted me to each of these careers in turn are consistent. Those values are: a belief in individual responsibility, and a desire for everyone to have the chance to fulfil their own potential.
In my view, those values are the basis of coaching. The whole concept of life coaching centres around the belief that we all have the right – and the responsibility - to fulfil our potential and that, with proper support, we all can fulfil our potential.
“I believe people are most likely to be happy when they are masters of their own lives”.
“I believe that people must have every opportunity to fulfil their potential.”
You could be forgiven for thinking that these quotations are straight out of one of Fiona’s books. But you’d be wrong. They’re actually taken from the Conservative Party website. And it’s not just the Tories: the Labour Party website stresses the need for:
“strong community and strong values” and “rights matched by responsibility”.
The Political View
What’s so interesting to me about this is that the main political parties have now reached pretty much the same position on the key issue of the relationship between the state and the individual.
Gone are the days when the Labour Party stood for the subservience of the individual to the needs of the state. And gone too are the days when the Tories said there was no such thing as society. Both parties recognise that a healthy country, economy and society comes about when people have the opportunity to make the most of their lives, within a supportive and dynamic community. Well, frankly, we life coaches could have told them that years ago!
National Enterprise Week
The other fascinating link, for me, between the political outlook in this country and the world of coaching, is the emphasis on entrepreneurialism. Fiona said in last week’s newsletter that, if you really want control over your life, running your own business is the only show in town, and she’s right. And yet again, she’s one step ahead of the powers that be. The Government has finally woken up to the need for dynamic, thriving, entrepreneurial business in this country, not least as our traditional manufacturing and industrial base declines.
At the Advancing Enterprise Conference held in January, Gordon Brown told business leaders that in 2004 the Government would be focussing on inspiring the young to be enterprising and the Government will hold the first ever national Enterprise Week in November 2004.
Well, you don’t need to wait until November to start being enterprising. You can get started right now by taking our new Be Your own Boss course. Backed up with coaching where you need it most, it will give you all you need to set up your own business. Who knows, by the time Enterprise Week comes around, you could be up and running!
