Sometimes the answer is a simple lack of skill – you might just be missing a key lesson.

Those of you who have been reading extraordinaryNews for a while may remember my blog ‘5 lessons I have learned from falling over this year’.

The back-story: My (then 6 year old) daughter and I got roller blades for Christmas 2012, and from my falls I learned some important lessons about leadership as well as roller blading.

18 months later, you could be forgiven for expecting me to have moved on from that point! And yet last weekend we set off on a roller blading adventure. We had been on that bike path many times before on our bikes, and it didn’t seem steep! As I gathered speed, the path divided and narrowed, and I crashed! Owwww! Bruises, strains, lost skin – despite wearing all the attractive safety gear.

That night my husband said to me: ‘If you were coaching yourself right now, and thinking about the potential implications of your rollerblading accidents on your work and family, what advice would you offer?’

Good question husband dear!

If I were coaching myself, I would ask:

1. What’s the common pattern across these situations?
2. What belief are you holding that’s getting in your way?
3. What underlying skills are you lacking?

My answers:

1. Pattern – each of my three major spills have been on slopes.
2. Belief – Practice makes perfect… I can teach myself!
3. Basic skill lacking–Being able to stop.

So now I have engaged the services of a coach to teach me the basic skill I lack. Until I have mastered that I will stay on flat, smooth ground!

How might answering these three questions help you today? What basic skills are you missing?

Have an Extraordinary day
Corrinne

PS  A basic skill new leaders often lack is the ability to communicate with confidence and clarity. If that’s your challenge, join me for ‘Cut Through Communication’ in Melbourne on 19 June.