Waiting for a Bus that Never Comes
Waiting for a Bus that Never Comes
There are “ancient sorts of places” all around us and VIM Executive Coaching warns against paying them too much homage. There are hundreds of venues that steep themselves in nostalgia and while they can be fun or thought-provoking or even heart pulling, they are not places where executives should dwell.
The good old days were not necessarily good. The “old way” of doing business was not always the right way. Big bosses, imperious bosses who commanded respect the moment they walked into a room, were not inevitably effective or compassionate or great leaders.
We can wait on things to change in our work places, we can hope people change, we can wait at an abandoned bus stop along a route that shut down in 1953, but that doesn’t mean the bus will come or a work place will automatically change in response to social or other issues, or that boorish behaviors among certain co-workers will dissolve on their own.
It is up to us
Lest we are accused of dismissing the past or railing against what was once good and decent, our intention in bringing up the topic of necessary change is not to dismiss walking the beaches of Normandy or avoiding Doo-wop concerts or never studying the wisdom of great basketball coaches. This post is to warn against being stuck in situations that are not only intolerable but that we instinctively know are not good for us.
For, in fact, you should not try to take on an entire corporate culture that is toxic; you should not spend sleepless nights being angry over work place situations for which you have no control; you should not try to be authentic if you are being swamped in a sea of inauthenticity. None of those busses will ever arrive. You can change you. You can change your response. You can find a new way to get to work, either in-person or virtual.
It is easy to get stuck. This, we know for certain. Executives get stuck largely because they feel overwhelmed by change. Executives get stuck because they believe they have no other options. Executives get stuck because they become numb, and so they wait – for what, we cannot imagine.
Abandoned bus stops are fearful places
Waiting without intention, waiting for something to happen – that the executive knows will never happen – do more than treading water. Time passes, the executive’s presence becomes overlooked and, in a sense, the waiting comes to identify a career.
We once worked with an executive who knew he was in a poor situation for thirty-two of his thirty-seven years in the employ of an organization. Over the years he had become a fixture, much like the potted rubber plant outside his door, the oak veneer desk left over from 1976, the very biased attitudes he had loathed from the beginning. He was afraid to change, afraid to take risks, afraid to be himself. The bus stop had become familiar and safe, but no bus ever came. Eventually he was forced to leave which was the worst way to change.
VIM Executive Coaching helps executives overcome fears of change, through mindfulness training, learning to be more authentic and understanding they do have options and that they can move on to more productive careers.
There is nothing wrong with nostalgia or viewing abandoned places and imagining, but it is also essential to move on and to be a part of something more vital and real.
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VIM Executive Coaching offers dynamic, highly effective coaching programs for executives and entrepreneurs. Our unique approach combines ancient wisdom and techniques with modern approaches. We would be happy to offer you a FREE, NO OBLIGATION coaching consultation! Please click on the link below.