I just returned from an excellent four-day Advanced Coaching Seminar at the Hudson Institute. It was a great opportunity to recharge my batteries and learn new things to improve my coaching work. Santa Barbara was warm and luscious.
I was particularly impressed with the lectures by the author, coach and seminar leader, Richard Leider of the Inventure Group in Minneapolis. He provided several keynotes on the subject of “calling,” as did author and coach John Shuster. Both of them have books out addressing various aspects of calling. (see below) Both authors agree that the first step is to become thoroughly grounded in defining your purpose. (Each of you should feel good about that advice, because that is one of the first things I get you to do!)
As you pursue your calling, here are five bits of wisdom from theses two masters:
- Callings are brought TO a job, not found IN a job
- Callings are a generosity, not an obligation. (“I can’t wait to do it”)
- Callings are UNcovered, not DIScovered, and are often attached to golden threads leading back to your youth
- Callings are usually associated with the use of our own unique life gifts. What gifts are you blessed with?
- When are you in the “gift zone”? (In the gift zone, we lose all track of time, don’t hear noises or distractions, and feel in sync with the flow of time) Activities that take you into the “gift zone” are important clues to your own calling
If you are engaged now in the process of redefining your career calling, you will find either or both of these books very engaging and helpful:
John P. Shuster. Answering Your Call. A Guide for Living Your Deepest Purpose. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Books, 2002. $15.95
Richard J. Leider and David A Shapiro. Whistle While You Work: Heeding Your Life’s Calling. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publications, San Francisco, 2001. $15.95
