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Last week, Isaac and I traveled to Scotland for the Global Followership Conference, and spent four days afterward exploring the Scottish Highlands. The landscapes were stark and breathtaking, the mussels and scallops incredibly delicious, and the language “translations” often surprising and funny.
And travel–especially to another country–always reminds me how valuable it is to change your perspective once in a while. When your everyday routine falls away, you’re often left with the clarity of what’s most important, and that insight can propel you into a more meaningful, intentional use of your time.
In the coaching process, perspective taking is strategic. Without physically traveling anywhere, a coach uses specific lines of questioning to help you peel away your habitual assumptions and see the circumstances of your life from a different point of view. This can help you solve problems, prioritize your time, and heal and harmonize relationships. For example, you might like to try this little imaginative exercise:
Imagine you are living five years in the future and have achieved a major goal. What did you do between now and then to get where you are now?
Or how about this classic coach question:
If you didn’t have to work for money, what would you do with your one and only life?
Perspective taking can also be transformative when navigating sensitive interpersonal conversations, since figuratively standing in the other person’s shoes activates the empathic response and helps you stay in the moment with compassion and curiosity, even when your own fears are activated or when your own values are challenged. It can even help you find common ground where you saw none before.
Can you identify or learn what is important to the other person? How might this guide your conversation with them? What new insight might emerge as a result?
Finally, I’ve found perspective taking super useful when you’re receiving feedback, especially when you did not seek it or choose it, as is typically the case in mandatory workplace performance reviews. Reframing the feedback you receive in the context of the giver’s priorities, preferences, or expertise can help you choose how to respond, or how relevant the feedback ultimately is to your own professional development.
Consider the other person’s interests, responsibilities, and position within the organization.How does their feedback reflect those factors?
Has changing your perspective helped you with a personal or interpersonal challenge? Please share your story in the comments! If you’d like to learn more about the coaching process, please reach out to me for a private consultation.