How to keep your form when you confront the unknown

Keeping your form when you teach, coach, facilitate, or lead.

Whenever we work with other humans, we’re working with the unknown. We can never know what’s going to be thrown at us.

What can we do in the face of the unknown?

We can keep our form.

Long-distance runners reach a point before the finish line where every cell in their body wants to collapse. But if they push through it, they eventually find a fresh pocket of energy that allows them to finish the race. As teachers, coaches, and facilitators, we need to do the same.

My friend John Baron, a vocal communication coach, shares an incredible story about being asked to give a small workshop in Italy. When he arrived for the workshop, he discovered that what he thought would be a small informal group was actually a talk on stage to a packed auditorium of 500 people. And the translator disappeared right before he was set to begin.

John’s story is the best I’ve heard about keeping your form in an unexpectedly stressful situation. 😉 Here’s the link to his article to read what happened: https://johnabaron.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Expecting-the-unexpected.pdf

John’s story is dramatic, but this happens to all of us, in big ways and small. For example, I knew someone who was hired to teach high school math and when he showed up on the first day, there were no books or supplies. He had six classes of students that day that he needed to try to entertain until his teaching materials arrived.

YOU can walk through fire and still hold your form. Hold your form no matter what.

For more on holding your form when you teach, train, coach and facilitate, check out my book: Getting messy: A guide to taking risks and opening the imagination for teachers, trainers, coaches and mentors.