CHANGING TO EVOLVE
CHANGING TO EVOLVE
Training for change as an opportunity for constant evolution
When we praise a sports coach, we often say things like, “He totally changed that player or that team, achieving incredible results.”
It appears that, regardless of the sector, the success of a coach is proportional to the final result achieved. In fact, we cannot know (unless we correlate statistical data before and after) what this “change” really consisted of. Moreover, it is easy to oversimplify, with a veiled judgment, the value of an athlete or a team before the coach’s arrival. It is a bit like saying: they win now only because they have changed, or at least they perform better than before. In other words: if they had been already perfect (and winning) before, they would not have had so much “need for change”.
This example is useful when seeking to identify a possible preconception, or even embarrassment, discomfort or uneasiness, which may arise when speaking of CHANGE.
Why are we talking about change?
Maybe because I’m no good anymore?
Let’s imagine, for example, a prominent, high-level company where the top management decides to engage the services of a business coach. A natural reaction within the company would be to wonder about this decision (which already implies change, compared to a situation when you’ve never had anything to do with this kind of figure): “What do we need a coach for?”
This means that even mere aspiration to change may represent a threat, compared to a solid and reassuring status quo, suggesting, “Why not keep going the way we always have?”
And here we are helped by the precious words of Carlo Rogers, the father of the so-called American humanistic psychology, who stated: “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself, just as I am, then I can change.”
It may be surprising that this “curious paradox” perfectly suits the initial comparison to a winning sports coach. In fact, as in professional sports, where it is difficult to imagine a coach who takes on poorly trained athletes and magically turns them into super champions, the job of a good coach should be considered from a totally different perspective.
“Allenarsi al cambiamento” come opportunità di costante evoluzione
A new perspective begins when we become more aware of ourselves, of how we are made
Each of us has our own way of working, almost as if we had an instruction manual that is unique, precious, and irreplaceable. And only a deep understanding of how we function can help us to work even better.
This is the added value of a good coach. Consequently, change can arise only if we “respect” the way we work, as we gradually discover and master further skills and abilities that are in fact already part of us.
Awareness is combined with the progressive setting aside of the “judgment” (or “prejudice”) component, because it is not a question of receiving marks on how reactive or analytical we are, but rather becoming aware of how we have learned to use the components of our own unique way of being.
After all, we marvel at the incredible ability of a microscopic viral organism to mutate in order to continue to exist, so why be afraid or hesitant about the possibility of changing day by day and becoming new people, more suited to the challenges that we are bound to face?
This much is clear: change is not easy at all, because usually “old habits” are very comfortable and close at hand. And not everyone wants to know what their current “functional limits” might be (in potentially critical areas, especially in the event of stress) and commit to overcoming them. Yes, let’s face it, discovering and transforming yourself into a better person can be tiring, but it is certainly a source of often unexpected satisfaction.
To do this, the first thing is listening. Indeed, the potential of each person is revealed in direct proportion to the quality of listening and the degree of acceptance dedicated to the same person.
“The only man who can be considered educated is the one who has learned to learn; who has learned to adapt and change; who knows that no knowledge is ever certain, and that only the process of seeking knowledge forms the basis of certainty.”
Carl Rogers
