I love how I learn as much from my coaching candidates as hopefully, they learn from me. I was working with a respected leader whose reputation was recently tarnished by a lapse of judgment. I was walking side-by-side with this candidate to have him understand the “why” behind his actions and to emerge stronger moving forward.
During an intense conversation in one of our sessions, the candidate shared the concept of kinsugi, the beauty of a 400-plus old Japanese art known as golden repair or kintsukuroi, golden journey.
Instead of throwing out a piece of broken pottery, artisans carefully mend the piece with a lacquer resin mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. The repair method honors the artifact’s unique history by emphasizing and beautifying the break.
By the time we hit The Compass Lab®, we are all broken in some way. Baggage from a previous employer, a conflict gone awry, an important relationship lost, the list goes on. It’s okay to be broken or what I call human. The question is: how will you respond to the break? Will you cover it up or ignore it? Or will you embrace it, learn from it, and make the repair stronger than ever?
So celebrate the wrinkles and the battle scars because they are a testament to the journey. Through adversity, we can forever be better by the experience, just like my coaching candidate.
