by Margo Boster
I recently presented a workshop to a group of fellow coaches at an International Coaching Federation meeting. I realized that my style, my approach and my very message were not consistent with what most people did. Afterwards, I had a moment of questioning myself: “Should I have been more of what they were expecting?” Are you good enough? Compared to whom? Or are you the one who's working with idiots? How do you value yourself in the workplace?

There’s something broken in how we run organizations today. Polls about happiness at work show that 60-75% of people are disengaged. Many professionals are tired of the rat race, tedious budget circles, office politics, cubicles, being controlled and feeling limited. They wonder: how’s what I’m doing serving a better world? Or: how’s my job helping me develop my unique talents? Well, at least it pays the rent... but I’m so tired/stressed/bored... (fill in the blanks). Isn't it time for Organizational Evolution?

I recently spoke with a professional who struggles with pitching and how to sell herself. “I don’t feel at ease doing so” she said. “While I know my work is of value for my clients - even after a year they tell me how much they benefited from my facilitation.” An interesting conversation evolved to identify why so many self-employed professionals have trouble presenting themselves to sell their services. National culture, gender roles and personal issues play their parts. But the biggest constraint to success (to your own standards) is very often the inner critic.

How well do you collaborate? Are you a team player? People have a natural tendency to work together and collaborate. Cooperation is the basic driver of human civilization, explains Dirk Messner in Leadership & Change Magazine. We all have a drive to belong to a group or team or tribe and feel acknowledged and respected and safe – even in individualistic cultures. In general, we tend to go to great lengths to adjust to our group culture. We copy the others, as I know very well from my organizational culture work. We also coach others to behave according to group norms and if they don’t adapt, we’ll correct them in a number of different ways.