Ready for Lift Off?
Image © NASA
We’ve all been there – staring at the TV screen, listening to the crackling commentary of a countdown to launch, watching with fascination as various complicated procedures are described and actioned. Then finally, fire and smoke billow from the rocket’s base, the engine roars, the holding clamps are released, and by some kind of engineering magic, and the seemingly impossible laws of physics, the rocket rises and begins its trajectory toward and beyond earth’s bounds and into space.
A successful rocket launch is a spectacle for sure. And the phrase ‘launch pad’ has been buzzing round my head this week, after a conversation I had with a wise leader about a great little non-profit I work with. His comment was that the organisation works so well because it had a fantastic launch pad. The time taken in its early stages to develop the organisation’s values, goals and trajectory, thoughtfully and strategically, have enabled it to fly ever since. The launch pad was a vital part of its current success.
That’s when I made a connection.
Coaching is like a launch pad.
It’s a springboard, a platform, a foundation, a starting point for change. It provides inspiration and momentum for a new career, project, attitude, way of thinking or life change. It incites the coachee to action, catalysing them into a new space. The transformational power of the coaching process launches us into the next chapter of our lives – bringing clarity about the way ahead and empowering us to action the changes we want to make.
It’s not me, your coach, who is the launch pad. The coaching process is the launch pad. When you give yourself time and space to stop - to process your thoughts and emotions, to think with a ‘thinking partner’ who will listen deeply to you, ask you some great questions, bring appropriate challenge, and support you to make the changes you want to make - you are creating your very own launch pad, which will give you the inspiration and momentum to set off on a trajectory that will take you to new frontiers – “to boldly go where you’ve never gone before”.
This happened to me.
I’d been wanting to make some changes for a while, particularly in relation to work. I had moved into a new phase of life – the children had left home and my perspectives on many things had changed in the previous few years. I’d been looking at job websites for months, experiencing some midlife angst around ‘what’s next for me?’ I felt dissatisfied, frustrated and unfulfilled in my job, like it didn’t match with who I am now. I was ready for a new challenge. I went down many blind alleys. It was the conversations I had with a brilliant coach that brought me clarity, not just about my job, but about what I wanted more broadly in my life for this next season. They served as a launch pad into a quite unexpected and exciting new chapter of my life - training and setting up as a freelance coach.
Anyway, in my ‘launch pad’ musings, I got curious about why some rockets fail to launch…why they never get off the ground. And why some that do launch, go on to experience catastrophic and sometimes tragic failure in their mission. (I confess to a very human fascination with the macabre, but also, in my defence, with the physics of the whole thing.)
So here are a few real-life reasons why some rockets have failed to launch over the last 40 years of space engineering history:
Stretched and overworked staff meant a lack of attention to safety procedures (Brazil 2003)
Not enough fuel in the tank due to incorrect data input (Russia 2009)
One of the four launch pad clamps failed to release and held the rocket down (Russia 2015)
Poor directions given to the rocket’s guidance system leading to an incorrect trajectory whereby the rocket landed in the Pacific Ocean – not via space (French Guiana 2018)
Wrong environment – outside temperature too low causing vital seals to break (USA 1986)
Outdated procedures clashed with new hardware - the rocket never got beyond earth’s crust (Russia 2010)
Any of that sound familiar?! I don’t know about you, but bells started ringing for me! I wonder if you can relate to:
feeling overstretched or overworked (or the opposite)
your fuel tank running low
feeling held down, held back or stuck
sensing your trajectory is off (that your direction of travel is more a case of reacting to things than making intentional choices)
wrong environment (at work this could look like poor culture or management, or a job that doesn’t match your best skills or values; in your personal life it could look like family dynamics that keep you stuck, or a schedule that’s hindering your growth)
old habits (of thinking or doing) or outdated skills holding you back from future possibilities
If any of these resonate, (you’re not alone - I’ve done all of them), then coaching could be a great launch pad for you - a chance to build the foundations for change, to reset your trajectory and launch yourself into an exciting new chapter.
If you’d like a free, no-obligation conversation, I’d love to hear from you. We can get to know each other a little and work out if we’re a good fit as a coaching partnership. I offer you deep listening in a safe, non-judgemental space to explore where you want to get to and support you to take the necessary steps to get you there.
I’m confident you’ll soon be ready for LIFT OFF!
Contact me here.