Matthew’s Blog

On Lines and Drawing Them

     2005 was a wild and crazy of a year full of challenges, discoveries, and deep profound learnings for me. In December I made a new friend at the Thought Leader Gathering by the name of John Lenker. Now John is an artist, creative, designer, and entrepreneur with a brilliant mind and perspective. When we met, he seemed entranced by the name of my company, WorkingIntentionally™. I could sense the gears turning and locking in his mind. Ever curious I stayed with him in our wisdom circle conversations. He had found in our conversation the lynch pin to a long brewing epiphany. His epiphany hit me hard and struck deep. The the ensuing days and weeks have been full of ricocheted ideas and perspectives into every nook and cranny of my life. I thank John for sharing it me and now allowing me to share it with you. What he said was:

• It is NOT O.K. to draw outside the lines

• It is equally not O.K. to have someone else draw the lines for you

• It is reckless to draw outside the lines before ever having drawn them

    We live in an era which has come to glorify drawing outside the lines. We think it is creative and clever to draw without lines. We’ve let this morph into our business practices. Coaching is no exception. I believe we actually pride ourselves in our ability to draw outside the lines. We may even chastise the idea of drawing the lines altogether. Quite ironic given that a cornerstone to coaching is accountability. In Arbinger speak, I found myself saying “I’m the kind of person who doesn’t need lines.” (Now that is a scary self justifying image).

    What happens when we do draw inside the lines? I remember watching my mother color with me. I loved the way she colored. She would trace the inside of the line very firmly (marking the edge for herself) and then gradually fill in from the edge getting lighter and lighter as she reached the middle. It was mesmerizing to me and a meditative practice for her. Somethings she would fill in completely and others she would not, white is a color too remember? She had a sense of satisfaction upon completion that I never achieved drawing outside the lines. When we fill in the curves: we go deeper; we complete things before going onto the next; we choose to color or not to color; we get stronger; we get more defined; we can claim our work and claim our lives; and lastly perhaps most profoundly we manifest what we’ve drawn.

    WorkingIntentionally™ is about doing the work that was meant to be (intended) to be done. It is about doing the work in a deliberate way that honors who you are. John’s comments echoed in my ears until I realized that I was not living my company’s calling. Speaking from my own experience, my practice did not grow last year. I drew all over the place yet never within the lines because I had never drawn the lines to begin with.

    I have been reckless. I have spent the past three years of my business drawing outside the lines, more aptly – never drawing the lines at all. Never having a business plan. Never fully treating my business as a business. I know I am not alone. Almost every coach I know, with a few exceptions, are in the same boat whether they admit it or not. Does this sound familiar? We have all been drawing outside the lines. We are drawing recklessly without ever drawing the lines. This has got to stop!

    So, as a part of my drawing my lines anew, I am drawing up a business plan this week (I’ve never had one). At Thanksgiving I started a rowing challenge which I continue today. I am scheduling my weeks fully. For the community, I am launching a six month teleclass in February in professional foundations to help coaches bring themselves into alignment around who we are as professionals, help us draw our lines and for some, for the first time. I am engaging my plan, going deep, and building my business within the lines of my business plan. How about you?

     In our resistance to drawing the line we often forget that we can always move the line later. Its like declaring our niche. Without the line no one know who or what you do. Start somewhere, get good at it and then move the line if you want.

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.

How courageous are you? 
How expansive is your world?