The Coaching Lens would like to share with you Coach Ida Kmiec’s personal story about Learners and Leaders and the Power of Potential.
As professional coaches, we are committed to both sides of “potential”. Our Personal Coaching can help individuals learn about their strengths, confidently articulate their competencies and be open to their own potential. Our Leadership Coaching is designed to enhance the skills of those in a position to seek out and nurture the potential in others.
Ida’s story begins in 1968. The internet as we know it had not yet been invented and neither had social media nor tiny, electronic, video-streaming devices. Computers were roughly the size of tanks and most people had no idea what to do with them.
And there Ida stood, at the dawn of this amazing era, clutching a high school diploma along with a manually-typed resume, possessing basic accounting and secretarial skills and looking for an office job. But it soon became clear that her lack of actual office work experience meant that no one was willing to take a chance on her potential. It’s a cruelly circular argument that continues to devastate today’s young job seekers.
Then a new job posting appeared: The Faculty of Education at the University of Toronto wanted an assistant to literally unpack its new computer from the crate, figure out how it worked and persuade it to do something useful. Ida was determined to apply — her interaction with computers was non-existent but how much could anyone else have either?
“Don’t bother, I’ve already sent over the top five resumes from your class.” The High School Guidance Counselor waved Ida impatiently away but seeing her disappointment, he added “Oh, leave your resume. If none of those work out, maybe I’ll send yours over.” A steely determination came over Ida and for the next three weeks, she visited the Guidance Counselor every day to politely ask whether the job had been filled. Finally, he grudgingly admitted that none of his “best” applicants were successful and agreed to send her resume.
Ida’s interview was outside anything she had expected. Larry, who would become her boss and mentor, ignored the resume and instead questioned her in a way that brought out Ida’s curiosity, her passion for learning, her fascination with new “things” (later she would correctly call it technology!) and her ability to work enthusiastically, diligently and independently. Ida was hired on the spot. She spent two years taming that computer and that was just the start of a successful 35 year career as an Information Technology specialist.
As you can see, it’s not enough for eager-to-learn, job seekers to simply “have” potential. Nothing will happen until a Leader comes along, someone willing to take the risk of creating an opportunity to release that potential. Together, Learners and Leaders can create a powerful environment for innovation and success. Contact us at The Coaching Lens for more information, whether you are a “Learner” considering a job or career change, or a “Leader” looking to hire or unleash the powerful potential on your team.
