Welcome to the twenty-seventh issue of CEE News!

When I meet with new executive coaching clients on the first day, I give them two things: a set of reflection exercises and a journal.  It’s a nice, moleskin journal with our firm’s logo embossed on the front cover.  I tell them that, over the course of our work together, they’re going to be given the opportunity to make some changes to help them grow personally and professionally.

For most people, change – both good and bad – can cause fear.  Every time they feel a twinge of fear, I ask them to record it in their journal.  “With time,” I tell them, “that fear will turn into reflection as you build distance from what was holding you back. Our goal is to turn that reflection into insight.”

In his book, Strangers to Ourselves, University of Virginia Professor Timothy Wilson suggests that we shouldn’t study ourselves like archaeologists – observing each feeling in detail.  Rather, we should put our feelings in the perspective of a longer life story.  Growth is moving from the minutia to the landscape.  It’s about getting perspective so that we can move from fear to reflection to insight.  That’s the path worth journaling.