Since my return to Lloyds Bank in October, I’ve indulged in a few coffee catch-ups with colleagues I knew from the less than golden olden days.

i.e. Lloyds v1

People are intrigued to hear about why I quit my Director role in 2021 and even more intrigued to hear about why I came back to Lloyds.

i.e. Lloyds v2

A question I’ve been asked a few times over a flat white and an almond croissant is this:

“Do you think you have better tools to deal with work now?”

I usually nod, talk about what I discovered during my 2 years away from banking and mention how my perspective of work has changed.  And then the conversation moves on.

Answering this way covers off the question while giving a relatively truthful answer.

But it’s the short answer.  It’s not the full story. 

Not by a long stretch.

If I wanted to give a more precise, accurate answer, I think I’d say this:

I don’t have any new tools to deal with work. Instead, I have a deeper understanding about how life itself works.  And from this place of deeper understanding, it sometimes occurs to me to act in ways I never would’ve acted before.  

At work, and in life.

For instance:

A few weeks ago, I sent an email to 350 colleagues in my wider team.  I wanted to see who was interested in taking part in a series of Mindset Workshops I was setting up.

In Lloyds v1, I never would’ve had the courage to pitch these workshops to 350 people via an email.  

I would’ve had thoughts like “who am I to run these workshops?”.

Or even:

What if someone else thinks “who is Tom to run these workshops?”.

So I never would’ve sent that email and I never would’ve run the workshops.

And, in turn, I never would’ve had colleagues emailing me to say how “brilliant” and “superb” the workshops have been.  Or emailing me to tell me about the “positive impact they’ve had on my work and personal life”.

Sending that email has given me the opportunity to make a genuine, tangible difference to the colleagues in my wider team.

Which is amazing.

And it’s all because sending that email looks very different to me in Lloyds v2 compared to Lloyds v1.

But here’s the nub:

I haven’t reframed that email, found a funky tool to deal with it or mustered every drop of willpower & determination I can summon.

I haven’t done any of these.

Instead, I see life differently now.  The cloudy, misty glasses I used to view life through have been removed.

At least to some extent.

Which means I don’t need to answer questions like “who am I to run these workshops” because I’m not asking myself these questions in the first place.

It’s a big shift.

And it’s a shift I can directly link back to being coached.

So no surprise that my own coaching is built around the very same idea. 

When I coach, I am categorially not giving you tools to deal with your work/life balance woes or work-related stress.

I’m not tempting you into thinking more positively about work or suggesting you reframe your challenges into “development opportunities”.

I’m not putting your feet to the fire, encouraging you to step up your willpower & discipline, then holding you accountable to a checklist of actions we agree on every Zoom call.

If this is what you want then there are plenty of traditional coaches ready and very willing to help you stock your mental library so you have tools, reframes and discipline coming out the wazoo.

What I’m offering is a different, more accurate way of seeing the world which automatically leads to less stress, more energy, more clarity and greater opportunities.

And, in turn, to long-lasting, transformative change.

More info on my coaching here:

https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com

 - Tom