As a business leadership coach, you can learn from a variety of sources. You learn from credentialed programs, classes, peers, clients, research, and reading. You can also learn a few lessons from the Occupy movement that is currently practicing civil disobedience across the country. It doesn’t matter on which side of the political aisle you sit, there are lessons to be learned from the protestors who claim to represent the 99%.
Though the Occupy movement has very little to do with business leadership coaching, there are universal lessons that apply to many situations. Despite its populist leanings, most polls show that the vast majority of Americans don’t identify with them. Is this because they disagree with their objectives? Or, is it because most Americans really don’t know what their objectives are?
Yes, the Occupy movement can teach you a few lessons; it’s not what they have done right, it’s what they have done wrong.
4 Lessons a Business Leadership Coach Can Learn From the Occupy Movement
Have a Point! What is the Occupy movement’s point? I think many Americans wonder about this as it seems to be rather amorphous. As a coach, you do not want your clients to wonder about the point you are trying make. Having a clearly defined point of view is essential when coaching business people to be leaders. Have a point and let your clients know exactly what it is!
Set goals! Does anyone know what the goal of the Occupy movement is? To get the 1% to give the rest of us their money? Maybe, maybe not. That’s the problem – there doesn’t seem to be any clearly delineated goals and objectives. If there are, they have not been properly articulated. As a business leadership coach, you need to set some easily understood goals and objectives for your clients.
Provide solutions! Is the Occupy movement full of crap? Some many think so, but I tend to believe that we do have issues with an income gap in this country. I don’t know what the answers are and it sure seems like the Occupy movement doesn’t have any either. As a business leadership coach, you need to have solutions, and if you don’t have any solutions, you should at least provide a roadmap to reach a potential solution. No business leadership coach has all the answers, and it is sometimes best to only provide a roadmap for your clients so they can find their own answers. But, a successful business leadership coach will usually have one or the other.
Don’t overstay your welcome. I tend to believe that the Occupy movement would convert more Americans if their civil disobedience was shorter in duration; show up each day, but go home at night. By staying the night, they break local ordinances. By staying too long, they alienate those who might align themselves with the movement. As a leadership mentor, you need to understand that too many sessions may alienate clients, or possibly make them suspicious of your motives. Do you value time over quality, or are you scheduling a high number of sessions because it means more money in your pocket? Every client or situation is different, but overstaying your welcome is never a good thing!
Whether you believe in their cause or not, the Occupy movement has captured people’s attention. As a business leadership coach, it may seem like an odd place to learn a lesson, but valuable lessons are often found in the strangest places, and the Occupy movement is one strange place!
Fred Philips
Business Coach
Writing Team, Coaches Training Blog Community
Hi Fred,
Interesting post. I had never really looked at the Occupy movement as an example of practices (good or bad) that can be used by a life coach. Obviously, we have all heard about them, but their success or lack thereof will depend entirely on whether they have laid out a plan of success, which is at heart what we do.
Excellent way to make a good correlation!
RAL
Fred, while I appreciate your insights into the business world you do not understand Occupy at all.
I want to give a little background on myself to qualify this statement. I have just opened up my own brokerage, prior to that I’ve been a real estate sales agent for 5 years and am a 6 figure earner with no consumer debt.
I am an occupier, have been since day 1.
I do not live in the park, I have meetings in the morning and need to shower. Plus I like beds. I did visit the park practically every day and spent many hours interacting with other occupiers and participating in the General Assembly.
I identify as being one of them and I’m accepted in my local occupation as an active participant.
Occupy is a decentralized non-violent resistance movement. It is a 21st century movement, unlike the familiar 20th century political movements (such as Civil rights) which rallied around a charismatic leadership (like MLK) the Occupy movement has no leaders, it is an organic, grassroots initiative.
What is mistaken as no goals or direction is in reality the many voices of the individuals within who are seeking common ground. What we are doing is talking with each other. Through this consensual conversation we will learn what our common desire it and the action forward.
What is clear to me is that we do not desire other people’s wealth. The opposite, we want other people to stop taking our wealth. Further, the control of our politics by special interests is called fascism. We are taking back our world and our governments.
Free handouts and forcing the “rich” to pay more taxes isn’t the problem, what those taxes are used for and the way in which the benefits of their use are shared is.
If you would like to talk more about Occupy please feel free to email me.
Thanks for the comments. I agree with tenants of the movement, but, as I mentioned in this post, I believe their message and goals are nebulous at best. Enlighten me. Thanks!