“Don’t expect more than what your client wants.”
I learned this in the programme I enrolled to be a coach. I realised its importance rather later. Who are my clients? They are those who I am interested in and can assist to succeed, my kids, students, coachees and anyone who talks to me, and I listen.
I went for my son’s parent teachers meet; he had scored nil in his second language. The teacher advised me, change the language, might help. I came and asked my son, he said he will continue the same. Of course, I had influenced him. Even after 2 exams, he has not scored a point, but I see him progress. The teachers are disappointed. What the school and teachers expect of my son is to score a minimum pass. What my son wants is to have fun in learning. I expect not more than what my son wants, a cliché statement, but what I want to believe in.
I want to ask the student who finished his professional graduation and went to property sales, ‘what did you want?’ I also want to know what he wanted who changed his career from medicine to engineering to have the chance of being on Oxford. In both and other situations, I expected a little different than the persons whose welfare I wanted. I corrected my expectations and aligned it to those I am interested in.
How much are the parents responsible for the success of their kids. Her daughter wanted to do criminology. What made you get interested in criminology? “I don’t know, just like that.” The mother was clear, “We have discussed, and I realise that she does not understand criminology at all. Let her do medicine and then if she is still interested, she can specialise Forensics.” I just nodded along with her daughter.
What do you think? What do you want? What do you expect? Your thoughts please