The Coaching Weblog

Challenge the silos inside yourself

Silo thinking has become quite a buzzword in corporate world. Organisations of all sizes are scanning their systems for “internal functional barriers”. There is indeed a good reason for this. Silo thinking equals departments standing alone, not interacting synergistically with other departments, and forgetting that they are part of the bigger picture. Consequently, the creation of common results loses momentum and local habits, customs, and cultures are left to reign.

But silo thinking is not just an organisational issue. I here want to focus at some other silos; the silos inside ourselves. How many do you have? What are they?

One of my passions in 1:1 business coaching is to work with silo thinking on an individual level. I so often meet people with excellent skills in one area – who enjoy the fruits of their talent in particular environments, but don’t think they have access to the talent in other situations. They silo themselves in. Their talent seems conditional. Beliefs become barriers.

Explore the detailed strategies 

Creativity is a good example. I have for instance worked with a coachee who creates; displays and sells beautiful paintings in her spare time. Yet when describing her professional qualities – creativity was not one of them. “I am very creative – but not at my job”, she said, smiling because she sensed there was something here to be discovered.

In our sessions, she first explored and put into words the detailed strategies she uses when being creative in her spare time. Understanding the steps she takes – by understanding the questions she asks herself whilst being in the creative flow – the coachee then did a model for her creativity. “My Creative Web” she called it – illustrating it visually as a spider’s web, allowing room for interconnections. Next step was translating these questions into work related inquiries, and testing them out in that environment, remembering each and every element from her success model.

Build Cross-Silo Excellence

During the coaching process her framing of the talent began to change. And with that her daily experience changed. Need I to say, that she is creative at her job today? She has succeeded in decoding a strategy from one silo and now knows how to tap into this resource across environments and situations. Thus she has built what one may call Cross-Silo Excellence. 

This unique method operationalises strengths and thus optimises performance. And not only that: The process is firmly anchored within the coachee and based on his/her own successful strategies – now understood and put into practice in new ways. This leads to high levels of empowerment, provides inspiration for dealing with other “functional divides” inside, and paves way for new levels of human expression and wholeness.

Now that so many corporations have dealt with their organisational silos, I expect the next step will be the individual ones. In this lies a massive - yet still hidden - corporate potential. It is a matter of bringing to life what's really already there - and that is exactly a core strength of professional 1:1 corporate coaching.

• What silos do you need to challenge in order to have full access to your repertoire?
• What will it be like when you can tap into a resource of yours – no matter time, place and surroundings?
• How will you know you are there - what will be your evidence?
• Where2next?

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