You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

The first thing she said to me was: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks... I suggest you leave me alone.”

She was a year away from retirement and was completely done with work. 

Anyone else would have respected her wishes and let her coast for a year.  After all, she’d been doing the job for years and what was the point in trying to develop someone who had already decided who they were?

I didn’t argue or give her a motivational speech, I simply got on with my job - what she didn't realise... she was my job. 

A year later she said something I’ve never forgotten:

"I never thought I could do things better.  I was so desperate to leave, now I'm enjoying my job."

This realisation had very little to do with age and also very little to do with coaching.  I saw more in her than she saw in herself.  She saw defeat whereas I saw someone doing things the hard way.

What changed?

In short, her environment. 

For the first time, someone listened, had her back, invested in her development and then showed alternatives instead of expecting her to keep doing the same old same, and expecting different results. 

No-one asked her to become someone else or told her she wasn’t good enough however, somebody did believe there was more to tap into. 

✨ With consistency and evidence, even the defeated start to believe change is possible. 

"What she didn't realise... she was my job."

We often talk about ‘resistance to change’ as though it’s a personality flaw. Sometimes it isn’t resistance at all; it’s years of not being invested in, cared about, of no one explaining ‘the why’ or showing an easier way to help someone see what’s truly possible.

The biggest change was how she saw herself. Everything else followed.

That’s why I’ve never believed the saying: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

Instead, I ask whether anyone has ever been given a reason, and the tools, to become more than they believed possible.

Until next time, Aileen

Exceptional Leaders: Episode 2 Is now available on Spotify.

This month's exceptional leader Dawn McFarlane - owner of award winning Scotia Homecare Solutions Ltd - shares what helps her make solid decisions and how she weighs up risk to create an outstanding team and care service.

3.2 Exceptional Leaders: Dawn McFarlane Listen to this episode from Everyone is Coachable on Spotify. In Episode 2 of Exceptional Leaders, Aileen sits down with Dawn McFarlane, ... open.spotify.com

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