Four years ago, my friend Michael was driving us to an event we were both attending in Surrey, south of London.
Michael has been a GP in the UK for nearly three decades, and immersed himself in the world of conventional and alternative medicine.
He’d often talked to me about writing a book about his experiences and the wisdom he had accumulated over his full and rich career. But he was struggling with knowing where to start, and how to cram 30 years of insight into a book.
I asked if it was safe for me to ask a few questions, as he drove, and if he even wanted me to do.
He said he’d love to be coached
So I asked him, “Is there one big idea that you have come to see clearly after literally thousands of patient-doctor conversations?”
He said, “There might be, but I don’t know what it is!”
“What might it be?” I asked
After a moment or two of reflection, he responded with “Whether I am treating someone with allopathic medicine, or with what is regarded as alternative approaches, I have come to see that the quality of our relationship with each other can be add so much power to the value of the actual treatment.”
I responded with a “Wow!”
“Effectively,” he continued, “The love and kindness with which I treat someone can impact be as healing as the treatment itself.”
Michael wasn’t claiming to have any special powers, he was simply saying that the consciousness he bought to what he did, the spirit in which he did it, could be as important as what he did.
And that applies to all of us, whatever we do.
Personally, I think the world would medicine would be transformed for the better if every healthcare professional had that understanding.
So I have come to believe that underlying our years, even decades, of lived experience, there is wisdom and insight, a big idea, that is waiting to be seen clearly
But the reality is that we often can’t see it for ourselves
I heard it described this way: Our wisdom, and even our genius, is like being inside a jar with the label on the outside – we can’t see what the label says. We need prompting, we need to borrow other people’s eyes to see ourselves clearly. I know I do.
If you are in leadership and would find a conversation to see your big idea, even your genius, more clearly, drop me a line at nick@iamnickwilliams.com and we’ll arrange to speak
