Blog Post

Spark insight and creativity with courageous questions

Ollie Smedley • Oct 30, 2019

The difference a conversation can make

My old friend and colleague, Bjoern, lent over the table and handed me an A-4 sized package at our breakfast catch-up.

He began reminding me of the phone conversation we had the prior year, shortly after he’d landed a great new job and was finishing up in his last role.

He was describing his plans for a rare break between jobs and it went something like this……

“….It’s great Ollie, it’s mostly planned - we’re going to have some days out with the kids and I’m going to decorate their bedrooms - they’ve even chosen the colours!”.

He seemed pretty happy but I picked up a sense that whilst outwardly happy, he was signalling to me that something was missing - a lack of conviction ... some real excitement at what was planned.

“Oh…?”, I said.

We didn’t have long so we briefly kicked around a few ideas and I had left him with the question:

“What could you do now that your kids would really cherish when they’re grown up?”.

One year later and back to our breakfast and he asked me to unwrap the package….

Inside was a framed photo of him and his family beaming into the camera, embossed with the words :

“How much difference a conversation can make”.

He explained that after our call, he’d chatted with his wife and they’d completely re-imagined their plans for his ‘gap-month'. Gone was the painting and day-trips and in it's place a mammoth family road-trip down the west coast of America – a holiday of a lifetime they were all cherishing.

The photo, which now has pride of place on my desk, was the thank-you from him and his family.

Giving someone the answers is rarely the answer - giving them some questions can really spark their creativity.

Have you had powerful conversations but didn’t realise it at the time?

Ollie helps finance leaders and teams create the space, thinking and leadership they need to thrive. Previously an FD and MD in a range of complex, blue chip organisations he’s now an ICF accredited coach. Try his free “ What Matters in Finance ” exercise if you’re curious about what really matters to you.

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