Boxing the Soul Suckers

by Lauri

What is it about vast, sterile Silicon Valley lobbies and padded cubicles that that turn us into five-year-old versions of ourselves?

Earlier this summer, as I walked from the parking lot to the office of my newest C-Level Executive coaching client, I felt like a small, insignificant child in comparison to the tall ceiling and marble flooring.
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As a matter of fact, just about every time I walk into a new company’s lobby for the first time, even though I am now coaching C-Level Executives on a regular basis, I feel as if I’ve been transported back in time to when I supported C-Suite officers as their executive assistant.  (Or worse, like my 5-year old self is being tasked with that “grown up” job).

Whenever I experience a challenge like this I’m called to share my experience and learning with others.  I initially created the Vocal Presence Path to help myself – then realized there was something Universal that could help many others as well.

During this particular engagement, my Soul Suckers definitely had a point.  This client claimed he’d had “lots of coaching” and was “beyond” the inner critic and the Soul Suckers.  That should’ve been an immediate and glaring warning sign…

Hear me now: if we are growing, learning, transforming, and Leading, we are never “over” our Soul Suckers.  If we’re up to creative and courageous things, they are going to rear their protective heads – that’s their job.
Ours is to release them from the responsibility of being in charge and keep moving forward on our quests in the world.

In the early appointments, the exec’s Soul Suckers lurked with half-joking questions like “am I the worst client you’ve ever had”?  When I didn’t take the bait on those comments (neither fluffing his ego or confirming his fears) the Soul Suckers then turned outward – lashing out at me, the process, my expertise, my capability and the cost.  They viciously attacked anything they could to stop the process of growth.  The sessions were comprised of boxing with his Soul Suckers for 50 minutes in order to get to 10 minutes of constructive transformation.

Here’s what I want you to know: Because I had already acknowledged and released my own Soul Suckers, I was able to feel my center and stand my ground with a strong core and an open heart when his Soul Suckers attacked me.  I’d already shined the light on my Soul Sucker’s stories that I was not enough (and neither was my work), so I was able to release them when he poked at those very stories. As he lashed out at the cost I simply said “Yes” (with a hint of “of course” pulsing underneath) and kept coaching – calling him forth into his most compelling self.

What Soul Suckers are you attempting to avoid?  Face them, extract the kernel of truth from their messages, and see what opens up for you…

With Love & Passion,
Lauri

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