Matt Somers is a longtime friend and colleague. His career spans continents and decades. With a background in Change Leadership and Talent Development, Matt is an accomplished storyteller. His super power is his ability to listen deeply and then use the insights from that listening to collaborate with you (on the sale, the coaching situation etc.). Here's a lovely short piece he wrote on coaching and shifting perspective...
I’ve been inspired by Andrew’s coaching metaphors: doors, windows and mirrors.
I would like to offer another - the spiral staircase.
As we ascend a spiral staircase, we see the same thing each time we pass the same point, but always with a slightly different perspective.
We build a better, more accurate, more complete picture this way.
When we are on the other side of the staircase, the initial view is now out of sight, giving us time to reflect on what we first experienced and to marry that with new insights.
So it is with coaching.