Mental Blindness
Hi there gang, it’s been a bit since I posted here. But I figured I’d share some things I learned from this last Zoom call that I had yesterday. The topic of the call was what I’m calling Mental Blindness. It’s a metaphor for how much confidence we have in an ability that we may, or may not, see in ourselves. It’s a bit more complex than that, but that’s for future Zoom calls. Overall, the call went well. A few friends showed up, better turnout than last time by double. Here is a list of a few things. I figured I’d be transparent because maybe you all can learn a thing or two.
Key Takeaways From a Zoom Call
- Have a better agenda, I tend to be really lax about things like that
- Stick to a time schedule, again, I am pretty relaxed about that, too.
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Have a formal structure, aka, an agenda. Anyone see a pattern here? On that note, I’ll just say that one of the participants who didn’t know me actually left the meeting because she thought it would be more of a formal presentation. While I did indeed feel slighted, at first, by this, I realized that it was a fair point. I’ve never done screen sharing via Zoom and have yet to really develop a PowerPoint style presentation on these topics. So that combination could definitely be seen as a deterrent. Back to the bulleted list, now
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Be careful when mentioning organizations if you know one of the people on the call is not in said organization. This relates to my background as a coach. It makes people feel kind of awkward. I call it Third Wheel Syndrome
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Group coaching is ok. I’ve done group coaching only in the context of the classes I took at the Coaches Training Institute (CTI)
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If people know that I am going to coach them around this concept and others are listening, then they know not to share too much. That said, confidentiality is a must, see the next point.
- Design the alliance, a CTI term for, set up an agenda and ground rules for coaching, no matter how much people may know about CTI or coaching in general.
- Get a presentation together on the topic. Again, I’m not that great with Powerpoint, but it would help people who are sighted to have a visual. Even an email handout would help.
- Get an email list going. Yeah, that’s a whole ball o’ wax that I won’t start melting now. But a way for people to subscribe so I know how many to expect would help. Social media is great, but eventually, a subscription list would be nice. That’s about it, really. Some of the topics overlap. But I wanted to put it out in the space of learning, training, self-growth, and experience. I also forgot to record the call, oops. Well, for posterity, I’ll have to record it next time. All for now, if you are interested in scheduling a sample session, contact me here.
Dave Bahr is the founder of In-Sightful living. He works as an advocate for persons with disabilities and a usability specialist. Schedule a Call with Dave here.