Episode 133: Shifting From Rescuer to Guide

Show Notes

Episode Transcript

Jesse:
You are now listening to Leverage for Growth. Hey everybody, this is Jesse P. Gilmore, founder of Niche in Control and creator of Leverage for Growth. Welcome to the Daily Leverage Edition. Today’s topic is this, shifting from rescuer to guide. Sit back, relax, and welcome to today’s Daily Leverage. You know, we all have this innate desire to help, to fix things, especially when we’re leading a team or working with clients. But there’s a transformation that occurs when we shift our perspective from being the hero to becoming the guide. I’ve been on this journey myself, and it’s a powerful shift. So today I’m gonna chat about the lessons that I’ve learned and how we can all benefit from seeing our clients or team members as partners in our own learning journey. So let’s get started. So earlier in my career, I felt as though I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. Client problem, Jesse to the rescue. But the more I pushed to solve everyone else’s problems, the more things seemed to go sideways. I came to realize that I can’t force another person’s transformation. They have to be the drivers. So I took a step back, stopped pushing, and started to listen. And let me tell you, a change was immediate. I started to focus less on solving and more on guiding, on asking thoughtful questions, offering tools. celebrating those small victories. We focused on progress, not perfection. And it became less about where I thought that they should be and more about meeting them where they are. Now, this doesn’t mean being everything to everyone. I learned that sometimes the kindest thing that we can do and you can do is to say no when it’s not the right fit. It’s all about discernment, about recognizing who is ready for transformation or your services. and more importantly, who might not be. And trust me, it’s a service to both parties. Now here’s the twist. As I started to shift my perspective, I realized that every client, especially the challenging ones, had something to teach me. Their resistance made me look at my own. Their journey taught me to trust in the process. In guiding them, I too was guided. So here’s my challenge for you. Try on this guiding hat instead of the hero cape. Realize and release that urge to solve everything and instead become a champion of support, encouragement and progress. So now I want you to do something. Reflect on a past client who perhaps was not the right fit. Ask yourself, why are they not a good fit? And then identify any of those early signs that might have hinted at the eventual mismatch. And then finally, you want to think about how you can use these insights in the future. Remember that every quote-unquote wrong client is an opportunity for learning and growth. Let’s walk us alongside each other using these lessons to help us all become heroes of our own journeys. Until next time, keep reflecting, keep learning, keep growing.