Power Tool: Nourish vs. Flourish

A Coaching Power Tool created by Cindy Chen
(Corporate/Executive/Career Coaching, CANADA)

Why

As a natural law, the better an organism can nourish itself, the better it can grow and flourish itself. This is true not only in nature, but also in the personal and organizational world.

What

• Nourish
  • To provide with food or other substances necessary for life and growth; feed; nurture.
  • To foster the development of; promote: "Athens was an imperial city, nourished by the tribute of subjects" (V. Gordon Childe).
  • To keep alive; maintain: nourish a hope
• Flourish
  • To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive: The crops flourished in the rich soil.
  • To do or fare well; prosper:  “No village on the railroad failed to flourish"
  • To be in a period of highest productivity, excellence, or influence: a poet who flourished in the tenth century.
  • To make bold, sweeping movements: The banner flourished in the wind.
• Learn from the growth of trees. Trees grow in places where they can nourish and flourish, and they flourish in such a way that they put themselves in an even better position to nourish themselves.
• Check your own growth system. How are you, as an individual, team or organization, utilizing the system to nourish and flourish yourself?
• Nourish & Flourish in corporate settings:

How

• S.C.O. (set-check-optimize) your Nourish and Flourish System

  Set

  Begin with the flourish (desired outcome) in mind.

  Check

  Make sure the nourishment is right for the purpose and sufficient.

  Optimize

  Consolidate the system for continuous success and sustainable growth.

• Self-Nourishment – F.A.C.T.

  Faith

  Always hold onto faith. Nourish hopes more than you do for fears. Affirm yourself with positive thoughts and talk about blessings more than about problems. When the value in growth is seen, the challenges you meet just become stepping stones.
  

  Action

  Put thoughts into actions. It is concrete actions that lead to real results. Set priorities and act on them. When in doubt, just move one step further. Embrace strengths and celebrate wins.
  

  Compassion

  Be compassionate towards yourself and others. Before you go bravely into new territories, take a moment to accept and acknowledge the current situation. Compassion opens the door for change and support transformational growth.
  

  Time

  Be patient and give it time. Focus on immediate, reachable goals. As challenges continue to arise, what changes is our relationship to them. With time and effort, we gain the capacity to turn problems into lessons, and lessons into wisdom.

• External Nourishment or Support

  

• ALIGNMENT

  

Reflection

1. What does flourish mean to you? In what ways would you see yourself flourish in the world (or in your life)? Visualize and articulate your desired picture.
2. Keeping your desired flourish picture in mind, how well are you doing now in nourishing/nurturing yourself? What can you acknowledge yourself for?
3. As a coach, how do you support your clients to optimize their nourish-and-flourish system? How about your own system?