Power Tool: Safe vs. Swashbuckler

A Coaching Power Tool created by Pijush Kanti Mukherjee
(Life Coach & Leadership Coaching, INDIA)

Safe by definition means secure from danger, harm or evil.
Also it means free from danger or injury or hurt.
Safe also means free from risk.

By analysing the above definitions of Safe it means those who want to be safe wants not to endanger himself from any injury or hurt .This can be physical or mental or emotional in nature. Also those who practice safety from themselves wants to be in a risk free environment. They want to venture in any activity which will have an iota of risk.

Is there anything worth doing which does not have a risk element in it?
Had Tensing Norgay played safe would he have conquered Mount Everest?
Had Sachin Tendulkar not taken risk would he have the courage to be the best batsman in the world?
Had Dhirubhai Ambani not taken risk would he have been the most successful business in India?
Being safe will not take us anywhere near our goals .People have thrown safety to winds to achieve their coveted goals. So is it no more prudent to think which is more riskier being Safe or taking risk.
In order to achieve your life goals being Safe is like sitting on the shore and thinking to discover America!
Being Safe means sitting in your cosy home and thinking to land on Moon!
Being Safe means not leaving your home and getting freedom from enemies!

In fact Safety is the biggest Risk in life.

In a coaching environment if the client wants to achieve his goals and don’t want to act as he is more concerned about his safety the coaches role become more important. The coach has to understand the underlying belief of your client’s phobia of not taking risk. Once that is brought up and the experience is relived then the chances of being relived is very high.

The idea of leaving the shore of Safety is not enough to achieve your life goals. In order to take Life changing decisions one need to be nothing short of Swashbuckling.

What is Swashbuckling?

1. A Swashbuckler is a person who is an extravagant sword person or adventurer.
2. A Swashbuckler is a sword-weiling hero who is flamboyantly adventurous.
3. From the above definitions one which stands out for being a Swashbuckler is a person who is definitely adventurous.
4. Such a person is always positive in his attitude.
5. He creates apostive environment to do something worthwhile for him or his society.
6. He will be a person who once decides always takes the risk of leaving the shore and discover the undiscovered.
7. He never assumes anything in life unless proven to him explicitly.
8. He never judge anybody and create perceptions.
9. He listens well and act with courage.
10. Swashbuckler will act with conviction and never relies on opinions.
11. He understands the issue, searches for various solutions, chooses the best suitable and moves forward with action. He never rests till he achieves what is expected from him.

Coach’s Challenge:

The challenge for Coach is transform a Safe person to a Swashbuckler. Here the widely accepted GROW is applied to a Safe person and transformed into a Swashbuckler. Simultaneously the coach has to stick to the ICF competencies during the change process.

The coaching discussion makes the client understand his aspiration (Goals) and also sets the outcome expectation. The coach creates an environment of trust with commitment if being ethical in his dealings and agreeing to support the client all levels in the client by being present emotionally and at the energy level.

The critical part is identifying and appreciating the current position (Reality) of the client which is detrimental and will not help in achieving the outcome desired. The coach holds a vision and supports the client to search for solutions (Options).

The reframing techniques help him to see a different perspective of life which is full of action, performance and glory.

A lot of listening and questioning is required to unearth the underlying beliefs which makes him to be Safe in his life. An open communication with the client creates the desired awareness him to appreciate the need for change for meeting his aspirations.

After the reframing the coach supports the client to co create a plan of actions need to be implemented by the client and duly supported by the coach. Also here the client is held responsible and accountable to execute the agreed actions (Wrap up).The coach also acknowledges the efforts put in by the client and encourages him to step up the actions and celebrates the milestones in his journey of agreed outcome.

The repetition of these actions help the client to change the behaviour and his life.

Coaching Application:

In a coaching environment when the client is not moving from his disempowering position of being Safe, the coaches job is support him of being a Swashbuckler which is such an empowering position in life.

Safe versus Swashbuckler is like not taking risk, it’s not taking the bull by horn. One of the biggest risk in life is Life itself .From the time we are born we get various experience of either being Safe or being a Swashbuckler.

The Swashbuckler sees risk as an opportunity and a Safe person think action as a devoid of safety, as a result he does not move forward and this becomes an habit which makes him an unsuccessful person .This behaviour makes him not trusting himself and create a structure which is harmful and detrimental to his growth. He achieves nothing in Life.

A Swashbuckler being adventurous likes himself to move ahead and take action without the fear of losing the chance to achieve or his life for that matter. Such a person becomes a great human being who is full of pleasure and life.