Our coaching approach boils down to these three steps: intention, alignment, and practice. The answer to almost any question you ask me or another Ignite coach about communicating is going to fall into one of these three buckets. Intention. Alignment. Practice.
This week’s blog posts are a review of these fundamental building blocks. Today, the spotlight is on alignment. If you missed Monday’s post, you can read it here.
Intention is the thing we want to happen as a result of what we communicate; it’s the outcome we are seeking.
Alignment is how the body and voice, the whole physical system, supports and conveys our intention. It’s the way we talk, walk, move, gesture, sit, stand, pause, breathe, etc. etc. And this makes sense: we know that much of a person’s meaning is conveyed through communication elements other than just the words that are said. In fact, if the words and the other factors aren’t aligned, we believe the body language rather than the words.
For example, let’s look again at one of the most common default intentions: to get this over with. Classic! We’ve all been there.
If a person is, say, leading a meeting with the default intention to get this over with, what would that look and sound like? She might move quickly, not make much eye contact, interrupt or cut others off. And even if she says, “I’m so glad we all made time for this today,” I doubt you would believe in her gladness because she’s halfway out the door.
Our body follows our intention. When we’re focused on getting through the meeting so we can go do the next thing, our behavior reflects that truth.
By the same logic, our behavior reflects our intention when we choose something like to be fully engaged. What does the behavior associated with being fully engaged look like? Our meeting leader is purposeful in her movements, she pauses to greet everyone before she starts the agenda, she looks at others when they speak, she doesn’t refer to her phone or glance at her watch. It feels like there’s nothing else on her mind and nowhere else she needs to be.
Intention and alignment are a powerful duo. Commit to the intention, and the behavior will follow.
