Today, on his route to work he received an unexpected call from an unknown number, “Hello, Richard speaking.”
“Hi Richard, this is Radka, the tango teacher, do you remember me?”
A moment of silence. Of course, he remembered her, how could he forget? They had met each other at an event with Potential (1) on authentic collaboration where she had been invited as an expert and he had participated as a volunteer to demonstrate an authentic connection through tango. He also remembered the Indiana-Jones-type scene where the storm that caught Radka by surprise after the event had her running in the street, soaking wet, after his car to ask him to give her a lift home. She lost one of her high-heel shoes, while running after Richard’s car, which his wife found the following Saturday on their way to their country house. Boy, did he have some explaining to do that Saturday…
“Richard, can you hear me?”
“Yes, sure, I am with you 100%, what can I do for you? Please tell me you didn’t forget another one of your high-heels in my car.”
She laughed, “No, no don’t worry I have both with me. I need your help with something deep: I would like to find my reason of being. You mentioned during the workshop that you are a coach. In fact, you are the only coach I know. And because you immediately volunteered for our demo struck a chord with me, it was like a signal before you dance the milonga.”
Richard is one of the last HR men with long hair in CZ. He is probably the only HR man buying and reselling art to help artists earn a bit of money. How could he say no?
“Of course,” he answered, “I would be happy to help. But maybe not after a Potential session when a storm is forecasted.”
They agreed to meet at the terrace at the bar on top of old commercial center close to the municipal house. One of the first things he told her during that meeting is something he remembered from a coaching session many years ago with a teacher from Rome that "coaching is like a tango,” everything is about connection.
The first question Richard asked Radka: “Please tell me about one of your successes in life, something you did naturally, which brought something for others.”
The words “community, connection, something together, do everything together, good spirit” came first.
Richard looked up from the notes he was furiously taking and simply said, “And?”
"Connection to the power / force – sharing,” Radka added.
“Now tell me about something you want to bring to the world.”
“Connecting people by asking, observing, going deeper, bringing a better spirit.”
The conversation continued like this for about an hour. At this point, Richard highlighted the key words that had popped up the most frequently during their discussion. “Reflecting on these key words, how would you summarize all the things you have talked about with 1 active verb, 1 talent, something you bring to society?”
Radka paused for a moment as she collected her thoughts, “I connect people for the community to be stronger.” Another pause. She repeats the sentence again. “Wow, that sounds good! You noted down my words and shared back with me the right words. I listened to what you shared back, and it helped to orient my thinking. How can I thank you Richard?”
Richard explained to her that this was not quite a real reason of being, but it can give a sense to her work. To further refine her reason of being, she should get validation, which can be best done by seeing if it helps her make decisions.
Radka did have a burning question she had been meaning to answer. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tango courses have been closed since March and will most likely not open before September. What could she do to continue to teach tango in these circumstances? There were several options she had come up with but did not know which option to choose.
Richard explained to Radka that it is important to distinguish between a dilemma and an alternative (2). A dilemma asks the question, “should I do it or not.” An alternative asks, “I have 2 distinct and contradictory options in front of, should I choose option A or is it better to choose option B?” In this case, Radka is dealing with an alternative, where the decision-maker should choose the option they prefer, the one most in line with their reason of being.
Radka had several options in mind so it was necessary to build a decision tree with a series of possible choices:
A. Wait until September to restart face-to-face group lessons (15-25 students)
B. Start teaching online courses (15-25 students)
C. Focus on private lessons at home
D. Organize a virtual tango marathon
E. Organize a face-to-face tango marathon in Prague at the end of 2021
F. Conduct courses in companies about connection
It took Richard and Radka no more than 10 minutes to build the table below:
| Option | How easy is it to set-up | Cost to set-up | Time to set-up | Expected profits | By when |
| A | +++ | +++ | +++ | + | End 2021 |
| B | + | ++ | +++ | ++ | Beg. 2021 |
| C | ++ | + | + | ++ | Beg. 2021 |
| D | + | + | + | + | End 2021 |
| E | + | + | + | +++ | End 2021 |
| F | +++ | + | +++ | ++ | End 2021 |
Richard and Radka had the following key takeaways from this exercise. The table is not only a rational toll but helpt Radka to express her feeling:
- Option A: it seems that it will not be possible to do physical courses before September
- Option B and C: Online courses are possible. She has already started and has someone taking care of it. It can help to keep “customers”. But she is a person of contact so she will delegate it.
- Option D and E: Marathon. This is definitely the option she prefers. She has organized several ones before, found the most prestigious places in Prague, she loves it and participants also, it comes naturally out of her hands even if it was a big job. She has not yet succeeded to make it profitable. One of the students is a good business man. He proposed to help her to build packages with hotels included. She will take time during these 6 months beginning of 2021 to talk with the other tango training companies to understand how to collaborate.
"Thank you so much Richard. You will be my guest in September for the first step of the Tango Marathon on the roof of Lucerna!"
(1) Potential: International Association for Managers Potential
(2) Bernard Bougon and Laurent Falque, consultants at L`Institut de Discernement Profesionnel (IDP)