This week has been filled with some pretty special days as an Insight Fellow. I’m currently in Zurich, Switzerland with David Seibel (President of Insight Partners) as a second trainer at a Negotiation Skills Training. Insight Partners was hired to provide a day-and-a-half training followed by a day-and-a-half of coaching for a company in Switzerland. Most of my work last week and the beginning of this week has been in anticipation for this incredible opportunity to co-facilitate and co-coach with David in Zurich. I’ve poured hours into familiarizing myself with the material for this training with the help of Insight colleagues and consultants. Stevenson Carlebach (Principal Consultant at Insight) has been particularly kind, spending hours with me listening and giving me feedback as I prepped. 

I have come to really appreciate the “tell, show, do” teaching model that all Insight consultants use when working with me. It’s a rather straight-forward model, and it really works. They teach me or tell me about a certain aspect of the material, then demonstrate how that particular point is delivered during a training session. Then I take a turn explaining the theory and/or practicing its delivery. The result was a profound internalization of the concepts, so that when I got into the room in Zurich earlier this week or when I sat down to individually coach some of the participants, I wasn’t spending my energies searching for the right words to convey the material. I could focus on the participants and spend more time applying the material to their specific situations. There is nothing quite so exhilarating as helping people get more of what they want while improving the relationships around them!

The training and coaching went off without a hitch and I am feeling a deep sense of joy that the hard work has paid off. At the same time, working alongside David is a good reminder that there is lots more work to be done! David’s ability to connect with a room full of people, and to share this material in a way that really seems to resonate wherever people are in their lives, is truly inspiring. Lots yet to learn. It’s a good thing I’m only in the second week of the fellowship!