Even the GOATs have Partners

Even the GOATs have partners

In this day and age when sports figures are celebrated in the media as GOAT (“greatest of all time”) with a trophy, a star, or a medal to mark their resilience, perseverance, courage, grit, etc. etc. etc., those who travel alongside may not get seen for their partnership in support and growth. At the ceremony for the US Open Tennis Tournament, Coco Gauff listed her myriad of support with grace and goodness: emotional and physical, family, faith, fans of New York, fellow competitors, and even those who did not believe in her. Her list of recognitions was long, thoughtful, and inclusive. She stood on the podium with Billie Jean King, another tennis great who in partnership with many changed systems of injustice on behalf of female tennis players around the world.  Coco thanked her and the Williams sisters recognizing those who came before her. She could not achieve her goals without her partnerships.

Coco recognizes she is not alone in her success. Her partnerships are exhaustive. Because we put celebrities under highly focused microscopes, we tend to focus on the individual rather than those who walk alongside them and support their journeys. It can look as though they reached their peak alone but in each of the speeches after an incredible US Open Tennis Tournament these athletes named their partners in success.

As Process Consultants, we are not looking for everyone’s success to land them on a podium but we are looking for everyone to understand their opportunities for partnerships in learning and contributing to their collective success. In Mark L. Vincent’s book, Listening Helping Learning: The Core Competencies of Process Consulting, the author maps out partnership, specifically, Learning in Partnership.

“Insightful leaders… will choose to embrace a process that can help their organizations confront resistance and avoidance so they can build and grow. Insightful Process Consultants discover who these leaders are … so that they can and will assist in the journey. They uncover what needs to be learned and the stepping stones along the way. They learn alongside the Client as they travel with them.”

Processes of “discovery, revelations, motivation for adaptation and serving as a learning organization and converting knowledge to organizational wisdom” all make up the nuances that elevate the client toward success. As Coco identified, partnerships include physical, emotional, faith, community, and organizational support to name a few.

Thinking about the partnership of a Process Consultant and the leader with their team, the experience to confront resistance and avoidance to build and grow is not unlike Coco’s team understanding Aryna Sabalenka’s game to win the tournament. Coupling these discoveries while confronting your own mistakes and learning elevates the whole team to the podium. 

Coco’s hitting partner can’t do his job unless the physical trainer gets her in shape. The coach can’t adjust for a more perfect stroke without the psychologist helping the athlete understand how to excel in challenging conditions. The athlete cannot move through the complexities of their lives without being surrounded by those who love and upshift them daily. Understanding all the elements of support that make up a team allows the journey to be a process with effective, long-lasting, and impactful solutions. 

Process consultants serve in partnership to discover opportunities to build on strengths, understand the interference of resistance, capitalize on the motivation to adapt, and help design the system to sustain and learn.

See you on the podium. 

Walking alongside,

Lukie

Lucretia "Lukie" Wells
Design Group International
Senior Design Partner

The core competencies of process consulting have been developed and are taught by the Society for Process Consulting. If you are interested in receiving your credential in process consulting please visit our website.